Author: Trent Meikle

We may have our issues with the Oppo A6, but we’re willing to put that all behind us. According to a new leak from Digital Chat Station (via GSM Arena), the company is currently prepping the new Oppo A7 Pro Max. The brand hopes that a 10,000mAh battery will be enough to convince buyers to upgrade. Heck, it might. That’s assuming Oppo South Africa is still kicking by the time it’s ready for release. A recent report from ITWeb notes that the company’s South African arm is in the process of retrenching more than a few employees. According to an unnamed…

“Mosquito-killing micro drone” is certainly one way to start a Monday Perhaps we judged artificial intelligence too harshly. Sure, the world’s tech leaders are depleting natural resources at an alarming rate, but the start-up Tornyol is putting that sacrifice to good use. The company is technically a drone company, even if its ambitions don’t lie in warfare (yet). No, Tornyol is in the mozzie-killing business. You might be picturing something somewhat humane — like a drone that cropdusts nearby mosquitos with a dose of Peaceful Sleep. The reality is far more effective at keeping your room buzz-free by quickly tracking…

The problem currently facing the world — this one — isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, companies like Netflix are only speeding up the artificial intelligence indoctrination when it freely admits to using the technology on ‘roughly 300’ titles this year alone. We said this was going to be a problem and, well, here we are. Ok Netflix, generate a movie https://youtu.be/mEfe4T6R6Z0 “In 2026, GenAI workflows have been used in roughly 300 of our titles, with the largest concentration of work in post-production,” reads the streamer’s recent shareholder letter. “We are increasingly leveraging these tools to deliver higher quality…

You probably know Jaecoo, but not for its EV smarts. The jury is still out on that front. But not for long, as the automaker unveiled its first-ever BEV (battery electric vehicle) for the South African market. That’d be the Jaecoo J5, not to be mistaken for the J5 crossover range that launched back in 2025 with a traditional combustion engine. While those demand anywhere between R340,000 and R480,000, the electric J5 isn’t as forgiving. It’s rolling onto the streets with a price of R550,000, making it the fifth most affordable EV in the country. And that’s not even the…

If you still haven’t been swept up by the electric hype, then perhaps a plug-in hybrid is the way to go. We recently got our hands on the BYD Shark 6, a bakkie that won’t properly go toe-to-toe with your mate’s Hilux, but it’ll still take a shot at it. BYD’s latest, though, might have better odds. That’d be the Shark 6 Performance, heading for SA. BYD’s got us hooked It’s a great deal more powerful than the regular Shark 6, thanks to a whole new engine paired with BYD’s PHEV technology. “The SHARK 6 has redefined what customers can…

It’s been a minute since we had anything nice to say about Amazon’s ‘free’ selection of PC games. But now that Amazon Prime has officially come to South Africa — bearing a cheaper monthly fee, no less — we couldn’t ignore the seventeen games currently up for grabs. You’ll need Prime to claim ’em, yes, but after that, they’re yours. Prime time for some PC gaming We don’t mean “yours” like PlayStation means it, where a subscription is both required to claim the ‘free’ monthly titles, but also to play them. Claim one of the games offered to you through Amazon Luna,…

Now there’s a name you don’t often hear anymore. Skullcandy has built its reputation over the years by offering a more affordable set of audio products — mostly headphones — to the general public. Only in recent years has the company upped its tech with the ‘Crusher’ lineup, venturing into R3,000+ territory. The company’s latest set of over-ears, the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 ANC, pushes the range to its limit. With a little help from Bose, of course. The company is calling it the “most advanced headphone we’ve ever created.” It would say that, though. But with ‘Sound by Bose’ technology…

Before the Department of Home Affairs began taking Smart ID renewals seriously, Absa was one of the country’s few banks to offer the service at select branches. If you weren’t near one of those branches, however, you were forced to pay a visit to the local Home Affairs office. That’s not a fate we’d wish on anyone. Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber unveiled plans in August 2025 to get all the biggest banks on board to speed up the process. So far, the plan is working. Capitec, in particular, has embraced the initiative, equipping more than 100 branches across the…

It’s not often we see a wild Xgimi out in the wild, but when it does peep its head out, the projector-makers have something worth saying. Or rather, showing. The company announced two new Elfin Flip projectors back in June — the Elfin Flip 4K and the Elfin Flip Laser. Now, the long-throw projectors have officially gone on sale. “…and you have my throw” At $800 (∼R13,000) and $1,000 (∼R16,300) a piece, calling the Elfin Flip Laser and Flip 4K affordable is a bit of a stretch. But for what you’re getting, it’s actually not a bad deal. The only issue…

There’s been much talk about OpenAI’s eventual move into the consumer hardware space. Now, a report from Bloomberg is only adding to the conversation. What, then, will the ChatGPT-maker do first? It seems inevitable that we’ll see some sort of ChatGPT-ified smartphone eventually, alongside a pair of smart glasses. We’d be lying if we said we weren’t a little curious to see what an OpenAI-made smartphone would look like. Unfortunately, it seems that is further back on the rotation. Mark Gurman reckons that the company’s first-ever physical product will actually be a smart speaker. A “movable” AI-powered one at that, if…