Author: Brett Venter

Animal Crossing (and Doom Eternal) saved plenty of folks a lot of misery during the first months of the pandemic lockdown. Lego has decided that it’s time for a comeback tour which is why the brick-maker has announced five new sets based in the cutesy fictional world dominated by Tom Nook’s usury. Unlike many of Lego’s sets, this batch is aimed squarely at the six-and-up market, meaning smaller kiddies can get involved without too much drama. But we’re willing to bet that more than a few Nintendo die-hards are planning to pick up all of the sets — even if…

Apple’s Vision Pro augmented reality headset has yet to hit the market and already there’s talk of what the next one will include. The obvious next step is making it lighter, something that noted Apple analyst Mark Gurman has explored in a recent newsletter. Making VR hardware lighter is always on the list of planned features, whether you’re Apple, Meta, or Valve. It seems a little incongruous to be talking about it when the Vision Pro’s official weight has yet to be published but Apple didn’t get to where it is by waiting around to react to things. Is a…

Samsung’s profits for the current quarter are expected to slide by up to 80% compared to this time last year when the company announces its financial results later this week. The drop is driven by a surplus of computer chips on the market. Chip sales are what drives the tech-maker’s (usually) record-breaking financial performance. The company is expected to still make a profit from the quarter but it’s a considerable dip from its income last year. Reuters reports that numerous analysts are expecting Samsung’s profits to fall from 10.85 trillion Korean won this time last year to 2.1 trillion won…

Genetic testing company 23andMe has confirmed that it has suffered a data breach following a post on an online marketplace offering up its user data for sale. Any time a company suffers a breach and user info is compromised, it’s a problem. This time is a little unique since 23andMe also stores genetic data. Some of that has apparently also made it out onto the web where it’s just waiting for the highest bidder but there was apparently little the company could have done about that. The testing service said in a statement that it wasn’t subject to a “data…

Samsung has some changes coming to the Galaxy S24 lineup, according to a new report out of Korea. Unless, that is, you’re planning to pick up the Galaxy S24 Ultra. If that’s the case, then it may be business as usual. If you’re planning to go a little smaller with Samsung’s to-be-announced flagship, it’ll be business as usual (before the pandemic started). Following image leaks, based on CAD specifications sent out to accessory manufacturers, a report from The Elec has detailed possible changes to Samsung’s chipset policy. Historically, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon was reserved for the American market and everyone else got…

You’ve got two-and-a-half million in South African currency lying around, right? Alternatively, a compliant bank loan manager can help you score one of the brand new and shiny Mercedes AMG GLE series of SUVs or coupés, provided you can convince them that your purchase is a sound investment. There are four models to choose from, starting with the Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 4MATIC+ SUV which comes complete with a sliding sunroof, heated front seats (without a subscription), Adaptive Highbeam Assist, and something that Merc calls Smartphone Integration but that we suspect is a Bluetooth/WiFi connection to the onboard operating system. Maybe…

At an event today at Vodacom’s main offices in Johannesburg, the mobile services provider, in conjunction with Eskom and the National Business Initiative, gave us an overview of the company’s progress toward a new product. Following a keynote address by SA’s Minister of Electricity Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Vodacom and various stakeholders explained more about how virtual wheeling might work. Wheeling is a well-established practice for South Africa’s power grid and grids around the world. Basically, wheeling is when power is added to the grid from one source (someone with a large generator) on behalf of someone else (someone with large…

It wasn’t long ago that wearable devices did little more than track how many steps you took in a day. Now Samsung’s Galaxy Watch is getting ready to keep an eye on your (possibly undiagnosed) sleep apnoea. As with most new features from the South Korean company, it’ll turn up in its home country first before heading to the rest of the world. Sleep apnoea tracking is coming to the company’s wearables early in 2024 following approval by Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). This regulatory approval process is something the feature will have to clear in other…

Spotify has been busy of late, dropping all manner of new features (mostly to do with artificial intelligence) but there’s a good old-fashioned freebie waiting in the wings as well. Well, ‘freebie’ is a relative term since it’s reserved for those who already give the music streaming service money every month. The key word here is ‘audiobooks’. Spotify is looking to increase the number of users on the platform who consume audiobooks and the way to do that is to give them a little free access to whet their appetites. If they like what they hear, users can buy more…

We haven’t gone a day in 2023 without some product or service having AI crowbarred into it. Statistics demand that eventually there will be a list of the worst AI implementations but we’re willing to bet that Fitbit’s upcoming generative system won’t be on that list. Not unless it pulls a version one Bard, anyway. That’s… probably not going to happen. Google has most of those issues sorted out and this AI system, announced at the search giant’s Made by Google event yesterday, isn’t looking to answer complicated questions that might strike you right about the same time that endorphin…