My gamertag is more useful than a business card. I write about the tech industry, hardware, software, games, and motoring.
Finally, South Africans can get their grubby hands on some Oppo tech. Today, the Chinese hardware company officially announced that it is launching into South Africa with a limited range of budget devices and wearables, with flagships coming in the second quarter of 2021. First up, however, is the mid-range A72 device, and we had some time to play with it. The A72 features some decent mid-range specs, and we’re happy to report it touting dashing good looks, capable cameras, and a battery that is nearly impossible to kill in a day. When it comes down to what really matters:…
DStv and its parent company MultiChoice has had an eventful few months. It announced a new range of streaming-ready decoders, lost its CEO and has now announced that it is the new head sponsor for the Premier Soccer League (PSL), replacing Absa. It makes sense in that DStv is the official broadcaster of PSL games across the entire continent. DStv’s SuperSport channels signed the deals way back in 2007 and it owns the three-time Premier League-winning club SuperSport United FC. Preceding this announcement, Absa, the previous head sponsor of the league, announced that it will be ending its 13-year sponsorship…
It’s strange how we can still muster up our excitement for a Nokia event. Once the phone industry leader, now Nokia lies somewhere in the middle, but not for lack of trying. The company still delivers some of the best budget- to mid-range devices in the market. And we’re happy to see two updated devices in the mid-range, featuring cool specs, impressive design and the good old Nokia flare for not much cash. Which is always a bonus. The Nokia 2.4 Coming in with a big 6.5in HD display, the Nokia 2.4 improves on its predecessor with slightly better specs.…
Ever send a pic on WhatsApp that you would only want the receiver to see? No judgement here. We don’t want pictures of our adorable dog clogging up phone galleries all over the place either. WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging app, is apparently working on a feature that will allow users to send images and video that self-destruct. This is according to a report on WABetaInfo, along with screenshots that illustrate how the feature would work. It doesn’t look like users will be able to set a time limit or expiration date on the self-destructing media, but rather that media will…
Every once in a while, we get excited at the prospect of a cheaper, well-rounded notebook. When in the realm of ‘cheap’ or ‘affordable’, Apple gets an automatic disqualification and we turn to Windows. And, to be fair, not many entry-level Windows notebooks are worth the few thousand bucks. Enter the Huawei MateBook D15 (and 14, if you’re keen on a smaller model). One of the first Huawei notebooks to officially launch in our country, aimed at the mid-market segment, both the D15 and D14 come just R13,500. The Huawei MateBook D 15 maintains that Mac-esque design language that will…
The internet is a ruthless place. At some point, you won’t know whether you’re reading misinformation or facts. This has been the case with the government’s new COVID contact tracing app called COVID Alert SA recently. South African citizens are overly critical of the app’s (and the government’s) intentions. And rightly so, with the ANCs track record with tech. Which is why it’s important to bring up important technical points in the conversation. How does the app work? What personal information does it collect? What happens to said information? And what do Google and Apple have to do with the…
Finally, South Africa is graced with Sony’s brand new mirrorless camera, the Alpha 7S III. And this cam brings some intriguing video features to the game. The Mark III of the A7S is fitted with a new 12.1MP back-illuminated full-frame Exmor R CMOS sensor. Combine that with Sony’s own Bionz XR processing engine, and you get a video and image capturing monster of a device. But where its real strength lies, is in the full house of features, mainly focussing on videography. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-18w8T3GNY It hasn’t just improved on a few aspects of the Alpha 7 series, but a whole lot.…
Facebook, the parent company of the VR brand Oculus, announced the second-gen of the virtual reality headset last night at its annual keynote. Pre-orders for the Quest 2 are already open, and the device will cost $300. All of this seems fair, right? Nothing’s particularly off about the whole thing. Except that Facebook announced that you won’t be able to log in or use the Oculus Quest 2 if you don’t have a Facebook account, which seems inherently sneaky. The techy stuff On to the specs: the Quest 2 is slimmer and lighter than the original Quest, and weighs in…