Author: Trent Meikle

Netflix’s password crackdown is working Despite Netflix’s previous love of password sharing, the company changed its tune over the past few months. Despite being one of the more successful streamers, Netflix’s recent password crackdown in the US – started on 23 May 2023 – has, surprisingly, been a success. That’s not out of love for Netflix; but instead, out of a desire to… uh, watch Stranger Things again? Do people still do that? The streamer’s password crackdown involves turning users away who don’t live at the address of the main account holder. Instead, these users are greeted with a splash…

Geoff Keighley has done it again. The semblance of soul left in the wake of E3’s demise has awakened itself in the Summer Games Fest – ushering in a myriad of new trailers during last night’s event. Not all the games shown off were good and even stranger, not all of them were even games. Seriously, could Henry Cavill look less interested in The Witcher’s season three trailer? Even though PlayStation’s recent Showcase hogged plenty of the limelight, the Summer Games Fest attracted a larger-than-expected crowd, making it difficult to keep up. That’s why we’re doing it for you; stringing…

Those magical pieces of tech that sit around unused in your pocket for most of the day? Forget about ‘em. Android TV 14’s Beta just dropped and it’ll be able to receive (and make) calls on the big screen, amongst a few other changes that involve energy conservation and better-optimized Bluetooth connectivity and HDR controls. The timing is certainly odd, considering Apple’s recent announcement that FaceTime would be coming to tvOS during this week’s Worldwide Developers Conference. Either way, humanity is inching ever closer to the world promised to us in Back to the Future II – even if it…

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is up to its neck in hot water. The social media parent of WhatsApp and Instagram is facing scrutiny from the Internet after a report from The Wall Street Journal (TWSJ) and the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) was released, condemning Instagram’s explore algorithm for ‘promoting’ the sale and distribution of self-generated child sexual abuse material (SG-CSAM). Meta, of course, has responded swiftly, the severity of the accusation leaving no room for error on Meta’s, and subsequently, Instagram’s part. Soon after the report was published on Wednesday, Meta established a ‘taskforce’ to investigate (and hopefully root out) the…

After two years of availability in South Africa, BritBox is now officially available as part of DStv’s bouquet of streamers, joining Showmax and Disney+. This is a result of a joint venture between South Africa’s MultiChoice Group and the UK’s BBC Studios and ITV. Before you get excited, all this means for you is Britbox’s app is now available to download on the DStv Streama and an add-to-bill subscription for the DStv Explora Ultra decoder. A good deal, innit? The local broadcaster’s website is promoting the launch of the new service across the front page. You can try it out…

Load shedding isn’t going away forever anytime soon. We know it, you know it, Eskom knows it and, apparently, Discovery Bank knows it. Earlier this morning, the bank confirmed its partnership with Rubicon, which it called “a trusted industry leader in solar solutions”. The partnership will allow Discovery Bank to offer its clients competitive financing options for solar and backup energy solutions. The available products include entire solar installations, with smaller items such as inverters and backup batteries also included. Discovery Bank CEO, Hylton Kallner, said: “While South Africans are resilient, the increased and ongoing interruption of electricity impacts all…

We have some bad news. It looks as though the prestigious F1 Grand Prix won’t be making its way to the Kyalami race track in 2024, according to RacingNews365.com which broke the news yesterday. Why? Take your pick. Whether it be the incessant load shedding, expensive fuels, or our government’s chummy relationship with Russia. If the outlet’s sources are correct, we have the country’s supposed neutral position on the ongoing war in Ukraine to thank for the F1’s continued absence. Previous reports that South Africa supplied arms to Russia surely didn’t help the matter. No F1 in sight It’s been thirty…

The pending launch of Sonoma won’t be the first or even the last bit of news you’ll see from last night’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The fruit company allowed us (and the world) a peek at the upcoming iOS 17 and the R70,000 Vision Pro that’s so far hogged all the headlines. Some attention was paid to the company’s various other operating systems, including the facelift coming to Mac systems in the form of Sonoma (or version 14 if you’re being finicky). Unfortunately, the preview was not terribly exciting. It ventured into the territory of underwhelming as soon as it…

Wondering why you can’t escape Apple news today? That’ll be the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) the company held last night – presenting us with a look at the biggest MacBook Air out there, an M2 Ultra chip, and (after much umming and aahing) a serious look at the long-rumoured Vision Pro. Hidden in all the umming and aahing was some important stuff, with the reveal of iOS 17 amongst them. Despite being one of the smaller updates we’ve seen in a while, it’s making important changes to Phone, Messages, and FaceTime, along with a few new additions. We don’t have…

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is back for 2023. And Apple isn’t messing around. After a short-lived trailer that told us… nothing, and a brief intro from Tim Cook himself, we got our first look at Apple’s newest hardware. Say hello to the ‘new’ 15in MacBook Air – the biggest and thinnest MacBook out there. So far. Airing on the side of awesome As ever, there’s nothing terribly new here. It’s a MacBook Air, just slightly bigger. It’s got everything you’d expect it to; MagSafe charging, two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a singular 3.5mm aux port. Oh, and lest…