Author: Brett Venter

Boston Dynamics’ Spot is, for many, the original robot dog. While it’s a relatively benign design (mostly), its spawned several more lethal evolutions. There was the Spur, a rifle-toting creation from Ghost Robotics, and now there’s the Thermonator. You’ll never guess what that does. If you guessed ‘walks around with a bloody great big flame thrower on its back’, congratulations on reading the headline. We’re not exactly sure why it exists but since you can pre-order it from a company called ThrowFlame — which specialises in flamethrowers of all types — we’re guessing it’s just a product for flame-throwing enthusiasts.…

OtterPilot is an AI-powered chatbot with a very particular set of skills. Skills that make it a nightmare for people who think you’re still paying attention to online meetings. Otter.ai is a popular (and handy) transcription service that turns recorded conversations into written text. Its newest offering ramps that function up a little. Just a little. OtterPilot, the name that the new Otter AI Chat service has given its chatbot, won’t completely absolve you of listening responsibility during an online meeting but it will make most of the recall-based aspects of that meeting somewhat meaningless. When artificial intelligence is listening…

It’s entirely possible that, with our review of the Fujifilm Instax Square Link, we’ve officially completed the set. Previously, we’ve encountered the Instax Mini Link 2 and the Link Wide. The Square brings us full circle (yes, we see how that could be confusing), rounding out the different instant film categories available from the Instax brand. Just, you know, without the camera. What nobody tells you where you look at one of these in a store is how hard it is to design a portable photo printer that stands out from other portable photo printers. Fuji has tried here and…

The tyranny of small chips of plastic that slip into your smartphone is at an end. Vodacom has launched eSIM support for smartphones in this country, building on its previous launch of the tech for wearable devices. This isn’t wholly new but the introduction of the option for prepaid, hybrid, and regular contract users is. If you remember, Apple’s latest iPhones launched a version that only supports an eSIM (embedded Subscriber Identity Module) identifier. That model was confined to specific countries at launch but since Vodacom intends to support “selected…smartphones” using the tech, perhaps we’ll be on the list next…

German audio brand Sennheiser recently sold off its consumer audio arm to a company called Sonova. This company specialises in hearing-based medical tech, which is why it’s hardly surprising that the next in-ear products to launch from the brand are… over-the-counter hearing aids. Don’t get too excited, however. The new All-Day Clear and All-Day Slim hearing aids with their attendant high-end audio branding are only due for launch in the States this July. Other locations will likely follow. When they do, don’t expect German-engineered audio assistance to be cheap here. Sennheiser listens The idea behind these products is that they’ll…

If you’ve been hanging onto Microsoft’s previous generation games console because, well, games are still launching for it, it’s time to start saving for something new. The company, via an Axios interview with game studio head Matt Booty, has confirmed that it’ll no longer be making those. That’s not all he was talking about but everything covered during the interview entailed how the company’s games platform will continue moving into the future. That’s a thing executives like to talk about — even executives who make video games for a living. Microsoft’s call of Booty The move shouldn’t be surprising. The…

What with Apple making a huge splash in the world of virtual reality, Meta obviously thinks some catching up is in order. WhatsApp will probably be one of the battlegrounds if a pending update for the messaging platform is any indication. The folks over at WABetaInfo have come across information that Meta’s messaging service will be making the jump to virtual reality. Specifically to the Meta Quest, because the company owns that hardware. Plus, remember how the social network was going to make it big in the metaverse? WhatsApp with VR? Don’t get too excited though. The feature is still…

It seems like everyone on the planet is investing in some sort of battery backup technology. Anker’s Solix solution is the latest to take the leap into powering an entire home using solar power and a very large battery. This particular option is designed to be rather more modular than most. The lineup of home power products was revealed at the company’s ReCharge event held in New York earlier this week. The international reveal reckons that the products are in line for a global launch in 2024. We can wait. Load shedding certainly won’t have ended by then – but…

Once upon a time, landing a rocket seemed like something out of Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles. Then came Elon Musk, SpaceX, and the Grasshopper program. You might not remember this but the testing for the space company’s Falcon rockets was extensively documented. And awesome. Now it’s 2023 and the company has been launching and landing rockets for years now. Not all of them have come home safely (and it was hilarious). But enough have landed successfully that it’s now commonplace. As of this week, Elon’s company has racked up 200 successful rocket landings. SpaceX goes big After delivering 72 spacecraft…

Huawei’s Mate X3 smartphone might be the best-engineered folding phone we’ve ever encountered. The question really is: Is this amazingly well-put-together device worth the R45,000 asking price? Even when you factor in the R6,000-ish worth of extras Huawei is throwing in to sweeten the deal, is this work R39k? That’s… actually not a question you’re supposed to be asking. Anyone looking to buy a folding smartphone in 2023 should leave price considerations at the door. The tech is still new, it’s still expensive, and you’re going to pay. If you’re on a budget, opt for a normal phone like the…