Author: Trent Meikle

Samsung is bringing a whole new meaning to the term ‘smart shoes’. Where other people see shoes they’ll wear once out of fear of dirtying them, Samsung sees the ‘Shortcut Sneakers’ — a limited edition pair of tekkies that’ll queue up your playlist or answer a call from Mom with a Wizard of Oz tap of the heels. Where do we sign up? In the Netherlands, apparently. See, Samsung hasn’t gone through a mid-life crisis just yet. It is still making and selling smartphones and TVs, but it’s getting into the shoe business because… it can. The Shortcut Sneaker, according to…

Ladies and gentlemen, a new era has dawned. At Samsung South Africa’s Unbox & Discover event in Johannesburg this afternoon, the South Korean outfit took the wrapper off some shiny AI-touting TVs that you can already pre-order on Samsung South Africa’s website (if your wallet can handle them). Wondering what Samsung is so riled up about? Upscaling. You know, giving a bump to the visual fidelity of your content, even if there isn’t much to work with, quality-wise. Specifically, though, it’s the NQ8 AI Gen 3 and Gen 2 processors handling all the upscaling that’s got Samsung all hot and…

Today, Wednesday 12 June, saw Acer Africa’s Ignite showcase go live in Johannesburg, where media were given the chance to experience the company’s incoming products firsthand and get an idea of where the brand is headed. Surprisingly, it’s headed to a factor in Boksburg to begin manufacturing its monitors locally, according to a report from Hyptertext.  Acer isn’t interested in doxxing the facility right now, so it’s keeping the exact name and location of the factory under wraps for the time being. But it did confirm that manufacturing was set to begin sometime in July, where it’ll be receiving necessary parts…

If you’re wondering why that full tank of petrol cost you just a little bit less this week, it all has to do with the country’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy decreasing South Africa’s petrol and diesel prices by a whopping R1+ — something it hasn’t managed since January of this year. Now, it’s looking to replicate the feat by the time July rolls around. That’s according to a fresh crop of predictions coming from the Central Energy Fund (CEF), foretelling yet another R1+ drop in prices for both grades of petrol. Should the CEF’s predictions hold until the…

We’ve spent the better part of three years waiting for Spotify to get its act together and deliver on its promise of hi-res audio — announced in February 2021 — and it looks like the streamer is finally following through… for a price. According to “a person familiar with the plan,” speaking with Bloomberg, Spotify’s plan involves an extra $5/m and a keen prayer that customers won’t remember Apple Music already added lossless audio in 2021. Worth the wait? Spotify ‘HiFi’ is reaching mythical status at this point. In April, Reddit users noticed a couple of strings of code buried deep in…

It’s all Apple Intelligence this, Apple Intelligence that… The Fruit Company did not work all year on features like customisable home screens (we’re not joking) and a whole lot more, for them to be immediately forgotten after they were announced at last night’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). That’s why we’re here. To keep the memory of the newly announced macOS Sequoia alive. Hidden among all the usual AI-powered features headed macOS’ way, there are a couple of decently useful features we’re keen to test out. We don’t get to play right away, however. Developers still need time with the beta…

Like clockwork, Apple has officially brought iOS 18 to life at its Worldwide Developer’s Conference 2024 (WWDC). Arguably the biggest reveal was the unveiling of Apple Intelligence (how could we shorten that?) or the flashy iPadOS 18 reveal of a native calculator app, and yet here we are, discussing the biggest changes hitting your iPhone in the next couple of months. Unless you’re a developer, that is. Apple has put out a private iOS 18 beta to get app makers caught up to speed ahead of the global rollout, currently pencilled to release around the time the iPhone 16 hits…

You might be wondering where our roundup of the Summer Game Fest is. Uh… so are we. Because what we saw taking place on Friday evening may have had Geoff Keighley’s almost-creepily smiling face plastered on it, but it wasn’t the Summer Game Fest we’ve come to know and love. Keighley rightly tempered expectations ahead of the show, but even we expected something with more sauce than Harry Potter Quidditch Champions.  Far more engaging was Microsoft’s Xbox Showcase event, which brought with it a ‘Play it day one with Game Pass’ mantra that’s more than likely got subscribers riled up.…

Fewer exclusives, more Xbox Microsoft will really do anything but release a green Series X to appease its forefathers, huh? It’s at least heading back to the roots of the Xbox 360 by releasing a new all-white, all-digital Xbox Series X complete with… the industry standard 1TB of storage? Hey, at least it’ll fit Black Ops 6’s absurd 309.8GB file size and then some. Also joining the line-up is a 2TB Xbox Series X (finally) — complete with a disc drive — and the new ‘Galaxy Black’ colourway which only somewhat appeases our wishes thanks to a couple of green…

Samsung, being a creature of habit, likes routine. July is usually reserved for the Korean outfit’s second Unpacked event of the year and we expect 2024 will be no different. It helps that SamMobile reported an Unpacked date of 10 July way back in early February. Products, too, are thus far an open secret. But, according to a new leak(s), we’ve finally received word of the Galaxy Watch 7 Series and its specs. In a departure from tradition, Samsung is expected to unveil three new watches this year, unlike previous Unpacked events where only two got to walk the red carpet.…