Author: Brett Venter

If you think tickets to see Metallica live are expensive, you’re probably not ready for the Apple Vision Pro experience. But what an experience it should be. All the awesomeness of one of the biggest names in metal without any of the sweatiness that accompanies it. At least, that’s what Apple is promising when it drops its new Metallica “Apple Immersive concert experience” on 14 March. The presentation was filmed in Mexico City during the band’s two-year-long M72 World Tour and promises “ultra-high-resolution 180-degree video and Spatial Audio to give viewers unprecedented access to James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett,…

Every one of Samsung’s headliners is better than the last, but we can’t get over the idea that the company is intentionally taking smaller steps than it could. That’s especially true of this year’s Galaxy S25 Ultra. Yes, it’s speedier than it was last year. Could it be quicker? Likely, but then what would Samsung do next year? The focus for 2025 is on Samsung’s Galaxy AI, which could be a way of distracting us from the fact that very little has changed since about 2023. Those that have, have done so in very small increments — so much so…

Podcast app Pocket Casts has made its Web Player available to all users, free of charge. There’s no catch aside from a gentle nudge to create a free account to access a few extra features. All listeners need to do is head to the website, select a podcast, and start listening. There’s a reason for the move. Officially, “[b]y making our Web Player available to everyone, we’re reinforcing our belief that podcasts belong to the people, not corporations.” Unofficially, well… Out of Pocket Casts There really are no catches for users who want a free podcast service at their fingertips.…

Meta has long since chosen to abandon its metaverse ambitions and lean heavily on artificial intelligence. It has now made the jump to producing its own AI hardware. New internally designed AI training chips are now being tested by the social media giant. Following the initial test, assuming the chips are successful, Meta plans to increase production of its in-house hardware and roll it out internally. The idea is to replace the company’s reliance on hardware manufacturers like Nvidia for its AI ambitions. Meta’s bag of chips Two sources, speaking to Reuters, said that the test is a stepping stone…

In yet another stunning illustration of the power of AI, Google’s Gemini assistant can now add items to your Google Calendar at the press of a single button. Yes, really. It’s not like the functionality is new. Gemini users can ask the assistant to perform Calendar-related functions, including adding new events. What is new is the addition of a dedicated button in Gmail — once it’s been set up for your (paid-for) account — that automates the clicks you’d need to do this manually. Another Gemini launch The new function only works with Google Workspace accounts — Business, Enterprise, Education,…

Samsung will, with the launch of its Galaxy S25 Edge, add another face to its lineup of annual smartphone headliners. Plenty is known about the smartphone, but not as much as we’d be privy to following an official launch. Since Samsung is known to be prepping for a reveal, it’s just a question of when we’ll see it. Weirdly, our next hint is how much it’ll cost. S25 Edge of tomorrow South Korean pricing for the Galaxy S25 Edge is already kicking around the internet, showing that the smartphone will find itself sitting above the S25+ but below the S25…

Apple may have to step up its neural processor game. Cortical Labs has announced and put on sale its very first biological computer, the CL1. What makes it unique is its use of human neurons as part of its architecture. You read that correctly. Human brain cells form part of the CL1 computer, allowing owners to run code on… well, us. If you were looking for further signs that the gap between human and machine is narrowing, this is it. CL1 of those The human neurons don’t live in isolation. They are, for lack of a better word, alive. The…

Samsung’s Galaxy Flip 7 has come out to play in a set of new renders from noted leakers OnLeaks and Android Headlines. It’s the second such leak for the upcoming smartphone — the first showed a secondary screen much the same as that seen in the Galaxy Flip 6. The second leak… not so much. Gone are the borders keeping the display separate from the dual rear cameras. Instead, the upper part of the outer surface is all display, with cutouts for the camera lenses. Lucky number Flip 7 It might not seem like much, but it’s at least a…

Google went ahead and ruined its search function a few years ago, so what’s another boneheaded decision or two, right? The search giant has begun testing a new AI Mode for its Search product, something it reckons users have been asking for. Really, Google? Specifically, the company said, “we’ve heard from power users that they want AI responses for even more of their searches.” To meet that need, it has launched a new Labs experiment that “expands what AI Overviews can do with more advanced reasoning, thinking and multimodal capabilities.” The idea is to let users ask more complicated questions,…

Mobile World Congress is a place for the weird and wonderful (with a portable focus). This year, Samsung Display turned up at MWC 2025 and started to Flex on the other attendees. Specifically, it showed off a bunch of its upcoming display tech, including a prototype games console called the Flex Gaming. That wasn’t all, of course. A prototype OLED mobile display that more than doubles the brightness of what we’ve already got — from 2,000 to 5,000 nits — was perhaps the headliner, but it was joined by something called a Flexible Briefcase, a stretchable display, and other developments…