Author: Trent Meikle

It feels like every other day robots are given more and more high-profile jobs around the world. South Africa is no different. Netcare Pretoria East Hospital is using robotic technology to assist its doctors with knee and hip replacements. Robotic surgeons are a thing in South Africa now. More or less. The Mako robotic system, made by a company called Stryker, began its work in the Netcare Pretoria East Hospital. Dr. Wian van der Merwe performed the first robotically assisted hip and knee surgeries in November last year. Since then, the procedure has become more widely available to residents of South…

Vodacom South Africa is looking to reduce its ecological footprint over the next three years. It announced a pledge that, when carried out, would see its environmental impact halved by the year 2025. Vodacom made the announcement last week during the Just-Transition Multi-Stakeholder Conference, of which it is a sponsor. Vodacom has been planning this for a few years now. Other than being beneficial to the planet as a whole, it will also help South Africa achieve its Paris Agreement goals. The Paris Agreement consists of countries aiming to keep global temperature increases below 1.5°C – 2°C. Saving the planet…

Today, South Africa welcomes the world’s largest hydrogen-powered truck as it begins work in a platinum mine. The project – named nuGen – aims to relieve the mine’s current fleet of 40 diesel-powered trucks. Each diesel-powered truck uses around 1 million litres of diesel each year. Can you hear the planet shouting its thanks? The mine in question is the Anglo American-owned Mogalakwena mine. The new hydrogen-powered truck will get its power from an on-site solar-powered hydrogen electrolyser. This machine splits water molecules, sending the resulting hydrogen to the truck. Unlike its diesel counterparts, this truck won’t create any harmful…

South Africa has just seen the launch of Oppo’s latest smartphone – the Reno 7 Z 5G. The smartphone hit the shelves today and will feature a presumably better camera, better performance and 5G, obviously. If you’re looking for a smartphone that isn’t going to physically hurt you when you see the price, you may be in the right place. The standard model, which comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB ROM, will set you back R11,700. If you’ve got a mid-range sized budget to play with, this one might be worth considering. Dressed to impress Before we get into…

Have you ever imagined a store where you can walk in, grab something and just leave? If you have, you’re either really invested in the future of shopping in South Africa, or you’re a thief. We’re hoping it’s the former. Shoprite has also been thinking about the future of shopping and has begun using AI and machine learning in their stores. The idea behind it is simple – Shoprite wants to help solve the ever-growing problem of food waste. Not a Skynet When people think of AI and machine learning, they often imagine scenarios where robots take over. Fortunately, Shoprite’s…

When YouTube Go was announced back in 2016, it filled a role that needed filling. Specifically, it supported users with limited internet access and devices that are slightly behind the curve. It did so by being a smaller app, optimised for slower mobile devices, that used less data when streaming video. Poorer countries, and those with limited internet access, had an easier way onto the YouTube platform. Google announced that it is saying goodbye to the ‘Go’ app. Why? Well, Google believes that the app has become redundant. Which it perhaps has, in places with extensive internet coverage and more…

You’ve probably heard of Zapper. No, not Frank, Dweezil, or Moon Unit. The South African mobile payments company. Zapper has announced that merchants may now accept payments using NFC-enabled smartphones. The main reason for the excitement? These payments can be accepted from any bank and any customer, regardless of whether the customer uses the Zapper app. “After a successful pilot phase, we have rolled out new functionality available to all Zapper merchants which enables them to accept physical card payments as well as mobile wallet payments, such as Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Garmin Pay, and others. The consumer simply taps…

Just when you think you’ve braved all the latest price increases, what with the petrol and food prices going up – Vodacom announces yet another increase. This time it’s Flexi customers, along with anyone on a mobile broadband contract, who will bear the brunt of the increase. It wasn’t so long ago when Vodacom last increased its prices, which were (then) kept to a maximum increase of 5%. Now, customers on any of Vodacom’s Flexi and mobile broadband contracts are in for an increase of 3%. Thanks for that, Vodacom. The price increase will officially take place from 1 June,…

During Snapchat’s last Partner Summit, the company announced Pixy. Pixy is a dinky drone that follows you around and then posts the resulting video to Snapchat. It’s very yellow, and it’s also very adorable. The drone has been developed by Zero Zero Robotics, a company Snapchat partnered with last year. It seemed inevitable that we would be getting some news on a robot with Snapchat capabilities, and the company has delivered. Pixy costs $230 (or R3,640) and is small enough to fit right in a pocket. Oh Snapchat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTV4A8D3rQ0 In the showcase video above, you’ll note that nobody uses a…

DisChem customers are in for a little extra convenience (that doesn’t involve actually talking to humans). The popular pharmacy has partnered with a company called Clickatell, a chat commerce specialist. This partnership sees DisChem using WhatsApp as a hub for customers to engage with the pharmacy. It’s also quite simple to do. Just send a message saying ‘Hi’ to 0860 347 243. That’s it. When you do so, you’ll be greeted with a menu that lets you select the service you require from DisChem. The menu contains 5 main options: Benefit Programme PackMyMeds (PMM) Store Information Clinics FAQs When using…