Author: Trent Meikle

You didn’t really think Netflix would miss out on short-form content, did you? The streamer has teased a redesign for its mobile app to introduce short-form vertical video, which will help it compete with Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. It’s anybody’s guess why a content powerhouse that relies primarily on its content is forcing the issue. Netflix is late to the party here, despite having short-form content on the agenda since at least May 2025. Disney recently struck a major three-year licensing deal with OpenAI (who else?) that allows users to generate its IPs without dodging the company’s lawyers, and stick…

It’s no secret that Bixby has slipped on Samsung’s list of priorities, but that could be about to change. We say “could be” because the South Korean outfit proudly confirmed the rollout of the “new” Bixby alongside the OneUI 8.5 update, before promptly deleting the announcement. It’s a good thing SamMobile was paying attention. It’s unclear why Samsung nixed the announcement, but one thing is certain — Bixby is due for an upgrade. An AI-powered upgrade at that, which should lessen the company’s reliance on Google Gemini. That’s assuming it pulls off the overhaul without a hitch, which isn’t exactly in…

Age prediction tools, like those YouTube began implementing last year, are officially rolling out to ChatGPT, OpenAI announced in a blog post yesterday. The idea is to have the chatbot automatically detect when it’s chatting with a minor, and dump them in a separate pool that’s a little more sterile than a typical conversation. “Age prediction builds on protections already in place. Teens who tell us they are under 18 when they sign up automatically receive additional safeguards to reduce exposure to sensitive or potentially harmful content. This also enables us to treat adults like adults and use our tools…

Far Cry 3 is easily the best of a pretty bad bunch, but it’s an especially disappointing affair in 2026. That has nothing to do with the gameplay — it’s not like Ubisoft has innovated in this franchise since — but because the game is held back by the limitations of the time, with even the ‘Classic Edition’ struggling on modern hardware. Cryptic tweets from Ubisoft all but confirm that a 60fps-refresh is headed for Far Cry 3 and others later this week. Far Cry 60? pic.twitter.com/2nnDSIT8IE — Far Cry (@FarCrygame) January 16, 2026 If your emoji speak is a little rusty,…

Less than a year after its release, the Nintendo Switch 2 has seen its first price cut (let us dream) in South Africa, knocking a grand off the original starting price of R12,500. Nintendo notified potential Switch 2 owners of the change via an email sent out earlier today, confirming that the drop was real, and more importantly, permanent. All about the Switch 2 For the time being, the price cut only applies to the standard Nintendo Switch 2, as well as the Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle, currently going for R12,500. Even non-Mario fans will want to check that one out.…

Spotify does audiobooks now. Yes, even for South Africans. That tidbit might’ve gotten buried under the news that the streamer would raise local prices again back in November. It joined the new R180/m ‘Platinum’ tier, which finally gave South African subscribers access to… twelve hours of audiobooks per month. Still, even with so few hours under your belt, there’s no denying that the app’s latest feature, called Page Match, is a clever one. Spotify’s going by the book The feature hasn’t reached the masses yet, but that may soon change. Android Authority spotted several mentions of a new feature called ‘Page…

2026 might finally be the year of the iPhone Fold. That’s if the words of Apple analyst Jeff Pu (via 9to5Mac) are true. He reckons that Apple only has three new iPhones on the horizon in 2026 — the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the highly anticipated foldable iPhone, which will utilise Apple’s Touch ID, rather than Face ID. The Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree You might’ve noticed the iPhone 18 (and the accompanying iPhone 18 Plus) are missing from the release lineup. That’s not a mistake. Apple’s shaking up its launch strategy this year…

It’s not quite the magnificent R1+ fuel price decrease that the Central Energy Fund (CEF) first teased for South African motorists a little over a week ago, but February’s petrol and diesel prices are still shaping up nicely. If its latest snapshot predictions, captured on 16 January, are true, motorists could be in for an 80c/l price decrease. Good news, everyone! As ever, we should remind readers that the figures below are not final and shouldn’t be taken as such. While the CEF is an authority on the monthly fuel price adjustments, the prices are officially finalised by the Department…

ChatGPT’s enshittifcation has begun The money-making meta in Silicon Valley these days is to lure customers in with a product that seems too good to be free, before the inevitable enshittification begins. The ‘free ride’ is officially over for ChatGPT as OpenAI announced that ads were headed to the platform after an initial trial phase in the US that kicked off this week. This isn’t your typical 30-second ad that’ll unlock access to the chatbot. OpenAI’s model involves sticking ads at the end of answers, supposedly “when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation.” These…

Everyone knows someone with an extra-cringy email address they’d rather not admit to. For years, the only remedy for Gmail users was to simply admit defeat and sign up for another one. Now, Google is working on a way for users to change their ‘@gmail.com’ addresses, with the change spotted in an updated English support page. Big news for Gmail stans 9to5Google was the first to spot the incoming feature back in December, which appeared on a Hindi support page, reading: “If you’d like, you can change your Google Account email address that ends in gmail.com to a new email…