Author: Marcé

That’s a wrap! The Google IO keynote has concluded, and if you haven’t been following it, we’re here to give you a breakdown of the most intriguing announcements. They really could’ve called it the Google AI keynote this year, as most of the ingenious new developments Google is coming up with includes everyone’s fave new buzzwords — Artificial Intelligence. Android P and your wellbeing Everyone should know about the P by now, because in no time all new Android handsets should launch with Android’s brand new software, and some of the flashier ones already on the market should get it…

Why would you want a Huawei smartphone that costs almost double what the new Huawei P20 Pro goes for? There are a few great reasons, but mostly it’s about looking absolutely awesome. That’s a definite prime reason for owning some high-end smartphone hardware. In this case, the Huawei Porsche Design Mate RS features a stylish curved design and is also branded with the Porsche Design logo (sorry Land Rover and CAT). Putting your phone on the table during Saturday brunch with the fam will initiate ALL the conversation, and you don’t even need to own a real Porsche vehicle to…

What do you get when you take a Samsung Galaxy S9, an S9+, a magazine editor and a swimming pool and put them all together? A speedy review of a phone shot on the phone itself, that’s what. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFrcbi_00eo Filmed using a Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+. Sample devices courtesy of Samsung Mobile South Africa. Edited using Adobe Premiere Clip for Android.

Uber has a bold vision for the future of urban transport. By 2023 the ride-sharing startup aims to make small aircraft rides, with vertical takeoff and landing, an affordable option for daily commuters — allowing for something like Joburg to Pretoria in 15-odd minutes. With no traffic? We’re in! The company has revealed a new concept  of their so-called “aerial taxi” at the 2018 Elevate conference in Los Angeles and it looks like a jet had a baby with a massive drone. The prototype has four stacked rotors along the spine for maximum lift, which can be hidden in compartments…

This is not a drill. Twitter has revealed it’s discovered a bug that stored passwords in plain text in its internal system. Oops. In other words, change your password for the service now. Also, now Twitter may know your childhood pet’s name, your birthday, or whatever else you’ve been using for a password. Of course, it means if it’s unwittingly been compromised, someone else might, too. Twitter HQ has advised that all users change their passwords, because there’s no telling how many people have been affected by said bug. Team Twitter has already attended to the issue and said the…

Serious mobile gaming has seen a massive boom in recent months, with Fortnite releasing on iOS, Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition on both iOS and Android, and even the infamous PUBG shooter can be found on mobile screens across the world. Now Hi-Rez Studios decided to bring one of their their console- and PC-based 5v5 hero-shooter to iOS and Android. Hi-Rez Studios are the guys behind Smite and Tribes: Ascend, and they have just released a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) adaptation of Paladins: Champions of the Realm on mobile, titled Paladins Strike. How is it different to Paladins Champions of…

Facebook is launching a dedicated app within an app — just called ‘Dating’ — which is targeted at matching people up to find love. When you take into account that the entity known as Facebook started out as FaceMash, a ‘hot or not’ ranking website, it’s strange that Zuckerberg’s service hasn’t delved into the dating scene sooner. Facebook executives have made it clear that this newest addition to their platform won’t be aimed at proposing hookups, but rather at finding ‘real love’. Which isn’t that far-fetched an idea. We all know a few people who have found love online. It’s…

Watch out Ready Player One, Facebook might be planning a future mildly resembling yours. By making VR headsets more affordable, it could conceivably conquer the masses. Facebook didn’t pay $2 billion for Oculus on a whim, after all. At Facebook’s F8 keynote, Mark Zuckerberg enthusiastically announced that the Oculus Go will hit shelves soon. The headsets are already available on the official Oculus website for $199. There’s no word on how soon South Africa will see them but we haven’t made the cut of the 23 launch countries. If pricing hold steady, though, then we should be getting the Oculus…

Emails. The bane of our existence and the primary form of sending personal and professional letters to friends and foes. Sending and receiving emails might be a tedious task for some, but Google really wants to make your email experience more comfortable. To that end Gmail has received a well-deserved update, and there are a few reasons why you need it in your life right now. Home screen behaviour The new Gmail, as they call it, has a few new functions you can access on the home screen to optimise capability over clicks, and you won’t know why you need…

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has finally made a decision on the future of data for mobile users, and it is definitely looking up. The new regulations state that mobile data shouldn’t expire. Initially, the regulator’s draft regulation of data bundles proposed that data should expire in a tier-system depending on how much data was bought. For example: 50MB would last ten days while 20GB would only expire after two years, but that proposed system would unfairly discriminatory against the poorer users who tend to buy smaller bundles, and who would benefit from the most from longer…