Visa is preparing the rails for AI agents to shop and pay on South Africans’ behalf – and a deepening global partnership with OpenAI has added fresh impetus to that effort. As TechCentral reported earlier this month, Visa has enrolled local banks in its Agentic Ready programme, which prepares financial institutions to process fully autonomous…
Following a brief teaser last year, Google has officially opened pre-orders for its completely reimagined Google Home smart speaker. Arriving just slightly past its initial mid-2026 projection, the upgraded hardware is available for purchase starting today at $100, with official retail store shelves slated to stock the device on June 25. Read: Meta rolls out…
Tata Consultancy Services has partnered with Anthropic to bolster the adoption of Claude in South Africa. (Image: 123RF) IT services and consulting firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has partnered with Claude developer Anthropic to establish a dedicated global business unit aimed at expanding adoption of the AI model, including in emerging markets such as SA….
WhatsApp Plus, Meta Platforms’ optional paid subscription for its messaging app, is now available to South African users at R28.99/month, with the first month free. The tier is part of a broader push by Meta to build subscription revenue beyond its core advertising business. The company announced the global roll-out of consumer “Plus” subscriptions across…
At the Augmented World Expo (AWE), Qualcomm announced its next major leap in spatial computing with the debut of the Snapdragon Reality Elite processor. Designed to power premium augmented and mixed reality (AR/MR) hardware, the new flagship chipset promises to make future headsets significantly smaller, sleeker, and more thermally efficient. Read: Meta rolls out WhatsApp…
SMEs increasingly adopt AI, cloud systems and analytics tools to improve efficiency, reach customers and manage operations. (Image source: 123RF) South Africa’s small business sector is entering a more advanced phase of digital adoption, with SMEs increasingly moving beyond basic digitisation and focusing on the financial systems and innovations required to scale sustainably. The newly-released…
Datatec CEO Jens Montanana Datatec is bringing in General Atlantic – a major global growth equity firm – as a minority investor and lender in Westcon-Comstor, its networking and cybersecurity distribution arm. The deal values Westcon at US$950-million (roughly R15.5-billion) and generates about $434-million (R7.1-billion) in cash for Datatec, which it intends to pay out…
Apple may be doubling down on its razor-thin smartphone experiment. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, plans are already in motion for a second-generation iPhone Air, targeting a launch in early 2027. Read: Meta rolls out WhatsApp plus in South Africa for R29 p/m When the original ultralight iPhone Air debuted last fall, tech analysts largely…
Nutun South Africa CEO Robert Amoils. (Image supplied) Global business process outsourcing (BPO) and credit-lifecycle management company Nutun launched its new AI Lab in Johannesburg last night. The team introduced Zoey, an agentic AI debt collector that is already recovering close to R10 million a month. “Zoey is live. Zoey is working. Zoey is operating…
CloudZA, an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner with specialised designations in generative AI and agentic AI, recently co-hosted a closed-door AI executive roundtable with Amazon Web Services. Aimed at South African enterprise and technology leaders – heads of AI, CEOs, CIOs, CTOs and heads of innovation – the session focused on the defining technical challenge…
