Swedish music streaming service Spotify launched in South Africa a year ago. Today, on the anniversary of its launch, it’s dropped some data about which local artists and tracks have performed the best over the last 365 days… and there aren’t many surprises. Well, unless you’re second or third on the lists, perhaps. Awks.
Some people suggest these tasks should be automated, as machines do not get bored, tired or distracted over time. However, computer vision algorithms tasked to recognize faces could also make mistakes. As my research has found, together, machines and humans could do much better.
Google’s streaming music service, YouTube Music, has arrived in South Africa and offers free and paid tiers.
Lonely Planet, and others, have become excited by tourism powered by virtual reality(VR) – both on this planet and, thanks to NASA, on others.
VR films are also being developed by travel companies, such as Thomas Cook. And Tourism Australia has partnered with Google to understand the marketing potential of VR (well, 360 degree panoramic videos).
For a tech conference hailed as the biggest event in the mobile world, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) has been somewhat unsuccessful at producing as many wow moments as we would have liked to see over the last few years. What used to be arguably the year’s most exciting showcase of new devices (outside of Apple launches) has turned into a parade of new ‘flagship’ devices that all offer essentially the same thing.
First National Bank (FNB) has added another digital payment method to their arsenal, and now Samsung users will be able to connect their FNB account to their Samsung Pay wallets.
On March 2, SpaceX launched its first test of an unmanned Dragon vehicle which is designed to carry humans into low Earth orbit and to the International Space Station. If the test is successful, later this year, SpaceX plans to launch American astronauts from United States soil for the first time since 2011.
And now, one for the technically-inclined. You might remember, if you cast your mind back, the custom Android installation known as CyanogenMod. It might not be around any longer but LineageOS is and it’s offering intrepid users Android 9 Pie on devices that are probably not going to be supported.
Ride-sharing services like Uber have made the drive home after a night out a safer experience but there is something…
South African TV viewers have a new video-on-demand to try called Viu. The service launches today and includes a catalogue of SABC and eTV content, along with a selection of ‘Viu originals’. Users can try the service free for 30 days and can access it using a web browser, or via dedicated apps for Android and iOS.