Author: Brett Venter

Automaker Ford is leaning more heavily into the electric vehicle space. The brand’s F150 has gone full-EV, now it might be time for something a little more South African to get a shot. Ford appears to have plans to launch EV versions of its Maverick and Ranger trucks, according to a new trademark filing. Folks on the internet have spotted new trademark filings with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Ford is trademarking the names Ranger Lightning and Maverick Lightning, presumably to go along with the F150 Lightning. Ranger danger ‘Lighting’, so far, is the suffix Ford has used…

Sony’s got a new rewards program heading to market, called PlayStation Stars. The service, announced yesterday, will see players earning rewards for a few things, including buying and playing games. Based on what we can see, it looks like an amalgamation of some of Steam’s and Nintendo’s rewards initiatives, and Microsoft’s Rewards program for Xbox. There are a few items that subscribers can get from the program, but one of these rewards involve “digital collectibles”. The name is a little scary, as is Sony’s follow-up description. PlayStation Stars in its own show Sony’s PlayStation Stars digital collectibles are “…digital representations…

2018 saw the release of Sega’s Genesis Mini console (also known as a Mega Drive Mini). 2022 will see the release of the Genesis Mini 2, a second retro console from the Japanese publisher. And we have Amazon to thank for spoiling Sega’s announcement. The launch isn’t all that unexpected. Japan has a Mega Drive Mini 2 launching this year, which will have a Sega CD add-on. The Genesis version hasn’t got the addition confirmed, yet, but its 27 October launch date is pretty official. I want a Genesis Mini 2 Amazon dropped the ball on this one, accidentally revealing…

Netflix may have promised, once upon a time, that it would never show its users ads. But that was before money became an issue. Now, Microsoft is also involved in the whole process, making what was once speculation a complete certainty. Netflix and Microsoft have joined forces. They will provide subscribers (and potential subscribers) with “a new lower priced ad-supported subscription plan”. That’s… a good thing, right? Microsoft goes hard It wasn’t that long ago that we heard that Netflix was looking for new marketing partners. Microsoft is officially the new favoured entity, beating out America’s Comcast (thankfully) and Google. As…

Remember at the beginning of 2021, when LG was still a smartphone maker? The company was due to follow its Wing smartphone with the LG Rollable, a very unusual take on a phone. But then LG got out of the smartphone game, just before it was supposed to turn up. But it seemed like an almost complete project at the time. So what happened to the LG Rollable? As it happens, there’s at least one lurking around the internet. It was caught on camera, proving that LG’s experimental extending smartphone actually worked. Rollable phones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFAmEO53yEY There’s really not much to…

Once upon a time, the iPhone was a smartphone upstart in the world of feature phones. Once upon a time, Nokia was the undisputed king of cellular. During the transition period, when the two swapped places, Nokia released its Nokia 5800 XpressMusic handset. That phone is being reborn for 2022, in the shape of the Nokia 5710 XpressAudio. Which is a completely different thing. Right? Yes, but actually, no. Both are devices focused on playing music. Both are, technically, feature phones.  Both are basic candybar designs. And the fact that we’re talking about candybar phones in 2022 is proof that…

We always knew that the James Webb Space Telescope would go on to do wonderful things. It cost in the region of $10 billion and was several years late. There’s no way NASA would sink that much time and money in a project that would produce sub-standard results. Speaking of results, the first proper image from the James Webb telescope dropped last night. It was unveiled by the American president. It’s even got an official title. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, we reckon the full image probably justifies the capital letters. James Webb would be proud There’s an iconic…

Rumours about the iPhone 14 started not too long after the iPhone 13 launched. Some interesting details, like increased RAM and a possible hole-punch display, are suggested. Now there’s something new — the possible date of the iPhone 14 lineup launch. Specifically? Apple’s newest smartphones are supposedly showing up on 13 September this year. Pre-orders are expected to start on 16 September, while international sales will start on 23 September. iPhone 14 loading At least, that’s the word behind an Apple leaker on Twitter, iHacktu. The anonymous user claims that 13 September is the big day. Given their track record,…

It’s almost nice to know that after fourteen years of load shedding, South Africa finally has a plan. Or a clue. Or something. No, really. South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his weekly letter to the country, has said that he will soon reveal plans to “…accelerate all efforts to increase our electricity supply”. This sounds like a good thing. Various factors have combined to give South Africa its worst bout of load shedding in recent years. Sabotage, strike action, the fact that Eskom has been plundered over several decades… yeah, South Africa’s power generation could be better. Ramaphosa has…

Back when Meta was still Facebook and Oculus was still Oculus, the Oculus Quest 2 launched. It was an improvement on its predecessor in every way. Except one. You needed a Facebook account to use it. Delete your Facebook account, and you lose everything you purchased on your VR hardware. We were… unimpressed. The problem behind it seems obvious. In order to use your VR hardware, you either had to sign up for, or retain, a Facebook account. And since Facebook (now Meta) around that time was being a little… lax… when it came to user data, that wasn’t an…