Category: Gadgets & Apps
Facebook sues hacker who scraped the data of 178 million users
On Friday Facebook filed a lawsuit against Ukrainian national Alexander Alexandrovich Solonchenko on allegations that he scraped the data of 174 million users. The hack/scrap according to a report by The Record was done by abusing Facebook Messenger’s called Contact Import. The feature basically allows users to synchronize their mobile phone contacts with Messenger to […]
Altar, a platform for homegrown Christian content
Churches have had to adapt to the pressures of the pandemic much like every other community in the world. We have seen many congregations move services online either in Zoom meetings or on Facebook and YouTube live streams. Even though restrictions have been relaxed the utility of online platforms has remained and a local SA-based […]
Local startup now allows you to register a domain on WhatsApp
Late last month we reported on a local startup called Resellme that was opening the domain registration and web hosting game to anyone who felt those services aligned with their core product offering. So for instance a digital marketing company could become a Resellme agent and offer a full website service package with Resellme dealing […]
Apple retakes second spot from Xiaomi but overall device shipments fell by 6%
Xiaomi pulled quite the upset in Q2 2021, the Chinese smartphone maker was able to leapfrog American powerhouse Apple in terms of device shipments. Well, according to a new report by Canalys the roles have been reversed because Apple has reclaimed its second spot behind Samsung in Q3, 2021. Q3 2021 Q2 2021 Samsung 23% […]
Samsung failing to meet demand for foldable smartphones
Mark this year as the year of the foldables. Back in August Samsung released the third iterations of its foldable phones, turns out third time’s the charm. People seem to like this year’s releases and the sales figures are reflecting that. The two smartphones they released this year are the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and […]
Huawei Freebuds Studio review. Absolute value!
Huawei is building its ecosystem of products and services and recently they released their first ever premium wireless headphones. These are supposed to battle it out with the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM4s, the Bose NC700s and Apple’s Airpods Max. So are these US$268 headphones worth it?
Adobe’s PDF Editor is finally available as a Chrome extension
Dealing with PDFs can be a hassle sometimes especially if you want to make a quick correction or copy text. The established way of doing it was by downloading the document and then opening Adobe’s Acrobat to make the amendment. Well, it looks like after what seems like an age, calls for this feature (and […]
Facing challenges with CBZ Touch? You’re not alone
It is Customer Service Week 2021 and we need to take time to appreciate customer service personnel. They have a mostly thankless task, so today we take time to say thanks. With that done. We have a bone to chew with CBZ and the customer service staff are going to have to accept the legal […]
Local startup set to launch digital COVID-19 vaccination passport in November
Despite the QR code upgrade made to the COVID-19 vaccination cards, there has yet to be a digital version of the document. This is also compounded by the problem that we also don’t have a digital contact tracing platform. Well, a local startup called Hiclicker is looking to change that as it has announced that […]
ZSE Direct now has a mobile app
The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) has announced that it has launched an app for its online “Direct” trading platform. Introducing the ZSE Direct Mobile App It has been one year since we launched the web based version of ZSE Direct, an online trading platform that enables retail investors a smart way to manage their ZSE […]
58.8% of Zim households have a smartphone – ZimStat
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) in conjunction with the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), today presented the 2020 ICT Access by households and individuals. The findings were gathered through a survey of 10,325 households both rural and urban. From that sample, ZimStat was able to get a 90% response rate, so […]
The EU must go after the broken Android ecosystem next
There is no denying it, the Android ecosystem is completely and well broken. Without external help, it’s doubtful that Google and the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in charge of the Android project will ever get it fixed. I am talking about the issue of updates and patches. Right now everyone does pretty much what they […]
Ubuntu releases another version of 18.04 & extends support for two previous versions
The first time Ubuntu 18.04, Bionic Beaver, was released was back in 2018 as the numbers in the name suggest. Recently, however, Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu were forced to release another version of the operating system specifically version 18.04.6 This is just not any other update it’s actually a “new version” that was necessitated […]
There are “backdoors” in some Xiaomi and Huawei phones: Lithuania government
The government of Lithuania had some rather strong if not downright hysterical advice for its citizens. It said that they need to throw away their Xiaomi and Huawei phones soon as possible. This is because the country’s authorities claim, they have found what are essentially backdoors in these phones that will allow the Chinese government […]
Are you Twitter loving Zimbos excited about the monetization opportunities brewing?
We Zimbabweans took to Twitter like ducks to water. There is something about the micro blogging style that resonated with us. Twimbos, as we affectionately call ourselves, have made Twitter probably the most important social media platform in Zimbabwe. There are way more users on Facebook or YouTube but the noisiest among us reside on […]
U.S authorities can’t decide whether to put Honor on the naughty list or not
U.S authorities are spooked by a rising and more assertive China. The Asian country seems to be pivoting away from being the manufacturing hub of the world to being a technology leader in itself and it seems the U.S and its allies don’t know how to react to that. Under Donald Trump, America began a […]
Stung by 12-hour blackouts? Read this before purchasing a power bank
We thought we had turned a corner. Thought half-a-day power cuts were firmly in our rearview mirrors. We were wrong. This is Zimbabwe, politicking and corruption mean mismanagement is the name of the game. Unfortunately, this means our old nemesis, 12-hour blackouts are back. Much has been written about what the government and ZETDC need […]
Google is bringing a privacy feature from Android 11 to older versions
One of the really cool things that came on Android 11 was a feature that automatically reset app permissions. The feature works by revoking or auto-resetting the permissions of apps that haven’t been used in a while. When you use that app again, it will then need to ask you to authorise access to various […]
Google is seeking to copy Apple with its Pixel lineup
Say what you want about Apple but those guys know how to make good products. Pick an iPhone, any iPhone and no matter how much it hurts to admit it, you will have to concede it’s a good phone. That is mostly down to the solid control the company has over hardware and software. It’s […]
The latest OTA update from Xiaomi bricked my Mi Box S
By now you probably know that I am a bit of a Xiaomi fanboy. It’s not just blind loyalty though. There is a good reason for it. I have watched the company grow from being a niche budget phone maker to become the second-biggest smartphone maker in the world and even today they continue to […]
Logic L63 review. A tough sell
Astro decided last year that it was going to do something different with it’s smartphone lineup. The Astro brand was to be dedicated to their premium smartphone offering and the newly announced Logic brand was to focus on the affordable side of things. We are yet to see something from their premium line of smartphones […]
Xiaomi ventures into the smart glasses arena
Last week Facebook unveiled its RayBan sunglasses that are retailing for US$299. Their much-touted feature is that you can literally now wear Facebook Stories on your face. Who would want that? To say I wasn’t impressed is an understatement. Now, without even giving us a moment to digest Facebook’s latest hardware adventure, Xiaomi has announced […]
Razer releases finger sleeves to improve mobile gaming experience
I consider myself the textbook definition of a casual gamer. I do play the more mainstream PC games – Halo, Far Cry, Tomb Raider, FIFA and so on. However, I can go for months without launching a PC game. Most of my gaming is done on my smartphone, usually pretending to look busy to avoid […]
There is currently no way to run iTunes 12 on Ubuntu Linux
Before I begin, I need to make clear to all the Apple fanboys that this is not me trying to ruin Apple’s product launch where they unveiled the latest iterations of the Mac, iPhone and whatnot. This is me being genuinely frustrated over something that shouldn’t be so hard. I just wanted to redeem an […]
iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max to feature 1TB storage option
Another Apple event and we have a new iPhone and iOS operating system. The stars of the show were undoubtedly the new iPhone 13 Mini, Standard, Pro and Pro Max. It looks like Apple decided not to mix things up too much with the new iPhone because it looks almost identical to its predecessor. However, […]
Apple releases important security patches for its devices in a bid to thwart the NSO group
If you are a regular reader of Techzim or just love to read and know about tech then you are probably familiar with the Israeli company known as NSO Group. No? This security company has a product known as the Pegasus suite which it sells to governments and authorities around the world. The software allows […]
Xiaomi is remotely blocking its phones in “unsupported regions”
Xiaomi has been in the news and on everyone’s lips in recent years, weeks and months and it’s mostly because of how it continues to grow and corner the smartphone and indeed the entire gadget market. They are now the second-largest phone and biggest smartwatch maker. However, their latest stance is bound to generate some […]
CBZ finally revamps eyesore of mobile app, phasing out old one
I remember when I opened my CBZ account. It wasn’t the best of experiences, I was frustrated to the point of almost choosing another bank. That all changed when I opened the CBZ Touch app. I burst out laughing. I couldn’t believe my eyes. ‘Good one Cibby,’ I thought. I needed the comic relief. The […]
Android 12 might be coming in October
Various versions of Android 12’s beta have been available since the mobile operating system was announced back in May. The final version of the OS, however, has taken far longer to come out than those that have come before it. There is some news to a release date, according to Mishaal Rahman, Editor-in-Chief of XDA, […]
ZUPCO appears to be working on a bus tracking app for passengers
So, I was randomly scrolling through the Google Play Store, as anyone does when they are bored, and I came across something interesting. While there, and for some reason, I typed in ZUPCO just to see what would turn up and I got three apps in the search results (all of them in early access). […]