Author: Trent Meikle

Two years on, Xiaomi feels the time is ripe to take one of its best products to the next level. That’s where the R1,400 Xiaomi TV Box S (3rd-gen) comes in, looking to give your old, ageing TV a new lease on life. But is it worth that hefty price, especially considering it isn’t much more than a rehash of Xiaomi’s next-best thing? Xiaomi might prefer you didn’t think too hard on that point, particularly if your TV is still shackled to the excellent 2nd-gen model. Xiaomi’s third attempt is indeed the best Android TV box in South Africa, but it…

Netflix just gave up three papers, a brick, a wheat, and a buttload of money in exchange for the rights to turn the world of Catan into a series of films and TV shows, both scripted and unscripted. Why? Because Catan (formerly known as The Settlers of Catan) is one of the most recognisable board games ever. Don’t blame Netflix here. It’s the streamer’s job to seek out those properties that’ll garner some attention, even if the idea isn’t a good one. The guilt lies with Asmodee, a “global leader in tabletop gaming known for games like Ticket to Ride, 7 Wonders, and…

WhatsApp’s on a bit of a winning streak at the moment, and Meta’s latest announcement for the messenger (and its other Messenger) is only continuing that run. The company confirmed it was rolling out new scam-detection methods in a bid to crack down on online scams targeting the platform’s older users. Meta reckons it’s already “detected and disrupted” close to eight million accounts across Facebook and Instagram that were in bed with scam centres through messaging, crypto, dating apps, and social media. That’s on top of the platform ridding WhatsApp of more than 6.8 million scam accounts in the first half of…

As we edge nearer to November, the Central Energy Fund (CEF) has provided some fresh insight into the coming fuel price adjustments South African motorists can expect to see. The Department of Mineral Resources & Energy (DMRE) is, of course, responsible for adjusting these prices at the beginning of the new month. This typically takes place on the first Wednesday of the new month — in this case, Wednesday, 5 November. The CEF, in conjunction with the DMRE, keeps track of the economic factors that influence the price of fuel locally, such as the average Rand/US Dollar exchange rate and…

Ever felt like whipping out your smartphone or — heaven forbid — your debit card was just a little too much hassle when it comes time to pay up at a restaurant or while grocery shopping? Probably not, but that hasn’t stopped South African fintech start-up VezoPay from developing South Africa’s first smart payment ring. The company just snagged itself a partnership with FNB, promising customers a “secure, everyday payment solution” that’s certified by both Mastercard and Visa, and enabled by Fidesmo. Picking up a VezoPay ring of your own will cost, however, ranging anywhere from R2,500 for the basic…

If you needed a little reminder this morning that the speeding rush of death is coming for us all a little sooner than we’d like, remember that DStv is officially thirty years old. And, like any thirty-year-old coming to terms with that fact, MultiChoice is feeling generous enough to revive ‘Open Time’ — which offers free DStv Premium to any decoder subscriber, on top of refreshing the company’s decoder prices for good. This is the new DStv https://youtu.be/o_9FlCfSTj4 There’s always a catch, of course. Here, it’s worth noting that Open Time will only run for a single weekend and is only…

After Apple unveiled the new MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro last week — all toting the new M5 chipset — the first question on everybody’s lips (in SA, anyway) was “how much?”, shortly followed by “when?”. Well, we finally have our answers for two of those devices. You didn’t expect the Vision Pro to arrive that soon, did you? Like Apple’s recent iPhone 17 launch, South Africa will get the MacBook Pro and iPad Pro on the same day as the States — Wednesday, 22 October. That’s only two days from now, barely leaving you enough time to dive…

WhatsApp is no stranger to spam. It’s an issue that has plagued Meta’s messaging service for years now, and it may have finally found a novel idea on how to ‘fix’ it. First reported by TechCrunch, Meta is currently investigating a hidden message cap that could automatically block another contact for sending too many messages without ever receiving a reply. That’s assuming the user in question hasn’t already blocked them. WhatsApp is eating the spam Of course, it’s almost impossible to root out spam messages entirely as the app opens itself up to larger groupchats, communities, and business messages –…

Amazon Web Services (AWS), upon which many, many internet-based services around the world rely, is currently experiencing a major outage that has rendered numerous websites, games, and banks — including Fortnite, Roblox, Canva, Snapchat, and many others — temporarily unusable. It’s unclear when the issue will be fixed. AWS is working on it, promise ⚠️ An outage affecting several services on the internet is also impacting Fortnite log-ins. We’re investigating this now, and will update you when we have more details. — Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) October 20, 2025 “We can confirm increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS Services in…

Captery-ing our interest Most tend not to bother with rechargeable AA and AAA batteries. That’s probably got something to do with the overlong charge times unless you’re spending big, and the general hassle associated. But an Italian startup by the name of Captery claims to be putting those worries to bed with a new Kickstarter campaign. The company reckons it’s developed a set of AA and AAA batteries that’ll fill in three minutes or less, and last for decades to come. It’s a highly ambitious project that involves using supercapacitor tech, which can withstand “continuous charge/discharge cycles with minimal deterioration compared to…