Author: Marcé

What if the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 was the last iteration of the company’s stylus-equipped range? It’s completely possible, if recent rumours are to be believed. Suspicions have been abundant, since it released its beautiful rose-gold variant, that Samsung may kill off the range completely. And that’s in spite of the company maintaining that the Note series is sticking around.  A kind of Death Note Most recently, analyst Ross Young tweeted more information, stating that “… although now there is no Note 21 coming, we may see a Note 20 FE”. Samsung did the same thing when it released its…

Why have newspaper sales gone down? Probably because it’s quicker (and cheaper) to read your news on Facebook, Google, or any other social media platform actually. The Australian government is working on a code of conduct that will force social platforms to pay for the news they source in a bid to help out publishers.  Global lockdowns have had a significant effect on businesses of all types and sizes. This includes the publishing industry, which has seen a significant drop in advertising revenue. That’s… their main income. This prompted the Australian government to make these payments to publications mandatory. It…

We’ve all been there — scrolling endlessly through the Netflix home screen, with nothing looking particularly enticing for that moment in time. Some days you scroll for longer than it takes to watch one episode of The Office. And finally, Netflix plans to roll out a solution to all users later this year.  The Shuffle Play feature was seen on a select group of user accounts in 2020, but it hasn’t made it to the larger public yet. According to Variety, the feature will roll out officially in the second half of 2021.  Netflix knows what you want As part…

Facebook’s popular (and more recently, highly controversial) messaging app may need to cool it on its terms of service ultimatum. This comes as India, WhatsApp’s largest market (totalling 340 million users) has decided to challenge the app’s forced privacy policy update.  This week, India’s technology ministry confronted WhatsApp parent company Facebook, saying that the new terms in its updated privacy policy infringe on the individual choice of Indian users. It’s turned into more of a demand, with the ministry calling on the company to withdraw its latest changes. Oof. WhatsApp’s golden child It’s clear Facebook has invested a lot of…

Okay, bear with us. Apple’s brand new iPhone 12s have barely even started warming shelves, and we’re already on the iPhone 13? Yes. That’s because the world of tech never stands still and we’re a curious bunch.  According to some of the information that’s readily available, it looks like we can expect a smaller notch, a thicker body, and no charging port. There’s no question that the iPhone 12 has been a resounding success, delivering impressive performance, stellar 5G speeds, excellent cameras, and its ‘new’ design. Lucky for us, the rumour mill never sleeps, and we’ve got some of the…

Multichoice has been increasing its digital offerings over the past year, including launching its own DStv streaming service, a decoder dedicated to streaming and more Showmax options. Now, it has started testing more live channels on Showmax, regardless of your subscription package.  Live on Showmax This week, DStv announced that two of its channels will now be streaming as live channels on the streaming service Showmax. Now you have more than one place to watch both Mzanzi Magic and KykNet live.  This comes at a time when many people in South Africa are under lockdown, with the only constant being…

Apple’s had a busy few months following the announcement and launch of its iPhone 12 lineup late last year. Compared to other smartphone makers, the company hasn’t delivered much in terms of redesigns or innovations, sticking to small updates across its lineup of iPhones, iMacs and MacBooks. Recent reports suggest we may see some real changes coming to some of its most popular products.  Time for an Apple iFold? At this point, almost every smartphone competitor has experimented with foldable displays in one way or another. Apple fans have been waiting in anticipation for the company’s iteration of a functional…

If ever there was an example of ‘going out with a bang’, US President Donald Trump is coming very close to it. During his presidency, Trump’s administration has managed to place more than 60 Chinese firms (including Huawei and DJI) on an Entity List, barring any US trade with the companies listed. Turns out there’s an additional list called the military blacklist that restricts US investors from buying stock in listed Chinese companies. The US government recently added Xiaomi to this list.  What it means for Xiaomi Xiaomi is currently the third-largest smartphone maker in the world and happens to…

Following WhatsApp’s sudden ultimatum about user data collection last week, users across the world have flocked to other messaging platforms that they may not know very well. One of these is Telegram, a Stuff favourite messaging platform that just surpassed 500 million active users globally.  Now people in South Africa have started misusing one of Telegram’s features for some dodgy business opportunities, setting up groups dedicated to illegal trade. This includes the sale of sex, drugs and, thanks to level 3 lockdown regulations, alcohol. These groups can easily be accessed through the ‘Groups nearby’ feature that uses your location to display…

There’s been one thing that sets Samsung Pay apart from other digital payment platforms like Google Pay, Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay. That is the hardware’s ability to tap-to-pay on any payment terminal, even ones that don’t support tap-to-pay. From the S21 series onward, Samsung’s revoking that ability — a massive loss in many countries (like South Africa) where some vendors still use older terminals and pay points.  That’s not the only thing lost in the newly announced devices. You’ll also lose a charger block in the box, as well as earphones. What is this sorcery, Samsung? Previous Samsung Galaxy…