Author: Trent Meikle

Skull and Bones is around the corner (but we’ll believe it when we see it) Skull and Bones — Ubisoft’s swash-buckling pirate sim that began as an expansion to Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag — is finally coming out. We think. Ubisoft hasn’t reneged on what we thought was a tentative 16 February release date, and it doesn’t look like it will before then. Sure, we’ve got good reason to be so distrusting, having seen the tail-end of plenty of forgotten release dates, but after Ubisoft’s announcement of an open beta, our fears have more or less been doused. The beta will officially…

If you, like us, thought last week’s petrol and diesel price predictions were already a little bleak, you won’t like what is in store for you today. After an extraordinary run for the country’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy — the official deciders of the prices at the pumps — which saw price decreases for fuel across the board for three months straight. That’s… likely to come to an end. That’s what the Central Energy Fund (CEF) had to say, at least. And when the CEF speaks, we tend to listen — because it’s the closest thing to being…

Microsoft is now worth $3 trillion For the first time in 48 years Bill Gates’ piggy bank, Microsoft, has officially hit a $3 trillion market cap. That’s three more zeroes than a billion — which, incidentally, has nine (nine!) zeroes attached to its end. We’ll just let that sink in for a moment. It might be a first for Microsoft, but it’s not a first for history, with that honour going to Apple more than two years ago. Honestly, we’re not surprised. Have you seen the price of an iPhone 15 Pro Max recently? But what caused the nearly historic…

Netflix is only becoming more powerful Tired of Netflix consistently cancelling your favourite series, putting out mediocre movies or, worse yet, releasing a Squid Games reality show? Well, that’s too bad. Netflix spent 2023’s Q4 doing all that and more and found that it didn’t feel the sting of a subscriber loss. In fact, it reported around 13.1-million new faces in that time — a record for the company’s fourth-quarter stats. That obviously means a jump in revenue too, with the streamer performing above Wall Street’s projections. That brings the live-action-loving-adaptors up to 260.28-million subscribers overall, clinging to the lead it’s…

Update — 24/01/24: MTN South Africa and Showmax have responded to our queries and cleared up any confusion surrounding MTN and Showmax’s promotional data deals: Previously, the Premier League LivePass subscription mentioned that customers would have “enough data to watch all Premier League games on a mobile device on Showmax’s default data setting.” MTN has confirmed that, by default, Showmax sets a user’s data setting to ‘Basic’ (or 360p resolution). This leaves customers with “enough” data to watch 8 out of 10 Premier League matches at any given weekend. Sure, that isn’t “all Premier League games” but MTN’s FUP maximums…

Another Dolby contender enters the ring Anybody even vaguely interested in audio has heard of Dolby Atmos before. Or, at the very least, you’ve seen the Atmos tag pop up before hitting play on Netflix. More specifically, Atmos is Dolby’s proprietary surround sound tech that’s been left unfettered to become the undisputed champ of the scene. Back in November, however, Samsung, in partnership with Google, announced its intent to dethrone Atmos with something it calls Immersive Audio Model and Formats (IAMF). Details surrounding the Atmos competitor were scarce until recently when Samsung spoke up about its plans for IAMF at…

WhatsApp’s update department might have had a slower end to 2023 than we’d have liked, but it’s entered the new year overflowing with resolutions to pick up the slack. That’s what WABetaInfo has to say on the subject, at least, which reckons Meta’s messenger is working on a new file-sharing system similar to AirDrop or Nearby Share (better known as Quick Share). Never gonna let you down The nearby file-sharing feature was only recently spotted in the dark recesses of WhatsApp’s update department, specifically in the Android 2.24.2.20 update, and it brought some bad news with it. WhatsApp is still…

Step aside SSD, DNA wants to eat your lunch (slowly) When you hear the words ‘DNA data storage’, there’s a good chance you imagine something sci-fi, from George Lucas’ or James Cameron’s head perhaps. Well, a company named Biomemory has taken the ‘fiction’ bit out of the equation. The result? DNA memory cards that anyone can purchase. Well, anyone who’s got the necessary $1,100 (R21,000) per kilobyte of storage. Yup, you read ‘per kilobyte’ correctly. But you aren’t spending R20,000 or so for a 1KB DNA memory card just for bragging rights. No, it’s got some actual benefits, even if…

Alexa’s big AI upgrade Another day, another product that’s retroactively throwing AI into the mix. This time it’s Amazon’s Alexa getting the artificial intelligence makeover, not out of a desire to further advance the field as a whole — but out of a desire to add some cash into its back pocket. According to a new report from Business Insider (via Digital Trends), Bezos hasn’t had much success in actually monetizing its smart assistant, and a switch to an AI-focused model might be the only way to offset the costs. Emphasis on ‘might’. We have no trouble believing Amazon is struggling in…

One of the world’s most controversial games of the last, well, ever, has been remastered for the PS5. The Last of Us Part II Remastered is Naughty Dog’s way of letting us know that, actually, yes, it has been keeping itself busy. Just… not on The Last of Us 3. That’s fine. Plenty of the original game’s fanbase ran for cover when Part II was released for the PS4, causing a rift among reviewers and audiences. Well, what better place to shelve your pride and finally give the game ago than a PlayStation 5 remaster? It isn’t just rehashing the…