Author: Trent Meikle

Anyone new to Acer’s Nitro family might not know that the whole idea is to meld high-end performance with “budget’ pricing. Sure, it’s difficult to ignore the Nitro 16’s R38,000 price tag, but stand it next to something like the ROG Strix Scar 18, and it all begins to sting a bit less, yes? The Nitro squad might be missing all those extra dressings you’d normally see in the altogether more expensive Helios line-up, but that’s okay. Acer’s done some work to keep the cost down, with the GPU taking the biggest hit but that’s okay. Our review model chugged…

Finally! A worthy YouTube update! It’s been a minute since we had the opportunity to praise YouTube. That might have less to do with our burgeoning cynicism than Google’s decisions, but alas. That’s changing today after the platform announced it would be making key how-to videos more accessible, specifically in the realm of first-aid and emergency care advice. It’s doing so by partnering up with various health organisations globally and making it “even easier to find step-by-step explainer videos for basic first-aid and emergency care made by authoritative health organizations.” For example, when searching up something like “how to perform…

Artemis II isn’t dead, just delayed Artemis II, NASA’s upcoming crewed flight that will carry four astronauts up to the Moon, has officially been pushed back. The National Space Agency confirmed that the mission won’t be lifting off before September 2025 at the very least. That’s still a relatively short while away. Honestly, there’s a good chance there will be four new people on the lunar surface before Rockstar gets around to releasing Grand Theft Auto 6.  The Artemis II mission’s delay caused a sort of domino effect, with NASA’s chief — Bill Nelson — confirming that the subsequent Artemis…

Have you ever caught yourself glancing at your laptop and thinking: “If only you could bend… more?” If that’s you, oh boy, do we have a gadget for you. It goes by the name of the Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14, and it’s here to answer one simple question: what if laptops could also be really big tablets? Rather large and weighty tablets, sure, but tablets, nonetheless. The answer, apparently, is an impressive piece of tech that almost seamlessly melds the two satisfyingly without breaking the bank. We get that it’s not exactly cheap, but if a laptop/tablet hybrid is…

Enter the Claw Only three things in life are certain; birth, death, and Steam Deck knock-offs hitting the shelves every few months. This time it’s MSI’s turn at the bat, having announced the ‘Claw’ (ooooooh!) at CES — another Windows-fied mini-PC that’ll give your games a new home. It joins the ranks of the Steam Deck, ROG Ally, Legion Go, and G Cloud, but what sets it apart? Not… much. If you’re looking at the broad strokes, at least. It’s retained the 7in 120Hz LCD display that’s become the standard amongst handheld PCs and a 53Wh battery that MSI will…

After an eventful first nine months of 2023, WhatsApp’s update department started to slack a little. We understand. We imagine it can get rather tiring refreshing Telegram’s blog for new ideas to swipe. But when the company you’re stealing from is putting out updates that’ll add more colourful phone calls, it forces you to get inventive. Kinda. According to WABetaInfo, the site that keeps track of everything running through WhatsApp’s back-end, the messenger has two updates in the pipeline — one that’ll improve upon screen sharing during calls and another that’ll add themes into the mix. Finally. Sharing music over…

Apple’s Vision for February If the latest edition of Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman Power On newsletter is correct — and it usually is — then Apple could be lining up for something big; namely the release of the big fruit company’s heavily anticipated take on augmented reality, the Vision Pro. If things go according to plan, we could see folks double-tapping their way around the place before February closes out. Unfortunately, we’re referring to the most royal ‘we’ imaginable. Gurman reckons that the Vision Pro is already making the trek across the US to various distribution warehouses, with the potential for enough…

“Hey, ChatGPT… why did the chicken cross the road?” Okay, Google, your time is up. After spending years as Android’s default subordinate, Google Assistant is heading for the door. We’re not revealing any sudden prejudices against the search giant’s efforts, but rather making some room for a newcomer to the party: ChatGPT. OpenAI’s entry might already be available as a standalone app across Android and iOS, but its abilities when it comes to phone functionality are limited. That’ll be changing soon, if the folks over at Android Authority are correct in thinking that OpenAI is currently working on functionality that’ll let…

If your friends and family completely ignored the gift guides we published last month, maybe another price decrease for petrol and diesel drivers will make up for that. Even the people buying illuminating paraffin have something to celebrate. In a feat we thought impossible, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has hit a three-month streak for fuel price decreases. The last time the country felt the sting of an increase was back in October 2023 — with November and December’s petrol and diesel prices decreasing by R2.43 and R3.26 respectively. We’re happy to report those numbers are only going…

Is that a Copilot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Don’t let a couple of numbers changing at midnight confuse you. Artificial intelligence is (and will continue to be) a major player in the year ahead and Microsoft’s stealthy launch of Copilot — once dubbed Bing Chat — on mobile proves that. In the year since AI’s ‘birth’ as a cultural phenomenon, it’s become increasingly accessible to the layman. Microsoft’s release for a mobile Copilot — available on Android, iOS, and iPadOS — is just the beginning. If you’re already familiar with something like ChatGPT…