Author: Trent Meikle

Meta’s going after your private images, too The idea that Facebook wants access to your smartphone’s private camera roll isn’t a very comforting thought, but it’s even more disturbing once you see why it wants access. According to a report from TechCrunch, the company is suggesting users AI-generated versions of their own images, including ones they haven’t even uploaded. Meta isn’t pulling this off by sneakily penetrating your smartphone’s defences. It’s simply asking users for access by opting into Facebook’s “cloud processing”, where it can generate new ideas straight from your gallery, such as collages, recaps, AI restylings, and photo…

Remember when Google set fire to its search engine when it introduced what it calls “AI overviews”? Yeah, YouTube is bringing us its own take on the feature, the search giant announced in a blog post yesterday. It’s one of two AI features coming to the platform, except this time, Google is reserving it for its paying customers only. Can we pay YouTube to turn off AI for good? https://youtu.be/6COYibrEk54 Google tests AI overviews inside YouTube. Whether you’re keen to see the new AI Overviews implemented into YouTube search or are simply hoping to get in a room with the…

Mario Kart World has a lot riding on it. It’s the first new mainline Mario Kart released in over a decade, for one thing, but it’s one of only two Switch 2 exclusives Nintendo saw fit to drop alongside the new console itself. Not to mention the innovative new price tag of $80 (R1,530). Yeah, World needed to be big, both in terms of scale and from a consumer standpoint. It’s the Switch 2’s early life force. Fortunately, Nintendo hasn’t disappointed. It’s just a pity about that R1,530 price (R2,000 if you want the new and ugly box design) because Mario Kart World –…

In January of this year, Dying Light celebrated its tenth birthday. But don’t let that fool you; Dying Light is still going strong, despite its sequel only dropping three years back, and its standalone DLC, The Beast, launching in August. Even all these months later, the developers are still cooking, announcing a free audio and visual update for Dying Light. It’s called the Retouched Update. And it’s out today. Seeing Dying Light in a whole new… https://youtu.be/abQYwONaKgk To be clear, this isn’t a remaster. Developer Techland makes this clear in its most recent blog post announcing the update. This is still the same game you…

Go ahead, leave those car keys at home. Samsung, in a bid to catch up to functionality offered by its competition — like Google Wallet — has added the ability to store digital car keys for your shiny new Merc, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start their car remotely from inside the Samsung Wallet app. Samsung’s all keyed up This isn’t Samsung’s first go-around. It first provided these powers to other manufacturers a few years back, though South Africans weren’t able to join in on the fun. This new Mercedes-Benz utility, on the other hand, is available to any…

We’re only a few months away from that dreaded 14 October date, when Microsoft will officially end support for Windows 10. Unless, of course, you’re willing to cough up the $30 for another year of purely security-related updates. Or at least, that was the plan. The company has backtracked on its original Extended Security Updates (ESU) plan somewhat, now offering customers the ability to grab another year of updates entirely for free. Kinda. There’s always a catch… Anyone deadset on sticking with Windows 10 on their personal computer until its bitter end (or they can’t quite make the jump to…

Remember when Netflix got really into mobile gaming? You might’ve forgotten, given the company’s recent foibles in the space. We also remember the streamer upping our prices, supposedly to continue providing excellent service, which we imagined would include access to its decent library of games. Apparently not, considering Netflix is killing off a bunch of its best mobile titles. R.I.P. Zagreus Perhaps the most devastating of the lot is Supergiant Games’ Hades. Netflix has done the unthinkable — killing off the immortal son of Hades without so much as a proper goodbye. It, and roughly twenty other titles, including all three…

Microsoft is so desperate to be the new face of PC gaming that it’s willing to do anything to earn the title. Step 1 involved giving Asus a comically large bag of money to put its name on the next-generation ROG Ally handheld. Next, it’ll allow PC gamers to access their Steam and other libraries inside the Xbox PC app, in a bid to discourage gamers from making a beeline for Valve’s launcher right as the computer turns on. Step 3… Step 4: profit. You’re an Xbox, Harry An aggregated library consolidating both your Xbox and other game libraries isn’t…

South Africa is going digital, baby. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has heard the pleas of Stuff’s own Toby Shapshak and officially announced its plans to make digital IDs and passports a reality in South Africa. The system is… online? The plan was detailed in the DHA’s Strategic Plan for 2025 to 2030, where the department mentions its ‘digital identity initiative’ that will supposedly streamline immigration processes and “ensure that services are more efficient and secure.” And, as Shapshak says, enable Saffas to leave the home walletless. “It’s not just that I want a minimalistic approach to what I have to…

It seems like South Africa’s great petrol price streak is coming to an end. Despite positive predictions from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) in the early days of June, the energy institution’s latest snapshot (captured 20 June) paints a distinctly nastier picture than the one we’re used to seeing, with petrol and diesel drivers expected to shell out more for a full thank this July than they have in June. Can we talk about the political and economic state of the world right now? This isn’t some minor increase either, like the CEF’s previous predictions last week may have indicated.…