Author: Trent Meikle

It wasn’t so long ago that TCL TVs were unheard of by most South Africans. Now they’re almost everywhere – on billboards, in stores, and reviewed by SA tech websites. Sure, TCL doesn’t hold the same weight as industry verterans Samsung or LG. But more often than not, it offers decent, affordable TVs that continue to go underappreciated. We got to test the TCL C735 QLED, one of TCL’s higher-range models. It sits just under the C835, which we also reviewed. The C735 falls into the mid-range TV category. It delivers a similar product to that of established brands, but…

April is shaping up to be a mightily expensive month for South Africa. The already expensive services of DStv, MTN, Vodacom and Telkom have already confirmed their 1 April price hikes for 2023. That’s not even mentioning the CEF’s warnings that petrol drivers could be paying more in April. Now here comes anther increase. Nersa (the National Energy Regulator of South Africa) has officially finalised Eskom’s plan to implement an average increase of 18.65% for standard customers, with an 18.49% increase for municipalities. The news comes after the regulator held a meeting to discuss Eskom’s Retail Tariff and Structural Adjustment…

NASA wants to bring humanity back to the Moon (or arrive for the first time, if you’re one of those nutcases). To do that, it needs the Artemis missions to continue succeeding. Artemis 1 – NASA’s most recent unmanned venture to the Moon – successfully concluded in 2022, with a follow-up pencilled in for a November 2024 launch. In a bid to get the next generation of younglings (and… oldlings?) interested in space and more specifically, the Artemis missions, NASA and Minecraft Education are teaming up. The partnership between the two lets players (ages 8 and up) “build and launch…

Masks could be coming back in a big way. No, not those ones that have sat in your drawer for the past year. We’re talking about the heavy-duty kind you see in The Last of Us – but not to protect ourselves from some zombie-inducing particles in the air. Our reality could be more concerning. South Africa’s environment minister Barbara Creecy has greenlit Eskom’s plan to expel more sulphur dioxide (SO2) and load shed less. See, Eskom doesn’t want to pollute the air with more noxious fumes. It feels that if it’s able to circumvent the country’s environmental laws, it…

Remember BlackBerry? If you’re under the age of fourteen, why would you? Despite being one of the most popular names in the mobile tech industry, BlackBerry fell victim to the cold hands of Death (and Apple) years ago. Now, Hollywood bigwigs have decided a movie depicting the company’s meteoric rise to the top (and subsequent demise), is in order. We’ve known about a BlackBerry movie for some time now. Today, however, we got a trailer for BlackBerry, which reminds the world that Jay Bucharel is still alive. He’s playing the role of Mike Lazaridis – joined by an almost unrecognizable…

Remember those dark days before Microsoft used to sell their products in South Africa? No? Unfortunately, we do. We’d rather forget the expensive importers and lack of official tech support. But those times are (mostly) behind us. At least as far as Microsoft’s products go. Now, the Surface Pro 9 joins the devices already sold in SA. Want our advice? Hide your wallet from these. Microsoft’s going Pro (again) Newbies to Microsoft’s Surface Pro line-up might’ve been expecting a laptop. Only this isn’t a laptop but a tablet doing its best laptop impression – with a Type Cover to help…

Few things in life are assured. Death, taxes, and South Africa’s rising petrol costs, however, are. April 2023 is no different, according to the Central Energy Fund’s (CEF) latest data — captured on 13 March. Compared to last week’s predictions, prices aren’t looking as bleak but don’t get too excited. Petrol drivers are still absorbing the brunt of the Department of Energy’s might. Should the CEF’s predictions hold true until the first Wednesday of the new month (5 April), diesel and paraffin buyers face a decrease in costs. All signs point to a petrol increase Your bank account hasn’t suffered…

Say hello to Thomas Williams – South Africa’s first-ever eSports scholarship winner. Cool, right? So, what does being the best Minecrafter get you? Well, infinite bragging rights, access to arguably the best eSports arena in the country, and the love of your parents. Oh, and the R300,000 scholarship and accompanying prizes from Cooler Master and Asus are cool too, we guess. For the uninitiated, Centennial Schools recently held a ‘tournament’ to find the three best eSports candidates between the ages of 12-15. That tournament took place on Saturday, 11 March, with Thomas Williams, Jordan Harris, and Oluseeni Olusa claiming the top…

Xiaomi has officially announced the launch of the Redmi Note 12 Series, months after the devices already hit the shelves in China and India. The announcement came via Xiaomi’s official Twitter account, slating a launch date of 23 March. Brace yourselves for the #RedmiNote12Series! This launch is going to be so out-of-this-world amazing, you’ll need a space shuttle just to catch up! Join our live updates on March 23rd at 23:00 (GMT+8) and see what we’re talking about! #LiveVivid pic.twitter.com/SgsjJUbMJo — Xiaomi (@Xiaomi) March 13, 2023 Judging by Xiaomi’s use of the brand’s main Twitter account, we’d hazard a guess…

MTN South Africa, along with every other business, has suffered major blows in the fight against load shedding. The company estimates the total value lost to load shedding is R695 million, according to the group’s annual results for 2022. Taking on Eskom (and debts) “Power supply in South Africa was an ever-increasing risk through 2022 with 208 days of load shedding – 146 of these in H2. This impacted not only network availability but also some business functions, which hampered our customers’ ability to recharge and upgrade their packages,” said MTN. Despite the losses, MTN said it would continue with…