Author: Brett Venter

Apple (and Samsung) cannot get a break. First, the South Korean company tries to suck some oxygen from the iPhone presentation, and now Huawei wants to unveil its new MatePad Mini on the same day as… whatever Samsung is cooking up. That means 4 September will be a busy day for everyone. Huawei will reveal a new tablet, while Samsung will attempt to avoid having its toes stepped on too hard. We’re keen on anything that gives the world more lovely tech to play with, and the Mini version of Huawei’s MatePad sounds — according to rumour, at least –…

DJI has long been about letting its users create recordings in the most portable manner possible, but the new Mic 3 is about to make your gear bag lighter (and more versatile) than ever. The successor to the obviously-named Mic 2 puts up to four of its wireless microphones on as many subjects at once. It’ll take some extra financial outlay to adequately mic up your impromptu panel discussion, though, as the Mic 3 ships with two of DJI’s revamped microphones. Additional bits are needed (and must be paid for) to wring the full potential from the company’s new tech.…

Google’s headfirst drive to ram artificial intelligence capabilities into every product under its umbrella continues. The newest casualty recipient of an AI upgrade is the company’s Translate platform, which has always been handy for misinterpreting what Hideo Kojima is saying on Twitter. Now it’ll be handy for teaching you a new language, provided that language is Spanish, French, or (if you’re already Spanish or French) English. Those are the initial supported languages, but with Translate capable of understanding almost 250 different tongues, others will be added later. Translating for Google The second wave of languages coming to Google Translate’s customised…

WhatsApp’s AI writing assistant didn’t spend very long in beta at all, rolling out to American users and other unspecified countries, with the remainder of the English-speaking planet likely also in Meta’s sights. Called Writing Help, it promises that users can “review the suggestions from AI in various styles such as professional, funny, or supportive that you can select or continue editing to deliver that perfect message.” The reason for creating the feature is obvious: So Zuckerberg’s Meta can claim ever-increasing numbers of AI users without having to build something useful. As it stands, Writing Help could lead to some…

Can you think of a use case for an AI assistant that lives in your TV? If so, Microsoft’s Copilot is likely to be the first option you can use to begin your experimentation. Just don’t ask how the new feature is different from standard voice commands on smart devices. Microsoft says that Copilot will “[transform] the biggest screen in your home into your most personal and helpful companion,” adding that the feature will be free to use on compatible Samsung TVs. It’ll apparently be a “social experience, but the company is light on how it’ll differ from algorithm-driven suggestions…

Samsung has an unexpected event taking place on 4 September this year. Usually, its Unpacked showcases are a bi-annual affair, which might be why this one isn’t explicitly taking the name. It’s being called Galaxy Event, with its timing totally not calculated to intrude on Apple’s annual iPhone presentation. A September event is relatively rare for the South Korean giant, though it’s not without precedent. The last time we saw one (or, perhaps, bothered to tune in) was the Life Unstoppable event, which broadcast in the midst of 2020’s chaos. Unpacking Not-Unpacked Then, Samsung trotted out a more unusual collection…

The way we reviewed the Logitech MK250 keyboard and mouse combo is the way all peripherals should be tested. We wrote the review using it. If the keyboard survives to the end without being snapped in half, it’s probably worth your money. Depending entirely on how much said keyboard costs. It’s an easy bar to clear for anything with a premium build and mechanical switches, but at around R500, anything could happen. It could wind up broken (via strategically applied percussive maintenance) or it could emerge unscathed. The best part? Nobody will know till they arrive at the bottom of…

And here we thought Samsung had dropped the ‘Lite’ suffix from its premium range for good. The South Korean company has just announced its newest affordable(ish) S-series tablet, the Galaxy Tab S10 Lite. Aimed primarily at students and sprinkled with the company’s latest AI promises, the S10 Lite is set to have an international price tag of just over R6,000 ($350). It won’t be quite as attractively priced here at home, but it will make it to our shores in September. When it does, Samsung hopes that the 10.9in tablet’s AI smarts will convince you to stick one… wherever it…

Following several delays, SpaceX’s Starship 10, the first attempt since the last one, lifted off from the company’s Starbase launch platform in Texas. For a change, nothing went drastically wrong until it was supposed to. The massive front section of the spacecraft eventually exploded, but this time, where it was always supposed to — on the surface of the Indian Ocean. It’s what happened in between that was of most importance to SpaceX. As this was a test launch, a simulated deployment of Starlink satellites took place following “a full-duration ascent burn” that “achieved its planned velocity, successfully putting it…

Right on schedule, Apple has announced the date for its annual iPhone keynote presentation. If your guess was ‘early September’, then you were well served by rumour and the company’s somewhat predictable behaviour since… forever. There’s little that can be gleaned from the company’s invitation, which conveys all the pertinent information right up front. Avid Apple watchers can tune into the livestream from the Steve Jobs Theater on 9 September. Local time has the event kicking off at 13h00, but here in South Africa, you’ll have to make space at 19h00. Awe, Apple As usual, the American smartphone maker is…