Author: Trent Meikle

It’s becoming more difficult by the day to stand out in a world so enamoured by the likes of Samsung and Apple, but South Africans are gradually cottoning on. Brands like Oppo have slowly permeated the local market, this year bringing in the Oppo Reno 13 5G and foregoing the Pro moniker entirely. That might seem counterintuitive, but once you get a peek at the sort of prices Oppo is working with this year, it starts to make more sense. Picking up the Oppo Reno 13 (the ‘5G’ is implied) will set you back R18,000. If you’re struggling to do…

Welcome back, Half-Life Where is Half-Life 3? That’s a question that’s plagued gamers for years, with Valve expressing no interest in pushing Gordon Freeman’s story along for the sake of it, but elevating videogames as a whole. You’ll be pleased to learn (and a little frightened) that Gabe Newell, Valve CEO and creator of Half-Life, is busying himself, not with videogame development, but the creation of a brain chip. That might just be the innovation Valve is chasing. While Elon Musk’s Neuralink has been very open about the highs and lows that stem from messing with people’s brains, Newell’s company, Starfish Neuroscience,…

The original Nintendo Switch is one of the best-selling consoles of all time, and now the Japanese company is trying to recreate that success with the Nintendo Switch 2. But if it’s hoping to match the massive 152 million units sold over the Switch’s lifespan, it needs chips, lots of them. According to a report from Bloomberg, Samsung has dethroned TSMC and will handle Nintendo’s chip manufacturing needs for the handheld console going forward. A chip on Samsung’s shoulder It’s an easy decision for Samsung, which is doing its best to be a real competitor to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.,…

Logitech G has long since been a go-to for affordable but great gaming gear, with the company’s G435 Lightspeed headset still demanding an R1,800 price even four years later – a worthy cost for the overwhelming comfort and decent audio chops. Keeping in line with the mid-range price comes the Logitech G522 Lightspeed, serving as both a spiritual successor to the excellent G435 and an actual follow-up to the R3,700 G733 Lightspeed. Time to reach Lightspeed If the G522 Lightspeed can mimic even a fraction of the comfort provided by the rest of the family, you’re in for one hell…

In a desperate bid to turn around the failing TV licence scheme while increasing revenue, at least for the short term, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) wants to hike licence fees to account for the nearly 80+% of residents currently eschewing the R265/year fees. On its last legs https://youtu.be/Q1JOrkCjPXs The broadcaster revealed its intentions to raise the matter and request an official licence fee hike from the communications department last week during a briefing to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA). It mentioned that most of its licence revenue stemmed from existing and diligent holders, the same people…

Oppo has today expanded its popular A Series of smartphones, but not the one you’d think. Instead of a follow-up to the still-decent A79 with the A80, which still hasn’t found its way to South Africa’s shores, it’s delivered the Oppo A5 Pro 5G, available from today. With an R8,000 price tag, Oppo’s efforts are certainly more affordable than some, but can’t quite match the competition. “From high-performance features to user-friendly innovations, the A5 Pro delivers the performance and durability users need. It’s a perfect example of OPPO’s belief that great technology should be accessible to everyone, rugged, reliable, and…

Google’s recent AI-heavy I/O show brought about several new products, services, and ‘upgrades’ meant to make your life easier by applying the industry go-to: artificial intelligence (AI). One of the company’s biggest announcements saw the search giant expanding its partnership with Volvo to kit out its Google-equipped cars with Gemini’s expertise, whether you want it or not. Volvo’s white Knight (Rider) “For years, Google and Volvo Cars have collaborated closely to bring cutting-edge technology to connected cars,” said Patrick Brady, VP of Android for Cars. “We’re excited to deepen this partnership, accelerating the pace of innovation that will not only…

The world runs on subscriptions. That wasn’t always the case, but when the BMWs of the world figured out that customers would actually pay a separate, monthly fee for heated seats… everything changed. For the worse. Now, everything is a subscription, whether you like it or not – and it’s having an adverse effect on all South Africans. Subscribe to unsubscribing Subscription fees have slowly become a normal part of life, infecting even basic household items like printers. That’s not to mention the several streaming services, cloud storage solutions, and software fees that people regularly pay for monthly, often in…

People like to learn through podcasts. The same is doubly true for a podcast catering towards your specific needs, even if the hosts aren’t exactly… real. That’s what Google reckons is cool about NotebookLM, a tool that’ll summarise any information you throw at it, with two AI-generated hosts built to care about whatever niche topic you do. “Jamie, pull up facts about dinosaurs” “We’ve received a lot of great feedback from the millions of people using NotebookLM, our tool for understanding and engaging with complex information. One of the most frequent requests has been for a mobile app — for…

Computex is the perfect excuse to introduce yet another new entry into the handheld gaming PC space, and MSI hasn’t disappointed. The company unveiled the all-new MSI Claw A8 (BZ2EM), and this time, it’s packing some AMD hardware under the lid—the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, to be precise. He is Ryzen It’s certainly a worthy upgrade for the new 8in handheld, especially considering MSI’s last outing with the Claw 8 AI+ was still rocking Intel internals as recently as six months ago. That one can still be had for a cool R22k locally. As for the Claw A8… we’ll cross…