Author: Trent Meikle

Spotify’s R5 increase Huh, would you look at that? Spotify’s wrangled its way into yet another Light Start. This time, it’s not here to brag about some new AI-enabled feature. It’s actually begun notifying South African subscribers that the price of its service will increase come November. The hike will see the price of the streamer’s Premium Individual plan go from R60/m up to R65/m – still beating out Apple Music’s service in terms of pricing. “We’re increasing the price of Premium… so that we can continue to invest in and innovate on our product offerings and features, and bring…

If you always thought Chromebooks were lacking a certain oomph, you’re not alone. Discerning whether they’re good for you (or your kid) has never been easy, though Google’s recent introduction of a ‘Chromebook Plus’ certification should make the process a little simpler. A Chromebook is only eligible for the ‘Plus’ moniker if it meets Google’s minimum device requirements, with those devices getting a bigger boost in the form of exclusive software and AI features from Google itself. To enter the Chromebook Plus Hall of Fame, devices must have: An Intel Core (i3 and up) or AMD Ryzen 7,000 processor An…

If you’re a Netflix subscriber, we’ve got some bad news. You might want to sit down for this. Netflix has officially mailed out its last DVD might be hiking prices. Again. That’s not coming from the horse’s mouth directly but was initially reported on by The Wall Street Journal (via Reuters), which apparently has sources familiar with the matter. Time to pay the streamer? There’s no reason to panic just yet. It’s not clear whether South Africa is in the streamer’s crosshairs for the moment, though it is reportedly targeting “several markets globally,” and will likely kick things off in…

Fighting games are weird. Not only is the market inundated by the same three companies every four years or so, but it’s a genre that’s expected to redefine what it means to be a fighting game just as often. All while maintaining the same core gameplay loop and basic mechanics that stretch as far back as the series’ first game, which hit arcades more than thirty years ago. It’s no easy feat. It begs the question; how does NetherRealm keep the Mortal Kombat series fresh while featuring the same faces, and that “Get over here!” line we’ve been hearing since…

If you thought September’s official petrol and diesel prices were pushing your wallet to its limit, we invite you to avert your eyes from October’s official fuel price changes. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy just published the month’s official fuel price changes and… they’re not pretty. Diesel drivers might be walking instead Diesel drivers are, once again, taking the brunt of the increase, with a nearly R2 increment set to hit the country’s pumps. The Department cites the country’s continually depreciating Rand against the US Dollar for the major increase, though it also made note of a 30c…

Move over iOS 17, Android 14 is coming After teasing us all year through a number of Android 14 betas that permeated the internet, it appears that a stable version of Google’s next big update might be dropping alongside the search giant’s Pixel 8 release tomorrow, 4 October. That’s according to Telus – a Canadian carrier (via SamMobile), which announced on its website that Android U (14) would hit all Pixel phones from tomorrow, 4 October, before delisting the information entirely a few days later. It’s worth absorbing this information with a pinch of salt, though the announcement’s removal does seem…

Be cool, iPhone 15 Is your iPhone 15 running a bit too hot? That appears to be the case for plenty of users, with reports indicating that Apple’s latest piece of tech is overheating a little too often for something that’ll set you back at least R22,000. Fret not, for Apple has acknowledged the issue in a statement shared with MacRumors, noting that a fix was on the way. Fortunately, the issue doesn’t lie in the phone’s titanium chassis. It’s a software issue and one that Apple is currently in the process of fixing. Apple reckons that recent updates to…

Perhaps the only big tech player not pursuing some sort of commercial AI chatbot was Meta, after Amazon’s recent spending to grab a contending spot. On Wednesday Meta, in a fashionably late entrance to the party, announced that it was releasing its own AI assistant, along with a multitude of AI personalities across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. Oh, and AI stickers. Meta AI – boring name, by the way Sure, Meta’s got Llama 2, but this is different. Kind of. Meta’s AI, tediously named Meta AI is supposedly just like every other chatbot out there, described as an “assistant you…

The Elder Scrolls VI: Castles Bethesda just stealth-dropped a new Elder Scrolls game and no, it isn’t The Elder Scrolls VI. It isn’t a re-release of Skyrim, either, if you can believe that. Bethesda’s cooked up something new, something fresh: The Elder Scrolls: Castles, a mobile game that asks a big question: what if Fallout Shelter and Skyrim had a baby? That’s the idea anyway. The game hit the Google Play Store in the late hours of last night, listed as early access. That won’t stop anyone with an Android and a set of fingers from downloading the game, however.…

We’ve been big fans of Honor ever since it freed itself from Huawei and began building its own brand, far away from the sanctions that plague its former parent company to this day. That means Honor has the honour of using 5G chipsets and Google’s Mobile Services in its devices. This is almost a requisite for any Android smartphone hoping to compete. The Honor 90 continues the trend of delivering high-quality tech for a fraction of what you’d pay at, say, Apple’s storefront. Sure, it’s missing some things, but for the R14,500 price point, you won’t hear us complaining. Okay,…