Author: Trent Meikle

Disney’s in-house gaming ambitions haven’t quite panned out as it’d have hoped. Sure, it’s got Insomniac’s Spider-Man games and the odd half-decent Star Wars title going for it, but those don’t technically count as “in-house” thanks to the company’s shift to a licensing model a couple years back. Now, it’s looking to buy its way to the top. In a move that surprised nobody, The Walt Disney Company has thrown $1.5-billion (R28-billion or 1/29th of Twitter) bucks at Epic Games to acquire an equity stake within the company alongside a collaboration that’ll see the two build “an all-new games and entertainment universe…

While FNB South Africa’s customers are basking in the glow of their bank’s recent eBucks upgrades (and subsequent dismissal of tap-to-pay functionality), other banks are searching for a win. We think Absa’s launch of ChatWallet – the sequel to its 2018 ChatBanking feature – fits that bill. The bank announced and launched ChatWallet yesterday, giving users access to “quality banking services” – all through WhatsApp. Flying cars? Nah. Banking on WhatsApp ChatWallet is here! Absa’s new smart and convenient banking solution that allows you to chat and bank through WhatsApp. Sign up for ChatWallet and tell us what you love the…

If you weren’t specifically paying attention to WABetaInfo on Friday, 27 October 2023, you might’ve missed it foretelling one of WhatsApp’s next big features: AI customer support. It slipped under the radar for most — and hasn’t been seen since; from either WABetaInfo or WhatsApp’s official update team. That’s no longer the case after everyone’s favourite beta tester caught wind of the feature finally arriving on the TestFlight Beta Program. Meep Morp Zeep (How can we help you today?) The feature is about as self-explanatory as it gets. WhatsApp, understandably, would rather avoid dealing with its userbase’s repeatedly dull and commonplace questions,…

Remember when Netflix seemingly turned the world upside down when it started getting huffy about password sharing and had people swearing they’d stop bowing down until something changed? Yeah, that didn’t work. All it did was add subscribers to its already massive arsenal and draw up a blueprint for streamers to follow suit. Now, Disney+ is doing exactly that. Disney Plus (minus the freeloaders) In the US, at least. So you can put that rude-worded tweet away for the time being. We’ve been bracing for the House of Mouse’s password squeeze ever since it began trialling it back in Canada…

Samsung may be the talk of the town throughout January and February thanks to its newly launched slate of  Galaxy S24 flagships, but Oppo doesn’t care. It’s February and it hasn’t been dissuaded: it’s time to launch something new. It’ll be the A series getting a refresh, moving up from last year’s A78 to 2024’s A79 5G which hit the shelves this week for R12,000 — up R3,000 or so from the A78. If Oppo’s naming convention hadn’t already made it extremely obvious, 5G connectivity is the standout feature here. And fair enough. Oppo wants to flaunt what it’s packing…

After spending the better part of January living in denial of the Central Energy Fund’s increasingly depressing run of petrol and diesel price predictions, it’s time to face the music. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has brought to an end what could have been a four-month-long streak of fuel price decreases — having just published the official figures that’ll be hitting the country’s pumps on Wednesday, 7 February. What are you still doing here? Go and fill up Honestly, considering the circumstances, February’s price hikes aren’t nearly as rough as they might have been. The last time the…

In the wise words of Jian Yang, “If [an] oil company wants to buy your house, there’s oil underneath.” MultiChoice Group, the conglomerate that controls South Africa’s DStv and Showmax, appears to be thinking along similar lines, having just rejected a bid from France’s Canal+, which sought to acquire the Group for R105/share as recently as Thursday, 1 February. MultiChoice wants MORE MultiChoice, according to TechCentral, feels as though it has been undervalued by the French media company’s roughly R48-billion valuation, and we’ve got to admit; it makes a fair point. It only recently helmed the relaunch of Showmax following a partnership…

Starfield: all aboard the sinking ship! Look, we knew PlayStation was winning this console cold war from the moment God of War Ragnarök was as damn gorgeous and excellent as it was. It didn’t help when Microsoft began discounting the Series X across Europe and hunting down big-name acquisitions worth more than some countries’ GDPs. But if the reports of Xbox losing hold of the few exclusives it has are true, we’ve got front-row seats to its obliteration. When we heard the news of Hi-Fi Rush’s possible departure to the Nintendo Switch of all places, we thought nothing of it. A somewhat reputable…

Remember last week? When the Central Energy Fund’s (CEF) predictions warnings of a 40c price hike across petrol and diesel prices would be a tad too rough on the country’s collective wallet? About that… The CEF’s latest round of data — captured on 1 February 2024 — is predicting yet another major price hike come February. We’d gladly return to last week to ease up on the sarcasm. But what’s done is done, and there’s no use in crying about it. And — forgive us for huffing a little copium — there’s always the chance things turn around before the…

Things have been going relatively well for everyone’s favourite electricity utility recently. “Relatively” being the key word here, what with Eskom dumping around 608 hours — or 25 days (of 33 total) — on the country’s head this year. It’s doing its best to make up for those blackouts, having just announced that it would be expanding its load limiting project that was first introduced to Fourways and later to Riverside View in 2023. If Eskom is to be believed, the pilot programme in Fourways and Riverside View was a success, having received a “good reception” over the past couple…