Author: Stuff writer

A few years back, it was all fun and games. Movie blockbusters showed facial recognition technology being used to spot criminals at airports. It seems these may have given governments a few ideas. Now that facial recognition tech is a reality, the practical implementation isn’t as entertaining. In fact, facial recognition tech poses life-altering (and -threatening) implications for women living in Iran. Facial recognition of a problem Women in that country must observe a religion-based law that requires them to cover their faces with hijabs. There was a time in Iran when women could show their faces. In fact, there…

Africa remains the cradle of innovation. It continuously finds new approaches to problems that may appear uniquely African, only to discover that the rest of the world has similar issues. That’s certainly the case with the Open G, an African voice-activated samrtphone. When Ivory Coast’s Alain Capo-Chichi realised how his parents were struggling to communicate and transfer cash using a typical phone — because they simply could not understand the English-based tech and apps — an idea was born. He created Open G, a phone that one simply speaks to. Only Open Gs know “With this super phone, the user…

While most South Africans sit in the dark enduring hours of load shedding, considering the cost of buying and installing solar panels, few actually consider whether their home is suitable for solar-generated electricity. Enter LookSee by Standard Bank, a platform designed by the bank to help homeowners to manage their domiciles. LookSee recently launched its “first, free-to-use solar score for South African homes”. Sunny South Africa is considered a great place to use solar for electricity generation. However, your particular location may not necessarily be the best place to install it. Taking a LookSee On inserting your address on the…

Electric subscriber identity modules (eSIMs) will soon do to physical SIM cards what the cloud did to memory sticks. They’ll make them slowly and quietly disappear. Juniper Research’s latest research on SIM cards suggests a spike in eSIM usage in 2023. According to the study, electronic SIMs (eSIMs) will increase from US4.7-billion (R80 billion) in 2023 to $16.3 billion (R280 billion) in 2027. The research follows Apple launching its iPhone 14 in the US without a SIM tray for a physical SIM card. The phone uses an eSIM instead. Apple is expected to create more iPhones enabled for the technology…

Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, is finding more ways to protect teenagers from targeted adverts on its platforms. At this point, you don’t need to take your kids shopping for them to ask for something. Your children’s devices (yes, the ones you bought) are portable little marketplaces. Advertisers can track you (and your kids) with stunning efficiency. Before you know it, you’re be shopping away. Meta may be able to help (the kids) (a little). Going Meta with advertising Starting in February this year, the company will remove the option to use gender as a target point for advertisements…

Retail stores, in a bid to get more bodies into stores, are increasingly selling convenience in multiple forms. Case in point: Pick n Pay recently launched a Takealot counter at a Pick n Pay store in Table Bay Mall, Cape Town but that’s just the start. Takealot customers will soon be able to pick their orders up at Pick n Pay stores around the country. Once they’ve paid, of course. Customers will also be able to reserve a collection day. “This is part of a pilot giving customers the huge convenience of picking up their non-food online orders while shopping…

Voice imitation isn’t new but it’s definitely becoming more convincing. Now, it’s becoming downright frightening. Microsoft recently released VALL-E, an AI tool designed to replicate people’s voices. It doesn’t just sound like you, though. It’ll do it in a heartbeat (or three).  It takes a mere three seconds for Microsoft’s VALL-E to capture and imitate a speaker’s voice. That’s shorter than the time it takes you to read this sentence. VALL-E’s ability to capture a speaker’s tone and emotion makes it a potential game-changer. It could be considerably harder to tell a speaker’s real speech from an AI-generated one in…

It was only a matter of time before a self-driving smart stroller came along if only to help parents as they try to get on with their lives. Say hello to the Glüxkind Ella, a self-driving pram that promises to reduce your kid-related stress levels. The Glüxkind Ella, designed by a Canadian startup Glüxkind, was showcased at CES in Vegas this year. It’s able to get around without human intervention — more or less. Using cameras placed around it, it can automatically brake and give a warning when there’s danger. It detects stationary objects, including people, benches, and moving objects…

It takes a certain level of confidence to place your freedom in the hands of an artificial intelligence (AI) bot. Sure we trust AI with less life-altering issues like regular work and entertainment, but legal matters are another… matter. In what could be a game changer, an AI bot is set to advise a defendant in a court of law in February this year. A world first. The robot will run off a smartphone through the DoNotPay app on the defendant’s phone. It will listen to the court proceedings and via an earpiece, it will advise the defendant on what to…

If solar panels weren’t as expensive as they are in South Africa, more folks would have switched to renewable power and Eskom would probably have to treat its users more like customers than beggars. Sunny South Africa is the perfect place for solar power. The catch? Panels aren’t cheap. In fact, the cost remains the greatest barrier to widespread adoption. That could be about to change. Read More: Solar power won’t wait – more SA suppliers are offering rental options in a bid to be affordable According to Bloomberg, global solar panel prices are due to come down, the result…