Author: Brett Venter

Asus’ ExpertBook range has long been an excellent way to get yourself through the average workday, and the new ExpertBook P3 is no different. Solidly capable hardware, Asus’ always-excellent display panels, and a durable chassis make the P3 a contender for being your next PowerPoint-sharing office rig. The only sticking point is the price. Depending on your office IT setup, your money could be better spent on an M3 MacBook Air or similar. It’s possible to tuck one of Asus’ new office machines into your cart for R19,600, a couple of hundred bucks less than Apple’s own office darling. If…

Google has revealed the existence of Web Guide, an AI tool that will “intelligently organize the search results page, making it easier to find information and web pages.” Given how much the company’s Search product has decayed in recent years, this could well mark an improvement — though with a larger carbon footprint than the previously-functional Search from days gone by. I’ll be your Web Guide The feature is currently in testing, meaning users must opt in if they’d like to play with the new functions. It’ll supposedly unlock a more powerful version of Search by grouping links “in helpful…

Chinese robotics company Unitree is following its G1 humanoid robot’s martial arts tournament with a new, more affordable ‘bot. Called the Unitree R1 Intelligent Companion, it’ll set buyers back a little over R105,000 ($5,900) if they’re keen on sticking a walking, fighting robot in their homes. Why you’d do that is a little less certain, but there’s no denying that it’s an affordable humanoid robot — relatively speaking. Buyers can customise the little guy to suit their needs, meaning Unitree expects you to figure out what you want to use the R1 for. Taking the R1 Unitree Introducing | Unitree…

Once a land known for extraordinary violence (and amazing beards), Denmark will soon lay claim to a different sort of fame. The country will soon, in conjunction with Microsoft and the Denmark-based Novo Nordisk Foundation, host the world’s largest quantum computer. Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund announced the joint investment in QuNorth, the title for the quantum computing project. R1.65 billion (€80 million) will be thrown at the project by the non-profit arm of pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk. Denmark your progress Though the project is known as QuNorth, the computer itself will be named Magne (or ‘mighty), after one of…

OpenAI has a history of not generating any revenue. It’s great at hauling in investor funding (for now), but revenue generation remains a mystery to the company. That could be why the artificial intelligence specialist is looking to take a cut of sales made through its ChatGPT tool. The Financial Times reports that Altman’s company intends to implement a checkout system that will permit users to conclude sales without exiting ChatGPT. There are a couple of benefits to this — sellers remove a step to purchase, while OpenAI gets a piece of the action. OpenAI’s offer Which, if you think…

Slack is the latest company to jam a set of artificial intelligence aids into its product, launching a series of tools intended to make users more productive. How far we’ve come as an industrial society. The messaging app is getting AI writing assistance, allowing users to side-step the thinking process and get on with putting out those briefs in record speed. It’ll also have a natural language component for tweaking written work that was selfishly created without asking a computer to do the initial work. Less Slack-ing Slack’s writing assistant will also perform other, largely trivial, functions for human beings.…

The last time a meeting app update was interesting was the beginning of South Africa’s lockdown. But when Mercedes-Benz is letting drivers conduct on-camera meetings in their cars, it’s worth taking a second look. Even when that look involves using the travesty that is Microsoft Teams. It’s never been impossible to have a meeting in your car. The catch has been to have your device camera on instead of dialling in as part of a conference call. Having the feature natively possible is something new. Merc’s newest feature allows that, but the German automaker has also considered driver safety. Supporting…

Science fiction and venture capitalists around the world have promised the world self-driving cars for ages. Uber and Baidu have announced a partnership that might make that happen in “multiple global markets” outside of the US and China. Chinese companies have leaned hard into the notion that your car might one day drive itself, but Uber and Baidu’s team-up could well put wheels on tarmac. Whether those wheels venture out on South African roads in the near future isn’t certain. Uber robots Since the plan involves putting loads of Baidu’s Apollo Go self-driving cars, EV taxis already on the road…

It’s been a long wait for Sony’s new RX1R III compact camera — almost a decade has passed since the RX1R II was launched — but it’s finally here. And by ‘here’, we mean Sony has announced the thing. A compact full-frame 35mm camera with a massive 61MP sensor, the shooter “combines Sony’s design savvy with the latest innovations in imaging technology”. An RX1R III snapshot Sony just announced the long-awaited update, with company vice president of Imaging Solutions Yang Cheng saying, “The RX1R series has resonated greatly among discerning photographers, and we’re proud to now deliver the next generation…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is unavoidable in 2025. It pops up everywhere, making entry into smartphones, computers, services, and… bird feeders? This is despite the technology being little more than an advanced chatbot, offering little practical utility beyond a few functions you don’t actually need. Generally, the reason AI’s functions are needed is because the previous thing that used to work has been hamstrung so you’ll use the shiny new thing that will drive profits for corporate giants and their shareholders. It’s not about making your life easier. It never has been. Nobody currently developing artificial intelligence is doing it for…