Author: Brett Venter

Some of you might remember the humble Beach Buggy, a converted VW Beetle with a fibreglass shell, a roll cage, and basically no way to keep drivers and passengers warm. They used to (and still do) roam South Africa’s coastline. They were also seen in all manner of places outside of SA because they were made by a company called Meyers Manx. Manx used to sell Beach Buggies to anyone who was willing to put them together. The iconic vehicle was a fun experience, but what if it was utterly terrifying? Enter the Manx 2.0, an electric Beach Buggy. Brisk…

So you wanted a future with robots, did you? Xiaomi, apparently, is about to make that happen. CyberOne is its first humanoid robot, revealed during an event yesterday. It joins the company’s existing Cyberdog, a surprisingly affordable robotic quadruped. If there’s no option to have the pair interact, Xiaomi will have failed. Unlike Tesla’s own humanoid droid, Xiaomi’s robotic person actually walked out on stage yesterday. It might not look as slickly human as Elon Musk’s concept but it’s apparently completely functional. The CyberOne robot joined Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun on stage, gave him a flower, and then posed for…

It’s almost fitting that a space station (of the ground-based variety) is patrolled by robot dogs. Drone-maker Ghost Robotics might be in line to handle that particular job if a recent Space Force demo is any indication. A recent demonstration by the US Space Force at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station points to that future. The demo took place in late July and saw Ghost Robotics’ Quadruped Unmanned Ground Vehicles, or Q-UGV drones, patrolling the facility. Who you gonna call? The demo was intended to demonstrate how “…manual and repetitive tasks can be automated using ground-based robots”. In other words,…

Samsung’s Galaxy Flip 4 doesn’t seem to have changed much but the same can’t be said for the Galaxy Fold 4. Unless you’re looking at it from the outside, and not under a microscope, at any rate. Which, yes, means that the design is very similar to the Galaxy Fold 3. But it’s below the surface where actual changes have been made. The company’s leaned heavily on its alterations to the Fold 4’s body. Invisible alterations, for the most part, but they still count. But there are changes throughout that make this the more attractive option for a serious tech-head.…

Samsung’s Galaxy Flip 4 smartphone might only be landing in South Africa in September this year, but we’ve already taken a brief look at it. At the close of the company’s Unpacked stream yesterday, we were given some time to muck around with Samsung’s newest foldables. So… should you drop everything and buy one? That’s not really a question we can answer, yet. But owning a Samsung-made folding smartphone is more attractive than ever, based on our brief time with the device. First impressions In terms of design, there really isn’t much changed between the Flip 3 and Flip 4.…

Last year, Netflix decided it would offer video games to subscribers in addition to mounds of movies and series of varying quality. It took several steps in the direction of mobile games, including hiring folks from EA and buying a gaming studio. So how is it going? Actually… it’s not doing that well. According to an analysis from a company called Apptopia (via CNBC), the mobile games on the streaming service’s platform have been downloaded 23.3 million times. Daily, there are about 1.7 million users playing those games. Playing games with Netflix You might be thinking, those are decent numbers.…

Google might be the eventual downfall of all humanity but when the smoke clears and the mist lifts, at least they did something for the kids. Specifically, they promoted literacy, in several different languages. There’s always room for one more, though. Google’s Read Along app has made the jump from the Android ecosystem to a regular web browser. The point, apparently, is to make it even more accessible to potential readers. The site remains in beta for the moment, meaning that it may change, but you can access it now if you want to. Read Along with Google The concept…

Back when LG was still making smartphones, one aspect was always on point — the audio. LG’s Tone Free series of earbuds have continued that trend. The announcement of the company’s newest addition, the Tone Free T90, shows that won’t change any time soon. The company has announced three sets of buds — there’s the T90, which will take up most of the space here, and then two fitness-focused buds. Both of these — the TF7 and TF8 buds —  fall under a new Tone Free Fit umbrella. Both use LG’s UV charging case, feature an IP67 rating (because we…

Samsung’s best smartphones are also its most expensive smartphones. It doesn’t make sense to make them the cheapest of the lot, after all. That’s poor capitalism. But devices like the Galaxy A53 5G are narrowing the gap between Samsung’s flagship devices and its mid-range lineup. The A53 stocks up on some of the S22’s best features, at less than half of the price. We’re not saying this phone has it all, because it doesn’t, but it’s packing enough to make it an attractive option for users on a budget. So much so that we can almost forgive Samsung for choosing…

South Korea has launched its first satellite to the Moon, thanks to SpaceX This whole Artemis thing seems to be catching on. Even countries without rocket programs are travelling to the moon. South Korea is the latest country to send an object to our planet’s largest satellite. Last week, the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter was sent into space on a SpaceX rocket that launched from Florida. Assuming everything goes to plan, the orbiter, called Danuri, will make it to the moon in about four and a half months. Then it will circle the moon for about eleven months. It’ll collect geological…