Author: Trent Meikle

Can you remember the last time the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy gave South African drivers a break from the ever-rising cost of petrol? That would be July if your brain doesn’t go that far back. And that’s just petrol. Diesel drivers last saw a drop in June. Well, that might change next month. Petrol on your mind? That’s if the Central Energy Fund’s (CEF) figures are correct (and they usually are). The CEF regularly makes predictions on the coming month’s fuel prices by looking at the current price of refined oil and the Rand/US Dollar exchange. Now, it’s…

PS5 Slim After months of rumours that all but confirmed the existence of a slimmer, refreshed PS5, Sony has finally made the new console official. Oddly enough, Sony’s left off the ‘Slim’ moniker that it usually affixes to its refreshed consoles – despite it bringing a (slightly) smaller stature to the party. The new PS5 comes with a 1TB SSD (seriously, not even 2TB?), a 30% size reduction, and a 24% cut to the original’s weight. The big change here is the loss of the built-in disc drive, meaning players will have to buy a detachable UHD Blu-ray Disc Drive…

Living in the X echo chamber In another turn of events for X under Elon Musk’s reign, the platform is adding a new control that’ll let users block replies from unverified accounts – also known as non-paying members. Surprisingly, the ‘feature’ isn’t limited to X Premium subscribers and will allow unverified users to block other unverified replies. The idea is simple – allow paying members to feel superior and avoid any humiliation for the simple fact that they paid R1,700/year for a blue tick. It might even convince a couple of those sitting on the fence, potentially helping to pull…

OpenAI’s own chips OpenAI, the company best known for its ChatGPT LLM, is reportedly considering stepping into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) chip production, according to Reuters, which has sources close to the matter. It’s even gone as far as considering a potential acquisition that’ll make that reality a little more attainable. These discussions have supposedly been on the table since last year at least, though OpenAI hasn’t taken the plunge just yet. If the reports are true, CEO Sam Altman has made acquiring more chips a top priority within the company, having previously blamed the lack of GPU…

Steam Deck 1.5 In a world filled with Steam Decks, ROG Allys, and Logitech G Clouds, it’s only a matter of time before one of those handhelds gets a 2 affixed to their name. It looks like Valve, which kicked off the mini-PC hype back in 2022, will be the first to mark the occasion sometime in 2025 according to Steam Deck developer Pierre-Loup Griffais. That doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing a refreshed Steam Deck before then. This is apparently the plan at Valve HQ. The first hint of a new Steam Deck came when a mystery device by…

No more headlines on X When it comes to Elon Musk’s X, the last thing we care about is aesthetics. We’re there to keep tabs on his daily shitposts and let our audience know when we publish articles (which you can follow here) – that’s about it. In a move that nobody asked for, Musk has removed headlines and snippets from links posted to the platform, following through on a promise he made back in August. The idea, apparently, is to make the platform’s home page look a little cleaner and potentially lessen some instances of clickbait, forcing articles to…

Having just recently spent months in the company of the Honor 90, we’re open to pretty much anything the Chinese brand throws South Africa’s way – especially when the devices they’re pushing cost less than R3,500. That’s the deal Honor is promising with its latest two devices, the X6a and X5 Plus – budget devices that’ll set you back R3,300 and R2,700 respectively. Code of Honor A good price isn’t all that’s important in a smartphone. It’s got to be capable of the basics: making phone calls, receiving messages and, most importantly, booting up Clash of Clans. Fortunately, Honor’s chosen…

Spotify’s R5 increase Huh, would you look at that? Spotify’s wrangled its way into yet another Light Start. This time, it’s not here to brag about some new AI-enabled feature. It’s actually begun notifying South African subscribers that the price of its service will increase come November. The hike will see the price of the streamer’s Premium Individual plan go from R60/m up to R65/m – still beating out Apple Music’s service in terms of pricing. “We’re increasing the price of Premium… so that we can continue to invest in and innovate on our product offerings and features, and bring…

If you always thought Chromebooks were lacking a certain oomph, you’re not alone. Discerning whether they’re good for you (or your kid) has never been easy, though Google’s recent introduction of a ‘Chromebook Plus’ certification should make the process a little simpler. A Chromebook is only eligible for the ‘Plus’ moniker if it meets Google’s minimum device requirements, with those devices getting a bigger boost in the form of exclusive software and AI features from Google itself. To enter the Chromebook Plus Hall of Fame, devices must have: An Intel Core (i3 and up) or AMD Ryzen 7,000 processor An…

If you’re a Netflix subscriber, we’ve got some bad news. You might want to sit down for this. Netflix has officially mailed out its last DVD might be hiking prices. Again. That’s not coming from the horse’s mouth directly but was initially reported on by The Wall Street Journal (via Reuters), which apparently has sources familiar with the matter. Time to pay the streamer? There’s no reason to panic just yet. It’s not clear whether South Africa is in the streamer’s crosshairs for the moment, though it is reportedly targeting “several markets globally,” and will likely kick things off in…