Author: Brett Venter

Oculus Rift, Project Morpheus, whatever Samsung has planned… it seems that the world has gone bonkers for VR and Google’s unafraid to jump on the bandwagon. The difference is, the search company is doing it with nothing but cardboard. And a smartphone. And maybe a magnet and some rubber bands. But that’s a whole lot less costly than a whole new peripheral living in your home. It seems like Google would be kidding about Cardboard, which is what their VR headset/smartphone/app combination is known as. Introduced at Google I/O this year, the concept is quite simple. Fold some cardboard in…

Each and every month, Sony and Microsoft give away a couple of games free of charge on their respective online services. Each company has their own methods and, if you’re any kind of serious gamer, you already know what those are. For those new to this, Sony’s PlayStation Plus lets subscribers play certain downloaded games free of charge for the duration of their subscription, with the available games changing all the time. This month, Sony’s PlayStation Plus has a fantastic crop of titles for players to choose from. As from 2 July this year, PS Plus subscribers will be able…

Everybody seems to want one, though Google’s Glass has only been available to a select few, branching out from the original users to those in the States who could afford it. Then, this week, Google made Glass available in the UK but they’re not stopping there. Next up? A hardware upgrade, in the form of an additional 1GB of RAM for a total of 2GB. The upgrade joins previous hardware updates that improved Glass’ battery life and voice search function, as well as several software updates and should see the eye-mounted tech performing better than ever. However, The Next Web…

Twitter might be testing a way to extend its influence to Facebook-owned WhatsApp, if screenshots that have been appearing from users are accurate. The Next Web reports that Twitter has been noted as testing WhatsApp cross-posting within its Android app, basing the report on screenshots that have been cropping up online. Most of these images seem to originate in India and they show a dedicated button for posting a Twitter status to WhatsApp, something that would make a lot of sense for the company. India is one of the fastest growing markets for the Facebook-backed messaging app so testing out…

Admit it, you only clicked on this story because of the Futurama image reference but that’s only to be expected when a company is planning to make a futuristic transportation system. A company called skyTran, which is based in California in the States, intends to make an elevated magnetic rail transportation system that is intended to help ease traffic congestion. The system, which will have two-man cars or capsules running on a magnetic track, will first consist of a 500 metre loop at the Israel Aerospace Industries campus before skyTran rolls out a more commercial option for the wider city of Tel…

One of the problems with fitness trackers is that they look like fitness trackers. Withings’ newest addition to their product lineup, the Activité, and it looks more like a Swiss wristwatch than what it really is: a fitness band. The Activité has a sapphire glass display, so it should be fairly scratch-resistant, and the metal casing’s design comes by way of French and Swiss watchmaking companies. Which explains why one of the two sets of arms on the watch actually tell the time, while the inset single analogue arm provides you with a quick overview of your fitness goal for the day.…

We really do get some of the most interesting stuff to hit South Africa through our portals on a regular basis. Like this little robotic friend, known to most as the MiP. MiP is an app-controlled robot of sorts, though he’s more of a high-tech toy than something that you can program and mess around with on an internal level. But he’s cute, (or annoying depending on how long kids are going to be playing with it) which is nice. Identification please MiP is a self-contained little robot that is sustained by four AAA batteries that are inserted into its…

Microsoft has fired the first salvo in a storage war (we dearly hope) by announcing that they’re giving OneDrive users more than double the free storage that they had in the past. A new post over at the OneDrive blog details just what Microsoft has changed with regards to storage and storage plans but what you really need to know is that free storage has jumped from 7GB to 15GB. The second thing that you need to know is that these changes only go live from next month. They’re not just giving out more free storage though, they’ve got something…

The big target on the motoring industry (and Google’s) radar at present is the self-driving car, a science-fiction concept made flesh and placed on our roads. We’re expecting specific models in future to feature the technology but a company called Cruise is looking to turn the average standard car into an autonomous one with the addition of a new fitting and a spot of app control. But don’t get too excited yet, the tech is very localised. The idea is to add a unit called the Cruise RP-1, a sensor pod that contains cameras, radar and other bits and pieces,…

Technological South Africans now have an app-based solution to fighting crime in South Africa in the form of Bull Horns, an app that has been designed and launched locally with the intention of alerting the cops and/or friends and neighbours in the event of criminal activity in your area. Bull Horns is basically a panic button for your smartphone that can be used to contact the police or any other emergency contact specified silently in the event of a break-in, either via a phone call or SMS. If you happen to live in a close-knit community, they can be notified…