Author: Trent Meikle

It took seven months, a dropped lawsuit and $44 billion dollars to get Twitter into the hands of its new owner, Elon Musk. The will-they-won’t-they aspect of the purchase grew old quickly. Finally, it’s over. The deal officially closed yesterday, making Twitter’s ex-owners $44 billion richer. Musk’s first course of action after running the ship was to remove ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, and three other top executives within the company, according to people close to the deal. Since Agrawal’s dismissal, Twitter is without a replacement CEO. Let that sink in Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7 — Elon…

Here’s yet another Eskom update that’s bound to garner more than a few eye rolls. At a public forum yesterday (27 October), the power provider discussed its updated Transmission Development Plan (TDP). The takeaway? South Africa needs at least 53GW of new energy within the next ten years to maintain the grid and keep the economy afloat. That’s… a tall ask. Consider the Medupi and Kusile power stations. Eskom has spent the last fifteen years trying (and failing) to add 9GW of generating power to the grid. This won’t be cheap There is a slight consolation here. Of the projected…

Telkom, in partnership with Huawei, has launched its commercial 5G network, the fourth in the country to do so behind Vodacom, MTN, and Rain. The big difference? Telkom has yet to launch its 5G services on mobile. It will focus its network on providing fixed wireless internet for now. Playing catch up Telkom’s goal is to provide “super-fast fixed-wireless access solutions” first, before eventually integrating “suitable mobile propositions” according to Telkom Consumer and Business CEO Lunga Siyo. At launch, Telkom has 123 5G base stations in operation, spread across Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and Kwa-Zulu Natal. Telkom hopes to…

If you were looking for yet another reason to not use Cell C, look no further. Contract customers have been notified of incoming price increases, effective from 1 December. Post-paid customers are the main targets. Even those in the middle of their contract term. Why? “[S]ustained inflationary pressures and rising input costs have meant price adjustments have become a necessity,” says Simo Mkhize, Cell C’s chief commercial officer. “Every effort has been made to keep the price increase as low as possible.” Go for a hike Most customers will only feel a 5 to 6% increase in prices, with one…

As with everything in this country, prices are going up. No, we don’t mean petrol prices, though those are (probably) going up. This time around, it’s Apple hitting us with the price-hike stick. Apple, which became the first $3 trillion company earlier this year, is blaming rising licensing costs as the reason behind the move. Prepare yourself  Both Apple Music and Apple TV+ are spiking prices, making the music service more expensive than its main competitor, Spotify. In the States, the service has increased by a dollar, bringing the total cost up to $11p/m. South Africa was a little luckier…

You might have thought it couldn’t get much worse for South Africa. You were wrong. Load shedding, rising petrol prices, and ‘water shedding’ are just some of the headlines we see every day. Well, we have yet another to throw at you. Sorry. The Democratic Alliance (DA) is concerned about South Africa’s fuel stocks, worried that a national shortage is on the brink. This comes after a strike at Transnet, now over, caused disruptions at ports and transport networks. This leaves South Africa with a problem, with far lower refined fuel stocks than is necessary. Struck down A three-year wage…

The end is nigh. No, not ‘The End’ the end, but rather the end of South Africa’s brief spell of descending petrol prices. All that is gone, at least according to The Central Energy Fund’s latest round of data. Unless some sort of miracle takes place before 2 November, it looks like both petrol and diesel drivers are set for disappointment. As always, we can’t take these numbers ‘entirely’ seriously. These predictions are based on The Central Energy Fund’s estimate, which is based on factors such as the international fuel prices and the Rand/Dollar exchange that South Africa uses to…

Runnings Rings  Samsung could be giving ‘Rings of Power’ a new meaning, potentially entering the realm of smart trackers that fit around your finger. A patent was discovered on South Korean forum Naver. Sure, patents need to be taken with a pinch of salt. It’s not necessarily a sign of what’s to come. But in this case, it tells us that Samsung is at least considering the possibility of a smart, lightweight ring tracker. According to Notebookcheck, Samsung is looking for ways to fit an optical heart rate monitor and ECG tracking into the ring. There isn’t much else to see…

MultiChoice has done the impossible. this week, it launched a new channel with – get this – no ads. Yes, we couldn’t believe it either. The channel, known as the Moonbugs Kids Channel is aimed at kids still in preschool. Moonbug Entertainment, the company behind the channel, is known for its various YouTube channels that offer children’s entertainment content in a multitude of languages. Unfortunately, the channel on DStv is locked to English. You’ve probably heard of Moonbug Entertainment before. Perhaps not by name, but certainly by one of the company’s most popular shows – CoComelon. The channel became an…

Well well well, just as we expected, yesterday’s load-shedding announcement was all for nought. Eskom has announced stage 3 power cuts “until further notice.” Great, just what we needed. Power to the people Overnight saw breakdowns at the Kusile and Komati power stations, leading to an extension of stage 3 power cuts. Those breakdowns led to a delay in returning generating units at Duvha, Grootvlei, Kendal and two units at Tutuka power stations to the country’s power grid. #PowerAlert2 Stage 3 loadshedding will continue to be implemented until further notice. pic.twitter.com/xmeokAm7cL — Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) October 20, 2022…