Author: Trent Meikle

Well, the honeymoon period is finally over. Disney+ is officially hiking subscription prices in South Africa, just over a year since it launched. We’ve been dreading this day, knowing in our bones that the Mouse’s cheaper-than-usual prices wouldn’t last forever. Fortunately, the increase isn’t as drastic as we were expecting. And there’s a month or so left to prepare for the increase taking place on 19 July 2023. Out with the old, in with the new The news comes via the streaming platform’s updated official FAQ page, and official SMS’ sent out to subscribing customers (though we’re still awaiting our…

Games are massive. Just look at the incoming Mortal Kombat 1 (or 29?) which boasts that it’ll need at least 100GB of space before you can get going. That’s nothing compared to the original Warzone install. Activision’s game needs close to 175GB of valuable hard drive space on the PC (via ArsTechnica). Modern-day consoles can’t keep up with the games they’re pumping out and Microsoft’s latest announcement of a new Xbox Series S proves just that. Xbox goes back in time Say hello to the Carbon Black Xbox Series S, a ‘new’ console that’ll come loaded up with 1TB of…

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…