Author: Trent Meikle

Early adopters of Google’s paid-for AI features won’t be too thrilled about the recent announcement that it was tearing down the paywall and offering up Gmail’s AI powers to everyone. Even those who’d rather read their emails instead of a soulless bot doing it for them will have to opt out of the features, which are on by default. The change was announced alongside several other additions headed to the mail client, all while Google pulled back the curtain to offer us a peek at what we can expect later this year. AI overviews — those confidently incorrect summaries plaguing…

When Beyerdynamic’s Amiron Zero Sport first plopped onto our desks, we were sceptical. Not of Beyerdynamic’s audio chops, which have proven superb no matter the medium, but of the open-ear clip design. The company eschewed the traditional look and feel of decent buds and asked us to clip ’em to our ears instead. So we did. Now we can’t see ourselves going back to the traditional in-ear design when it comes to sports. These clung to our ears regardless of lifting weights at the gym, sprinting the last 100m of Parkrun, or simply strolling around the neighbourhood. Even more impressive,…

The words ‘Instax’ and ‘Cinema’ don’t exactly belong together, but now Fujifilm is hoping to challenge that ideology with the release of the Instax mini Evo Cinema. Like 1965’s Single-8 it’s inspired by, this is a proper video-shooting machine. Instax hasn’t forgotten its roots, however, with the Evo Cinema still pumping out prints whenever you ask it to. The difference being that you’ll have to work a little harder to get your hands on ’em here. Video-first, print-later https://youtu.be/-5WzAafQ4gk Instead of snapping a picture and calling it a day, the camera “converts captured video data into a QR code and creates…

We’ll never say no to a WhatsApp update (unless it’s force-feeding AI down our throats), and Meta has obliged with a group-chat-focused renovation that adds three new features starting today. We’re still waiting for a proper username upgrade to move away from the app’s reliance on phone numbers, but we’ll take what we can get. Group chats just got smarter The most interesting addition is what WhatsApp calls ‘Member tags’, which allows users to assign themselves a role in the groupchat, mainly for the benefit of other members. For example, you might be known as “Anna’s Dad” in the parent-only class…

It’s a new month, which means it’s time to hit up Amazon for the next round of free PC games it regularly offers Prime customers (Prime Video will suffice in South Africa). If you missed out on December’s freebies, not to worry — some of the best games like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Lego 2K Drive are still up for grabs, alongside a fresh slate of titles. Kicking 2026 off right comes the turn-based strategy Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. What backlog? You might be sceptical that Amazon, of all companies, is handing out free games — especially games you’ve heard of before.…

Once upon a time, a too-hard puzzle (or that Driver tutorial) might’ve been enough to stump you, possibly for the rest of time. That was until the internet came along, offering guides and tutorials that still left the player in the driver’s seat. Sony plans to retire those ideas, having recently patented AI-powered in-game ‘ghost players’ that just show you how to beat the game. Or rather, the bits you’re struggling with. If you thought Atreus piping up every five seconds with a hint was bad… The ghost in the machine VGC was the first to spot the patent, which reads: “Methods…

To an outsider, you might think that CES’ halls are only packed with robot vacuums toting some AI powers. Sift through all that, and this year’s convention’s more interesting ideas — like Lego’s Smart Brick or Lenovo’s Legion Pro Rollable laptop that can transform from a regular 16in notebook into a 23.8in powerhouse in a second. Lenovo’s on a roll Lenovo’s no stranger to the wackier laptop concepts at CES. It was only a year ago that the company showed off the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable, and it’s only built from there. Now, Lenovo’s experimenting with a laptop display…

It’s always fun to see a tablet that doesn’t have the ‘i’ or ‘Galaxy’ prefix thrown in, and Honor has obliged. The company has introduced two new mid-range tablets, with the Honor Pad 10 Pro in the driver’s seat, and the more affordable Pad X10 Pro along for the ride. For the time being, however, they’re locked to China. Honor inbound? It’s more a question of when Honor’s new hardware will travel to South Africa. Pricing, too, is uncertain, with the Pad 10 Pro fetching 2,700 Yuan (∼R6,300) for the 12/256GB model, while the X10 Pro starts at 1,700 Yuan (∼R4,000).…

Until recently, Xiaomi’s TV Box S was the undisputed champ of Google-based TV boxes in South Africa. That was before Acer threw its hat into the ring with the AiTV Box (we’re not calling it that), driving a R1,500 price — only a little more than Xiaomi’s R1,400. As great as Xiaomi’s little streamer is… It’s got competition. White Knight Acer’s first crack at the TV box market really would rather you tucked it out of sight, especially if guests are coming over. Housing all those internals is a simple, dare we say boring, white box with the company’s logo…

Did you hear that? Millions of audiophile gamers all uttered a guttural moan right around the time Audeze unveiled its Maxwell 2 wireless headset. Riding on the success of the original Maxwell, Audeze’s latest bit of audiophile-grade kit hopes to attract buyers with an “inside-and-out upgrade”, including magnetic earpads. Audeze nuts The appeal of interchangeable earpads is obvious. Rather than dropping another small fortune when the Maxwell 2 can’t withstand any more gamer sweat, Audeze will sell separate earpads that clip on with a snap and can be swapped at will. Otherwise, the headset looks the same as its older…