Author: Marcé

Would you buy an Apple-branded cloth for almost R300? If you would, I want to introduce you to Makro, and its R40 multipack of microfibre lappies. Following its latest product launch, the company revealed the overpriced cloth, designed to clean “…any Apple display, including nano-texture glass, safely and effectively.” Apple’s surely taking the piss.  Since it realised that it can sell accessories, covers, dongles, fittings, attachments, add-ons, apps, subscriptions and audio kit, the company’s been capitalising on that segment of its business extensively. And for good reason.  An Apple a day, ey? When Apple launched its AirPod in-ear buds in…

South Africa’s infamous zero-fee bank has announced that it’s dropping its ‘waiting list’ sign-up method — which means anyone can sign up to Bank Zero from now onwards. It’s sweetening the deal even more by keeping its fee structure static going into 2022.  In August, the bank headed by ex-FNB exec Micheal Jordaan announced that it was open for public sign-ups, but it was limiting ‘em to make sure it was able to scale according to capacity. The all-digital bank was slated to launch in 2019, but that launch was affected by a slew of events out of everyone’s control.…

While the world’s humans become increasingly accustomed to electric vehicles, South Africans are still deprived of an accessible range of options. Nevertheless, tech companies across the globe continue to invest heavily in EV tech, including Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer best known for making Apple’s kit.  At a recent tech event, Foxconn revealed three electric vehicle prototypes — a luxury sedan, an SUV and a bus. They’re all planned under the Foxconn branding and will be built on Foxconn’s open software and hardware platform, MIH Consortium.  The three’s names are quite reminiscent of another big EV player, coming in as…

We know the Xiaomi brand is relatively new in South Africa, and we’ve only recently started seeing flagship devices land here. We reviewed the slightly older Redmi Note 10 Pro about a month ago but Chinese social media is already abuzz with the next in the lineup — the Redmi Note 11 and Note 11 Pro devices.  According to various leaks on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform akin to Facebook here, Xiaomi is gearing up to launch two more flagship devices under the Note moniker.  As always, we’d take these rumoured specifications with a pinch of salt, especially considering…

Don’t trip yourself up trying to pronounce this brand’s name — either sound out the letters or go the easy route and call it bike (it’s BAIC, okay?). We recommend you get used to the Chinese automaker’s name because it’s ramping up investment in South Africa. In the same vein, it just announced its big, beefy off-roader, called the BAIC B40 Plus.  We spent some time with the BAIC B40 Plus this week, and can confirm that it’s a valid entrant into the small 4×4 category in South Africa. It also comes in somewhat cheaper than its competitors — a…

While South Africans may have acquired the shortest straw when it comes to gadget availability after launch, Apple doesn’t really disappoint.  The local iStore has announced the newly unveiled Apple Watch 7’s pricing and availability for the region, and it’s just as expensive as you’d expect, with pricing starting from R8,500 for the base model, and going up to R15,700 for the full specced ticker. Pre-orders are open now, and those with receipts following today will receive their Watch 7 devices from 22 October 2021. This time around you’re getting a tiny bit more bang for your hard-earned bucks –…

While it’s always good to support local businesses over global ones, in the case of DStv’s streaming service versus Netflix and Amazon Prime, there’s been one obvious issue with local. And that’s the overall user experience. We’re not even mentioning the repetitive content here.  DStv’s looking mighty Prime https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9-kA7lQReU&t=30s The Multichoice-owned streaming service is available as a smart TV app, mobile apps, console apps, TV box apps and web versions that can be accessed in a browser. This week, DStv announced changes to the app’s user interface (UI), which should make navigating all those repeats (and some licenced content) a…

Earlier this year, Ford introduced its FordPass Connect app — a mobile application designed to function as a remote car key. The app launched alongside its Ranger FX4 model — which was the first in South Africa to feature FordPass Connect functionality. Now it’s rolling out to more models.  Thing about this app is that it needs a specific type of receiver in the car to make it work as a remote key — and that’s an eSIM. According to Ford, this type of hardware can’t be retrofitted to a vehicle, which means that functionality is limited to certain newer…

Ever wondered why so many mid-to-upper class Joburgers drive 4x4s, SUVs and bakkies? It’s not just because they like to go off-roading in Harties on weekends, we’ll tell you that much. But there may be some relief inbound.  The City of Johannesburg has now launched a new Pothole Patrol App in partnership with Dialdirect and Discovery. Residents of the metro can now download the app (available on iOS and Android) and report potholes using geolocation tech.  Read More: Ford Ranger FX4 review To report a pothole, users will have to register an account. And while unregistered users can log ’em,…

We know that even the briefest drop in internet connectivity could affect the whole day’s workflow, (which is why a mini-UPS is perfect for load shedding). But it’s even worse if there’s no load shedding scheduled, and a whole province experiences an internet outage. Right Vumatel? “We are experiencing a network outage in the Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni area. Technicians are currently investigating. Updates will follow. We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience,” Vumatel tweeted just before midday on 12 October 2021.  Lost your Vuma? https://twitter.com/HeynekeNico/status/1447861130605600772 Prefacing the tweet, internet users from across Johannesburg and Ekhurhuleni took…