Author: Brett Venter

Medical aid is a big deal in South Africa. But, not everyone can afford it. Discovery, in a partnership with Clicks and Auto & General Insurance, has launched a (kinda) new health insurance product. Flexicare is the name and keeping you healthy is its game. Flexicare isn’t actually all that new. It’s been around since 2018 but it was previously confined to companies. As long as your workplace supported it, you could access it. Now, you don’t need to wait for your capitalist overlords to give a damn about your health to get you some Discovery coverage. It’s not quite medical…

If you’ve always wanted a BMW smartphone of your very own, you’ve (probably) been out of luck (unless you could find that one Vivo special edition). That’s a good thing. When companies with no experience make smartphones, the results tend to be terrible. But when Samsung is making the device? Then it might not be such a terrible idea. And the South Korean company isn’t the only one setting up strange partnerships. Chinese brand Realme (which is related to both Vivo and Oppo) has announced a Coca-Cola partnership that really is quite special. Not quite as special as its recent Naruto-themed…

Do you think you have what it takes to create the next great African (or South African) film production? Showmax wants to hear from you. And not in the whole ‘do it for exposure’ way you might expect, either. The streaming platform has funding to hand out for ten films set in Africa. The company, in partnership with the Joburg Film Festival, is inviting pitches from… well, from everyone. But there are a few terms and conditions attached to these proposals. Otherwise, like advertising a job on Facebook, folks will apply despite being massively underqualified. Showmax what you’ve got The…

Earlier this week Roscomsos, the Russian space agency, performed the latest of many (so many) International Space Station (ISS) resupply missions. The launch vehicle behind that trip to the ISS was the Soyuz 2.1a. It’ll also take centre stage later this month when it sends the replacement Soyuz MS-23 capsule to the space station. Soyuz rockets (Soyuz means ‘union’) have been the backbone of Russia’s space program since 1966. The Soyuz 2.1a has been in service since 2004, alongside the 2.1b (2006) and 2.1v (2013). The difference between these? The ‘b’ variant is capable of heavier lift and the ‘v’…

Samsung’s new Galaxy S23 Ultra is almost here, which means that you’ve got a choice to make sometime soon. Do you upgrade from the Galaxy S22 Ultra (or the S20 or S21 counterparts)? Do you hang on for the S24 Ultra? When the phone starts at R31,000 in South Africa, that’s not just a whimsical decision. You should probably consult a financial adviser too. We’re here to assist with the choice part. Assuming your bank account can handle it, or you’re okay with chowing six months’ worth of Indomie noodles instead of real food, you have to ask yourself whether…

Last week, Netflix sprung a little leak. An FAQ turned up online that the company later said was published in error. That FAQ explained in more detail how its password-sharing crackdown would work. Published in error or not, this week the streaming company has expanded the regions where password sharing has become more limited. Of course, this isn’t actually a surprise. The company said last month that it would make its new password policies “more broadly” available over the course of this year. In February, the new standard is being applied to New Zealand, Canada, Portugal, and Spain. Netflix needs…

We know what you’re thinking. An iPhone 14 review in February 2023 when the smartphone lineup launched at the end of 2022? Well, yes. And, in the words of Russel Peters, “No more questions.” We’re here, the phone is here, and so is the review. It won’t happen this late again. But as it turns out, we really haven’t missed much. If you splashed out on an iPhone 13 in 2021, then nor have you. Apple’s most recent vanilla phone isn’t substantially different from its last one. Sure, there are one or two aspects that have altered, but the big…

The best Harry Potter video game made to date doesn’t include mention of the Boy Who Lived himself. That’s a dramatic change from the last few decades, which saw releases featuring Potter, Weasley, and Granger of varying quality. Some of those were worthy of your time. Others were of decidedly more dubious quality. Most of the latter entries are lost in the mists of time. Others are still around. They may even be fondly remembered, in the case of Quidditch World Cup. But those players are remembering the time they spent navigating a broomstick in other Harry Potter games. It…

If you’re a mobile gamer, your Netflix subscription just became a little more valuable. The streaming company has reached an agreement to launch two upcoming games – which are also heading over to consoles – on its catalogue of mobile games, for its subscribers. The games in question are Dust & Neon, a twin-stick shooter, and Highwater, an adventure title with strategy elements. Both are made by Rogue Games, the company that made the announcement on Netflix’s behalf. All right Netflix, we’re listening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pkhMtW54to Dust & Neon is also set to launch on the PC and the Nintendo Switch if…

In August last year, speaker specialist Sonos was revealed to be working on a new omnidirectional speaker setup. At the time it was known under the Optimo designation, a codename meant to conceal what the company was up to. That’s changed. The Verge, the same folks who outed Optimo, has detailed more about the upcoming and still unannounced speaker system. The pair of speakers will launch under Era branding, with the models being the Era 100 and Era 300 respectively. A new Era for Sonos It was already known that Sonos’ upcoming speakers would feature a unique design. Up till…