Author: Brett Venter

Google’s Gemini AI has started interacting with your third-party apps, opening the door for the search company to “[f]ind relevant information” and “perform actions for you” based on those apps. Of course, Google hasn’t made it an opt-in thing. There are reasons for this, the most likely being that you can be claimed as an active Gemini user simply by using your device as you normally would. That looks good on monthly user figures, which helps justify all the AI spending the company is doing. Just like a Gemini The company recently shared an email explaining what the new integration…

If you’ve ever wanted to decentralise your messaging, Jack Dorsey’s new Bitchat app might be just what you’re looking for. The Twitter co-founder announced the app, the product of a weekend spent learning “about bluetooth mesh networks, relays and store and forward models, message encryption models, and a few other things,” is currently available via TestFlight for iOS users. Or, at least, it was. The beta has since been filled, but that bodes well for an eventual release of Bitchat, once it’s been in development for more than a handful of days. There’s no timeline on when (or if) this…

We saw right through Sony’s attempts to keep its WF-C710N buds a secret earlier this year, and now we can see right through the case of the review unit the company dispatched to us recently. The successors to the Sony C700N buds are, at R3,000, still firmly in the budget bracket for in-ear headphones, but still manage impressive audio quite out of keeping with their price tag. The previous buds were like that, too. So what’s keeping us from recommending the older model that now retails for R2,300 over the newer, slightly pricier C710N? It’s not just because there’s an…

Samsung is expected to unveil its new Fold and Flip 7 models at next week’s Unpacked, but there could well be something more remarkable waiting in the wings. There’s talk of a new Samsung tri-fold smartphone coming up, and the folks at Android Authority have located references and images of it in the latest OneUI 8 build. That Samsung is making one is almost a given. Huawei recently released its Mate XT tri-fold smartphone in a few new markets, including South Africa, and the South Korean company isn’t one to let an affront like that stand. The files located in…

Humanoid robots are increasingly capturing headlines, but aside from Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, they have varying degrees of capability. None of them can fly, though. Not yet, but researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology are working on that. No, really. The Institute’s iRonCub3 humanoid bot has successfully lifted off the ground while powered by jetpacks (and the most frightening face its creators could think of, which is horrifying). Unidentified flying humanoid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2cB486Ub3c iRonCub3 managed to lift some 50cm off the ground while under jetpack power, a more significant feat than it looks while mounted in the harness used to keep…

E Ink, the company behind the e-paper displays we’re so fond of, has come up with another use for its screen technology. The company has announced a new “visual, AI-assisted human-machine interface” that replaces the trackpad on a laptop. Its purpose, in case it isn’t clear, is to provide users with a second screen dedicated to AI functions on their laptops, although we imagine that an enterprising hacker could also get Doom running on it. Some new E Ink The innovation combines a laptop trackpad with an E Ink display, which, in conjunction with a range of Intel technology, enables unique functions…

Popular fitness apps Strava and Runna have combined what you’ll pay for them into a single annual subscription, according to an FAQ on the Runna website. American pricing for the bundle is set at $150/yr (R2,650) but here at home, the package deal costs just R1,200 a year. Whether it’ll stay at that price remains to be seen, but it is a handy way to get access to the movement-tracking app as well as its running-specific partner at a lower cost. The company has several methods for snagging the package, even if you’re already giving it a bunch of money…

Huawei’s streak of poor luck in the United States continues, with the Chinese company facing criminal charges in that country following a recent ruling. One of the charges involves the company’s involvement with a telecoms entity in Iran, and another alleges that the Chinese company was trying to steal secrets from its US counterparts. Racketeering and bank fraud are also alleged as part of the sixteen counts being filed. Huawei gonna get lawyers The ruling by U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly rejected Huawei’s attempt to get thirteen of the sixteen charges dismissed. Donnelly found the charges persuasive enough to proceed…

Finally, a technology advance that actually does something — unlike some we could name. A company called Einsen has produced a product of the same name that does something novel. It does your ironing for you. The project, based in Australia, reckons its gadget can yank the wrinkles from your favourite shirt (or pants, or whatever) in about sixty seconds. It does so with a machine that operates remarkably like a laser printer or a laminator, meaning you’ll feed wrinkled clothing in one end and receive pristine smoothness from the other. Backing Einsen A collection of smart features makes the…

Apple has long been rumoured to be developing a foldable iPhone, with talk of the device stretching back beyond 2021. It may be that we’ll finally see the hardware in 2026, according to a new report citing supply chain sources. Digitimes says Apple started initial prototyping for the device in June this year, adding that this is the “initial P1 (Prototype 1) phase.” The aim, according to the report, is a 2026 release, which aligns with talk from other sectors that project a 2026 or 2027 launch for the foldable. Bendgate II: iPhone Boogaloo Rumour ranges back and forth on…