Author: Tshepo Chauke

Earlier this year, Epic announced the launch of the Epic Games Store on mobile, circumventing the Google Play and App Store for iOS. Convincing people to avoid the stores they’ve been visiting is a Herculean task, one that can only apparently be helped by bringing Epic’s free games program to the platform to entice new users. Yup. At Seattle’s Unreal Fest, Epic Games Store general manager Steve Allison announced plans to add 10-50 third-party titles to the mobile app that were previously playable on desktop. Games, incidentally, that won’t be accessible through the more typical stores on Apple and Google’s…

In its latest beta (2.24.16.7) for Android, WhatsApp began testing the inclusion of new backgrounds and filters to its video call function to improve the user experience during video calls. The hope is that these new customisable filters and backgrounds – finally announced by WhatsApp – will make virtual interactions more engaging and enjoyable for users (and keep you around on the platform for longer than, say, Teams or Zoom). WhatsApp’eals to Zoomers Users can choose from ten filters such as Warm, Cool, Vintage TV, and more, allowing users to adjust the tone and mood of their video calls. Not…

Huawei’s ‘Innovative Product Launch’ event in Barcelona yesterday saw the announcement of the Huawei Watch GT 5 series, the Huawei Watch D2, and a new green edition of the Watch Ultimate. The Chinese technology company continues to encroach on Apple’s market dominance in China and presumably aims to continue that trend in other parts of the world with its new wearables. South African consumers can look forward to the local release of the Huawei Watch GT 5 and Watch Ultimate green edition. There’s no official word yet if we’ll get the medically-focused Watch D2. Huawei Watch GT 5 The Huawei…

Vumatel is rolling out a brand-new fibre package that’ll live to serve South Africa’s low-income communities with high-speed internet at an unbeatable price – R100/m. Going by the name Vuma Key, the package enjoys its official launch today in select townships around the country. The package leapfrogs many “affordable” internet service providers (ISPs) offerings to become the most affordable in the country. “While some competitors advertise a R99 price point,” announced Vumatel, “these are based on a 7-day recharge, where Vuma Key offers uninterrupted service for 30 days.” Beam me up, Scotty Vumatel, whose presence in any township is recognisable…

The Honor 200 Pro arrives as the beefed-up sibling of the Honor 200 and 200 Lite. It’s the biggest of the three and has a larger screen to show for it. It also receives upgrades to its camera sensor and processor. The 200 series is Honor’s latest entry to its number series, the Chinese smartphone producer’s photo- and videography-centered line, and follows on from last year’s well-performing Honor 90. Let’s take a look at how much it improves on its predecessors, and what these improvements entail. Badge of Honor The Honor 200 Pro is 2cm bigger than the 200. The coastline-inspired…

In spite of recent controversies, Adobe is continuing its AI venture with new video generative and editing tools. The Firefly Video Model joins Adobe’s suite of generative AI tools, though only available in beta for now. The model also marks their foray into the video generation corner of the AI market, dominated by OpenAI’s Sora and Stability AI’s Stable Video Diffusion. The design company is just one of many devoting themselves to AI recently. It’s an expensive endeavour, requiring much processing power and energy, evidenced by the size of Canva’s recent price hikes. However that will do little to deter…

Today marks the launch of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) official podcast. Yes, one of America’s most secretive government agencies is getting a spot on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all the rest in the form of No Such Podcast, featuring interviews with NSA officials as they discuss their roles in various “combat support, foreign signals intelligence and cybersecurity missions.” No Such Podcast’s first two episodes dropped earlier today, the pilot of which puts Osama Bin Laden in the hot seat, with further episodes following every week until mid-October. Launching with a Bin Laden pilot https://youtu.be/8eB4oUeFtvE?list=PLWvkfYC3snpXb5gEJcJ0WOhkFud2L_Nsc The agency has long been shrouded by…

YouTube, for better or worse, is the internet’s Library of Alexandria, and now the platform is making it official with the introduction of “Courses”. Rollout will be gradual, but once live, will allow creators to sell and share structured educational content, separate from their regular videos. First announced in 2022, YouTube initially made Courses available to a small and select group of YouTubers. Two years on, after clearly liking what it saw, YouTube is finally making Courses available for all creators, platform-wide. A course correction? https://youtu.be/dYBjjD8HDg4 Courses are accessible via dedicated tabs on channel pages and even have their own…

With Africa’s gaming industry approaching a milestone revenue of $1 billion in 2024, giant tech firms are beginning to show excitement about its growth potential. African gaming has been boosted by increased internet access across the continent, reports VoANews. From about 2014 to 2022, the percentage of people with internet access doubled from about 19% to 40%. Aided also by the increasing affordability of low- to mid-end tech, these have given Africa greater access to the global gaming industry in terms of both playing and development. Interactive storytelling and culture Kenyan game developer Daniel Macharia developed the adventure-action game Nairobbery.…

In a barren blockbuster year where many large franchises are regrouping in hibernation, Alien: Romulus arrives as a rollercoaster of a film at its relatively brisk 119-minute runtime. Following the same narrative format as Alien and others in the series, it’s far from a reinvention of the wheel. Still, it may be the best iteration since the original and is certainly one of the best blockbusters to come out this year. Since David Fincher’s disastrous Aliens 3 in 1992, people have lusted for a quality new instalment to the franchise that remained connected to the first two movies. Neill Blomkamp…