Author: Brett Venter

The sort of folks who are excited by mechanical keyboards tend to be a strange lot. Even by those standards, the Finalmouse Centerpiece is a strange piece of tech. It’s a complete mechanical keyboard, sure, but it’s also a display. And powering that display is an actual PC built into the wonderfully-clacky peripheral. The display isn’t really intended for gaming or anything other than visual impressiveness, though we have no doubt that someone will play Doom on it immediately. Instead, these are so-called ‘Interactive Skins’. It’s exactly what it sounds like — animations on the keyboard that respond to user…

HTC’s got its eye on the virtual reality space. And the augmented reality space. Better yet, it’s planning to tackle both with the same device, due to be revealed at CES 2023. It has previously teased the headset, which looks to take a goggle format, but more information has surfaced of late. Part of that information is a single, weirdly angled render. Otherwise, technical details have also been revealed, giving us some idea of what HTC’s still-unnamed headset will be capable of. Since the company was responsible for the HTC Vive (and a batch of others), there’s some reason to…

If battered South African power utility Eskom is getting its requested price increase, it won’t be right now. NERSA (the National Energy Regulator of South Africa) has seen its last meeting of the year come and go without making a call. It would be tempting to think that the delay has something to do with former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter stepping down from his position but that doesn’t appear to be the case. NERSA, there is no decision Instead, the reason given for the further delay is that more time is needed. That is despite yesterday’s meeting being the…

It must be entertaining to blow things up for a living. Demolitions expert. Eskom. That guy who makes balloon animals at kids’ parties. And now, Sierra Space has joined the ranks of professional exploders on behalf of the Orbital Reef space station project. If you’re having trouble remembering it, Orbital Reef is an initiative aiming to put another large space station into orbit. Unlike the International Space Station, this one will be populated chiefly by commercial interests. Expect research and development for the benefit of companies instead of countries, in other words. Saving the Orbital Reef https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWoyXpo4XeE Sierra Space is…

There are leaks and then there are leaks. Samsung tends to dribble information in an almost controlled manner about its products but the Galaxy S23 Ultra isn’t getting that sort of gentle treatment. TENAA, China’s certification board, has outed every spec the upcoming smartphone will feature. And we do mean every spec. Besides the phone’s appearance, which should look more or less the same as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, every single aspect of the phone has been laid bare. Meet the Galaxy S23 Ultra Just like every smartphone in South Africa goes through ICASA first, TENAA is the hurdle manufacturers…

Just when you think Eskom can’t kick you any harder than it currently is, along comes a potential price increase. NERSA, the country’s national energy regulator, will make a call on Eskom’s most recent price increase application this week. The amount at stake? A mighty 32% increase over the current cost per kW. The price increase has been in the works for some time now, with a subsequent request for an additional 10% increase already in the pipeline. You happy about this, NERSA? The agency has published the meeting schedule for its little get-together this week, where it’ll pull the…

If you have enough money, you can take a crew of other civilians with you into space. Some of these missions actually conduct science (and the follow-up is going to be mental). Others, like dearMoon, are a little more self-promotional in nature. The trip was announced in 2021 and opened applications to people from around the world. The final crew has now been announced and a couple of famous people have somehow made it onto the guest list. Others are less notable but everyone is an artist or performer in one way or another. The dearMoon crew dearMoon, if you…

The festive season isn’t the best of times to go grocery shopping. There are always loads of people who forgot to order anything online, plus folks who need to stock up for various events and parties. If you’re a Gauteng resident, there’s now another option when it comes to grocery delivery — Yassir Express. Yassir Express is an unusual candidate for South Africans, though. While most grocery delivery apps include retail stores that you can visit if you wanna, this one consists of “dedicated dark stores”. In other words, you can’t ever enter the premises. Taking the Yassir Express But…

Self-driving vehicles are an elusive goal for the tech industry but one place where they might function properly is in the field. The literal field. John Deere has already shown off a self-driving tractor; now, agriculture company CNH Industrial has its own entry. Called the New Holland T4 Electric Power, this is “the industry’s first all-electric light utility tractor prototype with autonomous features.” Last week, the vehicle was unveiled at the company’s Tech Day event in Phoenix, Arizona. Electrifying CNH Industrial The self-driving tractor has several standard EV features. Its battery pack should offer a full day’s worth of work,…

Last month the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) sought permission to use robots to kill criminals and other suspects (terms and conditions apply). At the beginning of December, that permission was granted. In the latest twist of this particular roller coaster, killer robots are no longer allowed to kill human beings in San Francisco. No more killer robots In a complete reversal, the Board of Supervisors just voted for a military equipment policy that bans police from using robots to kill. Thank you to all the residents and civil rights advocates who made their voices heard! — Dean Preston (@DeanPreston)…