Author: Tshepo Chauke

Dread it, run from it, inflation arrives all the same. MTN South Africa will increase contract prices starting from 01 February 2025. Price increases like this are a fairly regular occurrence. MTN might be one of the first to announce its 2025 changes, but it probably won’t be the last. MTN drives the price The mobile network provider will increase contract payments by an average of 4.4%, according to a MyBroadband report. MTN claims this is “due to macroeconomic and other factors such as network vandalism, battery and generator theft, and increased electricity prices.” This 4.4% increase entails an average…

Tech company TCL has produced five short films with AI, that it plans to turn into targeted advertising content on its TVs. In the long term, the company plans to produce original movies with the help of generative AI. Should this succeed, TCL may be the first tech company since Netflix to truly disrupt Hollywood. TCL, the AI movie studio Hollywood has been stuck for a while. The advent of the phone and home entertainment dealt a huge blow to the industry. In turn, it pushed all its chips into franchisable content and big-budget CGI spectacles that are harder for…

Keen South African travelers over the festive period can enjoy a special Travel eSIM valid in over 150 destinations all around the world, courtesy of MTN. This eSIM allows South African travelers to enjoy MTN deals from select spots on the globe, giving them a chance to catch some data savings depending on where they are. The eSIM is data only, and MTN promises it should be relatively quick to set up. MTN’s Travel eSIM The card is available on MTN’s Travel eSIM page. Users can select an eSIM for over 140 countries across the globe. Deals start from seven…

The Asus Vivobook S 14 is the latest addition to the tech company’s Vivobook range. It’s slim and lightweight, packs decent processing power with its Intel Core Ultra 7 Series 2 chipset, and features a decent screen backed by its Lumina software. Sussing out the Vivobook S 14 Generally, the most useful thing a university student needs from a laptop is lightweight portability (some of us learned the hard way). The Vivobook S 14 weighs a cool 1.3kg and is about 1.39cm thick, good for any young student or professional who needs a capable machine but is always on the…

WhatsApp’s new update reminds users if they haven’t checked their friends’ statuses or messages. Courtesy of Wabetainfo, the social media app has reportedly been testing the feature since September and is now available through its beta program. Whatsapp rolls out un Users who want to test the feature can open WhatsApp, go into Settings, Notifications, and then toggle Reminders. Once on, users begin receiving reminder notifications for unseen Status updates and messages. Previously, reminders were limited to status updates from specific contacts automatically selected by WhatsApp. The reminder feature expands this to unread messages from frequent contacts. The selection is…

Communications minister Solly Malatsi announced a new deadline for the nation’s analogue switch-off, moving it back by three months. Some may remember the hubbub caused by news of South Africa’s digital migration to set-top boxes. That was 14 years ago. Feel old yet? From analogue switch-off to digital migration The project has suffered various setbacks since its initial deadline set by then-communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri during Thabo Mbeki’s presidency. Malatsi, the first Democratic Alliance cohort to lead the office via the GNU, said in a statement that cabinet’s support has been secured for an extension to the deadline, from December…

Computer producer Asus is broadening its relationship with its customer base with its inaugural shop-in-shop concept stores. The shop-in-shop branches can be found at select Computer Mania branches in South Africa with more to come. The first store debuted on 25 November 2024 at the Mall of Africa, followed by a second location at Brooklyn Mall on November 26. Asus sets up shop Asus’s shop-in-shop stores offer a more thoughtful space for techies, centered around the tech brand’s premium product lines like ROG (Republic of Gamers) and the Zenbook ranges. All stores showcase a curated selection of the brand’s latest…

Amazon has announced a new group of AI models under the ‘Nova’ moniker. The Amazon Nova foundation models can be loaded as part of the Amazon Bedrock model in AWS. Nova Pro, Lite, and Micro handle various automation tasks, while Canvas and Reel will be Amazon’s answer to AI image and video generation. The Amazon Nova models The three automation models break down as follows. Amazon Nova Micro is a text model “optimised for speed and cost.” Amazon claims Micro excels at text summarisation, translation, interactive chat, and brainstorming, as well as simple mathematical reasoning and coding. It also supports…

The annual RoboGirl program, courtesy of Lenovo South Africa and Durban University of Technology (DUT), recently celebrated its third edition. RoboGirl took place over a day, gathering 85 girls from 17 schools across KwaZulu and introducing them to various science and technology concepts. The event took place on 2 December 2024, and the girls received hands-on training in coding, robotics, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. RoboGirl turns three RoboGirl is an annual day-long workshop that brings together girls from underprivileged backgrounds and exposes them to innovative science and technology. The program aims to increase women’s participation in STEM and…

MTN South Africa is doing its part to reduce the telecoms industry’s contribution to plastic waste pollution by launching biodegradable SIM cards. MTN’s calling card MTN says the raw materials used to manufacture the new SIM cards are 100% FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified. The FSC is an organisation that promotes responsible forest management. This means the materials come from “responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.” The network provider claims that these new cards will degrade within three to six months when placed in the soil, sea, or landfill. It also maintains that eco-friendly SIM cards…