Author: Marcé

If this year’s taught us anything, it’s that ‘video off’ is the ideal way to conduct a video call meeting. Sometimes that’s not an option, however. Which is why this Japanese clothing retailer has launched something called the ‘Pajama Suit’, and we already want one. Aoki, the absolute winners of the year that was 2020, is a Japanese retailer that saw the need for clothing that is both suitable to wear in virtual meetings and to bed. It’s the best of both worlds we always knew we needed, but everyone was too scared to take on.  https://twitter.com/GearoidReidy/status/1338432287789043712 The pyjama suit…

Google’s long been the centre of many people’s workflow operations. To do your daily tasks, you need access to things like Gmail, Google Drive and good ole Search. YouTube’s reserved for those fleeting moments you really just need a break. Now it looks like most of Google’s services, including those mentioned above, are down worldwide, including South Africa. If you’ve been having issues accessing any of Google’s Workspace portals, you’re not alone. At around 13:40 on Monday 14 December in South Africa, people lost access to these services. It’s not an isolated incident, and reports have flooded in from across…

In a not-so-surprising turn of events, Nokia has announced its endeavour into yet another category of consumer electronics. This time it’s not network infrastructure on the moon, an Android TV box or a banana-shaped remaster.  The 155-year-old firm has announced its first notebook in 10 years, branded the Nokia PureBook X14, in India with the help of Wallmart-owned Flipkart. Just as the company is partnered with HMD Global to develop and distribute its smartphones, Flipkart handles the logistics around its newly launched notebooks.  Under the PureBook’s hood Coming in at around $800 (converted from Indian rupees), the Nokia PureBook X14…

In an ongoing case, US regulators are putting increased pressure on Facebook to admit its faults. Which, isn’t easy for a conglomerate of its sheer size, obviously. Earlier in 2020, these same regulators and 48 attorney general in the US initiated official proceedings for a bunch of lawsuits against Facebook. And things are getting fired up.  Letitia James, the New York attorney general spearheading one of the two lawsuits against Facebook, has accused the social network of abusing its “…dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals, snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users.” She’s… not wrong.…

Believe it or not, but techies (like all of us) suffer from tech burnout too, sometimes. It’s become even more common in a world where we are bombarded with new innovations and gadgets on a daily basis. Sometimes… you really just want to go back to basics. And that’s exactly what Nokia’s new 8.3 5G provides.  This is Nokia’s first 5G-capable smartphone and launches in its flagship 8-range. It features the highly capable PureView quad camera with Zeiss optics, is powered by the Snapdragon 765G 5G Modular Platform and a 6.81in edge-to-edge PureDisplay screen. Although it feels weird to see…

Probably the most well-known medical aid company in South Africa, Discovery, has launched a new Prepaid Health platform that’ll allow a greater part of the population to access quality healthcare. Initially, it’s launching a R300 GP visit and meds bundle voucher, with more options to follow in coming months.  If you sign up to the Discovery Prepaid Health platform (which can be done through the Discovery website), you’ll be considered a Discovery member, but you’ll have access to all of its prepaid/voucher health products.  “[T]his product is available to anyone in South Africa with a valid identity document such as…

After what feels like months (okay, maybe it was months), the South African iStore has announced official pricing for the incoming iPhone 12 range of devices. Other retailers have previously announced that the devices will land on 18 December, and the same is true for iStores, both physical and online.  iPhone, you phone the bank As expected, the smaller of the fam, the iPhone 12 Mini comes in at the lowest price, just R16,000 for the 64GB variation. Of course, 64GB is hardly enough to get by so scaling up to the larger storage options and you’ll be paying R17,500…

The best time to look for a job is probably after a global economic decline, right? Many people have faced financial hardship throughout the COVID pandemic, which is probably why Google’s trying to do its part to help. Google just launched a feature called People Cards for job seekers in South Africa.  People Cards are short, name-specific info blocks that are more prominently displayed at the top of Google search results. Think the short summary you find after searching for a celebrity on Google — it’s something similar. These nifty little cards are designed specifically to help anyone looking for…

Subscription culture is one of the strangest occurrences of our time. Humans would rather opt to pay a monthly premium to use a service, than pay a substantial amount and own something. What if… the same was true for cars? A startup called Planet42 is raising funds to bring you just that.  In South Africa, most people have a high level of car-requirement to go about their daily lives. Public transport isn’t widespread, while ride-hailing services are just too expensive to use everyday. We get it. Cars are expensive and not everyone can secure a bank loan to acquire one.…

After a few months of absolutely zero iPhone news in South Africa, retailers are finally confirming that Apple’s newest lineup of iPhones will hit South Africa just in time for the festive season. Cellular City posted a sneaky tweet about it a week ago, and today Vodacom has officially announced that the iPhone 12 range is coming… on 18 December. “Vodacom is excited to soon offer the eagerly anticipated new iPhone 12 family, including iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12, and iPhone 12 mini,” Vodacom said in a statement.  You phoned for an iPhone 12? We won’t…