Author: Stuff writer

If you’re a globe trotter, or simply live in South Africa where the internet is unstable due to the endless misery that is load shedding, you’ll appreciate apps that continue to work offline. Google Translate has added 33 new languages to its offline functionality. The platform’s offline feature allows users to download a language that can also be translated when there’s no internet. Sparking a conversation (offline) The additional languages include languages spoken in different parts of the world, including Zulu, Sesotho, and Xhosa which are widely spoken in South Africa. Other African languages include Shona, Igbo, and Yoruba. Users…

Getting blue-ticked is probably one of the most awkward feelings you can feel on WhatsApp. How do you deal with that? Do you call them? Send another message? And how do you avoid blue-ticking others without the horror of having to eventually explain yourself at some point or another? No matter the context, it’s something both sides of the conversation (or non-conversation) would rather avoid. So, just block them instead WhatsApp users for Android will soon be able to block a contact as soon as their message pops up. The new feature also requires fewer steps when trying to block…

What’s the point of having cheaper fuel if there’s nowhere to go because of load shedding? Besides diesel-generator owners, the country is stuck. We drive to work, and drive back, constantly awaiting the sudden plunge into darkness that we fail to escape for the next four hours. But let’s forget all that, and appreciate the prices of fuel that (may) be coming down in price next February. This marks the second fuel drop since the beginning of the year, according to the latest mid-month data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF). CEF’s data indicates a slight drop in both petrol and…

Today in unsurprising news, Twitter has more changes coming up in the next few weeks (again). Ordinary non-paying users can expect tweaks to the platform’s interface in the coming days and weeks in what Elon Musk calls the “first part of a much larger UI overhaul”. Last week, the social media platform enabled the ability to swipe right and left to move between recommended and followed tweet rolls. Changes are coming, this week, to Bookmarks as well.“Bookmark button moving to tweet details page, fixing image length crop & other minor bug fixes next week,” tweeted Musk. Musk says Tweeters can…

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…