Author: Marcé

You can do just about anything via WhatsApp, the popular messaging app these days. But can you order fried chicken? According to KFC South Africa, its clients can now order food directly through WhatsApp.  The newly revealed ‘Chat Commerce’ channel allows users the ability to order food from the fast-food restaurant via chat. Before, you’d need a third-party delivery app like Uber Eats or Mr D to place an order on mobile. Now you don’t even have to leave the app you likely use most of the time anyway.  “KFC’s platform is 100% automated and leverages natural language processing. The…

The era of linear TV channels is steadily coming to a close, with video-on-demand and live streaming becoming the norm across many different platforms. Now, Showmax (owned by Multichoice, which also owns DStv) will live stream all the matches of the English Premier League, La Liga and Serie A in more than 50 countries across Africa. Hot on the heels of the audience-less Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Showmax is geared to bring you more sporting action. That’s for all the sports fans, because a subscription to Showmax Pro (the one with the sport DLC) costs significantly more per month than the…

How could we calculate how many First National Bank (FNB) customers sport Apple devices? Easy. Just launch Apple Pay functionality and see how many sign up. According to FNB’s latest report, the service gained 100,000 local users in its first week since launching on their platform.  “FNB’s addition to its digital payments’ ecosystem has kicked off with positive momentum as over 100 000 customers add Apple Pay to their FNB Credit, Debit, Fusion, and Virtual cards in the first week,” a press release explains.  Apple Pay is a digital payment service that allows users equipped with iPhones or Apple Watches…

Without mentioning any of the questionable historical events that led South Africans here, many of us still enjoy quite a lot of British television. We grew up with old favourites like Mr Bean and Top Gear — which means nostalgia fuels the success of a streaming service recently launched in the country called BritBox.  BritBox made its internet debut in SA on Friday 6 August — after which Stuff received a subscription to review the service and its content. At first glance, this looks like the ideal place to gain access to those old favourite ‘box-sets’ as many call them. …

If ever there’s been a bank that likes to build the hype, it’s Bank Zero. Detailed as a ‘controversial’ zero-fee bank back in 2018, Bank Zero has since gained quite a lot of competition for its banking model.  South Africa’s banking sector has evolved at great lengths in recent years — newbies Discovery Bank and TymeBank have shaken up the industry, and traditional banks have attempted forced evolution at its mercy. Some have done so fairly successfully too.  Bank Zero’s rocky path to launch has been riddled with icebergs, the main one being COVID-19 and its effect on working conditions.…

This week, Audi confirmed that it’ll bring its E-Tron range to South Africa in 2022. The range includes 6 models, all of them fitted with electric powertrains, in the SUV, crossover and high-performance categories.  “Across the world, the automotive industry are announcing plans to phase out combustion engines to advance the transformation of the industry for the future,” said Sascha Sauer, Head of Audi South Africa. The range forms part of Audi’s overall goal to only ship electric vehicles by 2026. But in 2022, South Africans will get access to the following models from the range: Audi E-Tron 50 &…

If you’re not launching a streaming service, what are you actually doing? South Africa is one video-on-demand streaming service richer, and it’s aptly named eVOD. That makes sense if you know that it’s developed by eMedia, the holding company behind e.tv, eNCA and Openview in a partnership with MTN.  eVOD is one of the only streaming services available to South Africans that features a free tier. Like Spotify’s free subscription, you’ll be served ads in exchange for free content streaming. In addition, there are also paid and transactional-based content.  This means users can opt to pay a monthly premium for…

While we’re yet to see a larger screen by the Chinese mobile brand Xiaomi in South Africa, it’s good to know which Mi TVs it currently has on offer in other countries. The brand recently launched in SA officially, which may indicate we’ll see much more Xiaomi-branded products that aren’t smartphones locally.  This week, the brand launched a 32in smart TV, named the Mi TV 4C, which comes in at a surprisingly low price considering it’s a full-fledged television with smart skills. More interestingly, the launch happened in India via a tweet by the official Mi TV India handle.  Meet…

You don’t have to know how TikTok, the vertical video-sharing platform works to know exactly what it is. Its short-form edited videos have taken over the internet in recent years, and it’s not showing any indication of slowing down. Now, it may have another feature in the cauldron — and it’s one we know very well already.  The clock’s TikTok Instagram was the first to carbon-copy a popular Snapchat feature called Stories. Stories are also short-format vertical videos, but there’s a time limit on ‘em. The feature took off, and almost every social platform available quickly picked it up and…

Sometimes, you have that one friend who just won’t sign up for a music streaming service, simply because it’s ‘too expensive’ to secure R60 a month for complete access to a massive music library. Now Spotify’s working on something developed specifically for that market — a cheaper subscription plan that still serves ads but gives you access to more features.  This new low-cost subscription tier will be called Spotify Plus and will feature unlimited skips (the free version limits you) and the ability to search for songs/artists/playlists and albums. The catch is that you’ll still be served advertisements. It has…