Author: Brett Venter

Google yesterday launched SynthID Detector, an online tool that “helps you make informed decisions about what to trust” on the internet. It does this by identifying AI-generated content, whether that’s an image, video, or audio file. If Google needs a special tool to help people identify one of the internet’s major features, maybe that feature isn’t as useful as it’s being made out to be. The tool isn’t new. It’s been around, assisting “media professionals [in verifying] AI-generated content,” since last year. It’s just the broader rollout to the general population that’s new. It’s also not a catch-all solution, since…

The newest shot fired in the campaign to make you use AI is Playground, Google’s newest ‘make-it-yourself’ temptation. The product is “an experimental gaming platform that lets you create, play, and share custom games.” If you can’t get enough of the same AI-generated faces in images all over the internet, you’ll probably be a fan of whatever Google Playground kicks out. If you’re planning on taking it all seriously, the internet giant also teased Unity Spark integration as a coming feature. That one will add “professional-level mechanics, high-fidelity 3D capabilities, and the flexibility of the Unity runtime.” Playground hijinks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxvrvfyicp0…

Huawei’s tri-folding sequel, the Mate XT 2, may have launched earlier than expected in China, which means we could get our hands on one sooner. The company, via consumer business chairman Richard Yu, has confirmed that it’ll soon depart China for other markets. Yu was speaking at an International Media Roundtable, with his remarks later posted on social media platform X. We’re expecting South Africa to be one of the XT 2’s destinations, given that the original Mate XT was (surprisingly) launched here. Your visiting Mate XT 2 “We’ll gradually make this tri-fold phone available in the overseas market. Many…

Apple fanboys may want to pay special attention to the latest item up for grabs for those with enough cash — a working Apple-1 computer, plus a batch of other history from the iconic Fruit Company. The current bid, at the time of writing, is R6.6 million ($400,000), but you’ll likely have to put up quite a bit more. Tech and nerd history (and other things) regularly go up for auction. Few are as cool as a fully functional Apple-1 motherboard signed by Steve Wozniak. A surprising number of those exist, but not in working order. None of them are…

Smart telescopes are everywhere, from standard units with augmented features to fully loaded AI gear. Qivika is the latest contender for your astronomical (and terrestrial) attention — a very compact smart scope that promises some pretty impressive things. In execution, the Qivika smart scope is closer to Unistellar’s new Envision binoculars. The reported reach of 24x is longer, of course, and you’ll likely need a tripod to make the most of this one, but its AI features are very similar. That includes astronomical and terrestrial identification, facilitated by the scope’s companion app. And your smartphone, which would be mounted on…

If you’re paying close attention – and most Netflix viewers aren’t – you might have noticed that there’s a change coming to the streaming service. Once the darling of the internet, because viewers could watch everything they wanted in a single place, Netflix seems to be racing to the bottom of the watchability scale. That’s not immediately obvious. There’s no doubting the decline in the platform’s original offerings of late, and the rise of competing services means it’s not the one-stop shop it once used to be. But Netflix looks to be chasing quantity at the expense of quality. That’s……

There are various ways to waste time at work, but a recent decompilation of the original Halo: Combat Evolved has added an excellent new method to your list of choices. The first-person shooter, recently re-re-released, is now fully playable in a web browser. It’s the original Xbox version (pre-360) of the iconic shooter, which saw the first appearance of Master Chief on the gaming scene. The browser version isn’t a port. You might as well be playing it on Microsoft’s original console. If you have the correct controller, you’ll struggle to tell the difference at all. Halo there, Spartan The…

OpenAI really is attempting to do a Corey Doctorow speedrun. Following a denial that it was testing ads in ChatGPT and then chat-based ads launching soon after, the company has announced “visual ads” for the chatbot. Those are… exactly what you think they are. ChatGPT will get image-based advertising soon, with the initial round of testing using American users as guinea pigs. A smaller pool of advertisers will be involved at the outset, but we can expect it to expand shortly afterwards. Unless something goes horribly wrong… OpenAI this advertisement This is something OpenAI has actually considered, for once. Initially,…

Apple likes to push its smartphone camera capabilities, showing off how good your shots can be (when it forms part of a professional rig). ShiftCam’s upcoming ProRig is designed to give the average user similar capabilities from their iPhone, especially the iPhone 18 Pro. The 18 Pro Max can play too, if it wants to. Essentially a modular aluminium frame that integrates an iPhone, the ProRig is designed to suit whatever video setup you prefer. There are options for greater stability while filming handheld, tripod setups, slots for microphones, and a slider for adding more capable lenses over the iPhone’s…

Samsung has been talking up its smart glasses for ages. Now, there’s a date attached to the release of the joint partnership with Google. A report from South Korea reckons the company has picked this November for the launch of its AI-toting eyewear. The report, via the Korea Herald, believes the South Korean company is launching with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta in mind. That’s who Samsung sees as its largest competitor in this space. That’s not an inaccurate assessment, since Meta’s Ray-Ban partnership has popularised the tech — even if it’s only tangentially useful for the average user. AI, Samsung According…