Author: Trent Meikle

Meta’s quest for revenue Meta is losing a whole bunch of money, and water is wet. We know this. The Facebook company has been haemorrhaging money for years — but now the amount is large enough that people are starting to take notice. Meta’s first-quarter earnings were published last week and revealed that it lost close to $4 billion in revenue. So what’s causing the holdup? WhatsApp? Facebook? Nope. Reality Labs, Meta’s VR/AR play, is the real culprit. That’s according to GamesIndustry.biz, who reported that Meta’s Reality Labs pulled in $440-million over the last three months, though its operating losses…

Look, we’re not going to sugarcoat this one. South Africa’s petrol drivers are in for another rough month, with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DoE) confirming yet another price hike for May — the fourth month in a row — while also handing diesel drivers a price decrease. Again. The only solace we can offer petrol drivers is that Wednesday, 1 May, the same day that the DoE mutilates the petrol pumps, is also a public holiday. It helps that the hike is not quite as debilitating as in previous months, hovering around the 30c mark, but an…

This town ain’t big enough for the both of us… You probably know HMD. Not by name, perhaps, but as the owner and manufacturer of that little underground brand going by the name of Nokia. At least, that was the case. For years, HMD Global has threatened to step into the smartphone arena itself, and it’s finally following through. First to break ranks is the HMD Pulse — a trio of smartphones targeting lower-budgeted folk in Europe. That trio consists of the €140 (R2,800) HMD Pulse, €160 (R3,200) HMD Pulse+ and, as is smartphone law, a Pulse-branded Pro moniker that’ll…

We don’t need to remind you just how appalling YouTube’s ad ideologies are. With the platform’s war on ad-blockers and third-party apps that circumvent those advertisements, YouTube is in its worst state possible. Well, not quite. Google recently began experimenting with a feature that plays ads on, get this, a paused screen. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this is an instant money-spinner for the search giant. There is no escape In the latest earnings call from Alphabet, Philipp Schindler — Google’s senior VP and chief business officer — positively gushed about the experiment running on a limited…

Remember when Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) Gemini was once called Google Bard? Remember when that same LLM (large language model) cost the search giant — what was it? $100 million? We just like bringing that up sometimes. And since Google is rolling out Gemini to older Android devices globally, what better time to reminisce over that costly memory? Android 10 is back, baby Past blunders aside, Google is officially bringing Gemini to those Android devices still sporting Android 10 or higher. When Google initially rolled out the chatbot earlier this year, it was limited to Android 12 devices and up.…

Look. There are only so many times that you can rage quit after yet another 8th-place finish in Mario Kart before your friends stop playing with you. If the phrases “my controller isn’t a Pro” or “there’s drift on my controller” sound familiar, the new BattlerGC Pro controller is giving you one last chance to rise to the occasion. And in this corner… the BattlerGC https://youtu.be/xAo3pR_WJHs Coming from Retro Fighters, the BattlerGC Pro is, in our opinion, the ultimate GameCube controller. Obviously, we’re way past the Game Cube days — but those controllers remain a zeitgeist staple. And for good reason. Retro…

UPDATE: We now have official confirmation of the Realme 12 Series local pricing. The more capable Realme 12+ will retail for R15,000, while the regular Realme 12 will retail for R9,000. There’s still no word on local availability, though we can expect them to arrive in May or June of this year. ORIGINAL STORY: If you don’t mind yet another Chinese smartphone brand coming in to steal you away from the glitz and glamour surrounding Apple or Samsung’s flagships, turn your attention to the Realme 12 series, consisting of two mid-rangers that won’t break the bank when they launch in…

Look, we’re getting tired of this, too. The last couple of times we’ve reported on South Africa’s official petrol prices, the story hasn’t changed. Diesel drivers are ironically on the up-and-up considering their continually deflating fuel prices, while petrol drivers are on track for their third increase in as many months. If you expected today’s batch of predictions from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) to be any different, we envy your naivety. There’s still plenty of time to turn things around before the country’s pumps are mutilated. Those responsible for all the mutilating, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DoE),…

Having recently spent some time in Soundcore’s company, waking up to the news that Anker had quietly (and we mean quietly) dropped a brand-new pair of Beats-looking earbuds, going by the name Soundcore Sport X20, it was quite literally music to our ears. A sequel to the now two-year-old, but still-stellar Sport X10, the X20’s grand entrance was somewhat marred by the fact Anker unveiled the buds on Reddit, rather than, you know, a press release or something more traditional. Still, it’s all about the destination. As long as the journey involves blasting jams, you know? Anker down NOW AVAILABLE: Soundcore…

When Kia unleashed the first Picanto onto South Africa’s streets, it was love at first sight. Now, twenty years and 100,000 sales later, the Picanto is re-entering the fray for the third time with a fresh coat of paint, an updated exterior and is, according to Kia, “an even better value proposition.” Below, we’ve browsed through the third-generation Picanto’s specs and, most importantly, their costs. “The Picanto is undoubtedly a mainstay in the Kia product line-up and has for many years been recognised by industry experts and members of the press alike as one of the best cars you can…