Uber rides in London will be hit by a ‘clean air’ tax

Now you can watch videos and browse through others simultaneously from your web browser using YouTube’s miniplayer feature. For a while now, the mobile YouTube app has had the feature, allowing users to continue watching videos on their smart devices in a little miniature screen while they look for more content. The miniplayer, which was first noted by Engadget, can be found next to the resolution settings at the bottom right of any YouTube video. All you have to do is click the little miniplayer icon and you’re free to browse. You still can’t multitask outside of the mobile app though, we’ve...

Those who use iOS devices, like the iPad and iPhone, can now enjoy the ETA feature of Google Maps. The feature, which hit Android devices earlier this year, allows you to share your route with others while you’re travelling, keeping them abreast of where you are and your expected time of arrival. “After you’ve started navigating to a destination, tap on the ˄ button and then on ‘Share trip progress.’ From here you’ll be able to share your live location, route, and ETA with all your favourite contacts,” Google explained in the announcement. The update also includes improvements to the feature as...

Google hasn't really done much to market its Pixel devices. But after the Pixel 3 launched earlier this month, the company's seemingly all in. After an Eminem performance at the Empire State Building was part-filmed using a Pixel 3, Will Smith is the latest celeb to parade the phone. Taking to Instagram, the Fresh Prince posted a selfie from the upper floors of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. While the snap is pretty impressive, the caption is 100% cringe. "A thousand years from now, humans are gonna look at the Burj Khalifa the Same way we look at the Pyramids... like...

As the MyCiTi Bus strike continues into its fourth day, the company has made an official statement on behalf of the City of Cape Town, announcing that it's seeking an interdict from the Western Cape High Court. “The City of Cape Town will, within the next few hours, apply for an urgent court interdict to protect MyCiTi personnel, passengers, and assets against those participating in an unprotected strike that has turned violent,” said the statement, which was posted on Facebook. According to the post, Wednesday’s protests saw two female bus drivers held hostage, buses stoned, and bus keys stolen to prevent...

When you report a tweet for breaching Twitter's rules, or when the company takes actions on one, it requires the offending user to delete the tweet before they can publish another. But, the company claims that users aren't always aware that this is the case. Now, Twitter will add overlay offending tweets with a notice alerting the authors of tweets. "Once we've required a Tweet to be deleted, we will display a notice stating that the Tweet is unavailable because it violated the Twitter Rules along with a link to the Rules and an article that provides more detail on how we...

Spotify is finally launching a standalone app for Wear OS, Google's smartwatch operating system. Announced by the Scandanavian firm on Wednesday, it confirmed that the app will feature most of the bells and whistles of the Android app. This concludes scrolling playlists, the ability to cast via Spotify Connect, and the like button. "We’re excited to bring improved on-the-go-access to your favorite music and podcasts to millions of Spotify users on Wear OS by Google smartwatches," said Mikael Ericsson, the firm's senior product director. "Being able to easily access, control, and connect music directly from your wrist opens up a world of new...

Vodacom launched VoLTE (Voice over LTE) a little over three years ago now. Today, it announced that it's further tuning this offering. The company is replacing the old AMR codec, with the higher bandwidth EVS codec, or Enhanced Voice Services. While AMR has a relatively limited audio bandwidth of up to 7kHz, EVS allows for bandwidth of up to 20kHz, increasing the overall quality of the service. This, Vodacom claims, brings CD-like audio quality to its VoLTE offering. "Vodacom is always looking to improve the experience customers have on our network," said Siyabonga Zulu, Vodacom's exec for radio network engineering. "Deploying Enhanced Voice...

In the early hours of this morning YouTube, including its TV and Music services, went down around the world, preventing users from accessing content. The platform was fast to acknowledge the problem and tweeted that they was working on the issue. An hour later, it had been resolved. We're back! Thanks for all of your patience. If you continue to experience issues, please let us know. https://t.co/NVU5GP7Sy6 — Team YouTube (@TeamYouTube) October 17, 2018 Meanwhile many users showed off their panic, amusement and relief with a healthy influx of memes on Twitter under the hashtag #YouTubeDOWN. I survived the great #YouTubeDOWN of 2018 pic.twitter.com/0pGKsXjYMS —...

Anyone who’s spent any time around the marketing space knows how valuable data is. It’s no accident that the value of data is frequently compared to that of oil. Like oil, data’s real value lies in the way you use it. And just like the wrong kind of oil can damage your car’s engine, bad data can seriously harm your marketing efforts. This is especially true for email marketing, which is a vital part of the toolkit that enables organisations to speak directly to their customers. Bad data can impact everything -- from how many people see the messaging you send...

If you're a DStv subscriber, and just happen to be looking for a streaming music service, you can now stream local and international music for free via JOOX. In an announcement, DStv revealed the offer is open for up to four family members of Premium, Compact and Compact Plus customers at no extra cost. “JOOX is a music streaming app that gives you access to thousands of music libraries and playlists on your iOS or Android mobile device,” the company explained. To get your free access, all you have to do as a qualifying subscriber is download the JOOX app and enter...

It's a tough time to be a traditional desktop media player. While video spinners like VLC can still live in harmony alongside Netflix and co, audio players like Winamp have faded into obscurity thanks to streaming music services like Spotify. But that's seemingly about to change. Winamp's owner Radionomy is set to totally overhaul the program in 2019, transforming it from a single-use audio player into a podcasting, streaming and radio platform, etcetera. "There will be a completely new version next year, with the legacy of Winamp but a more complete listening experience," Alexandre Saboundijian, Radionomy CEO, told TechCrunch. "People want one...

Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with having invented the World Wide Web, says he plans to reinvent the internet -- by helping users to regain ownership of their private internet data, through his new startup Inrupt and its Solid platform. Speaking at the 38th Gitex Technology Week in Dubai yesterday, Berners-Lee said the initial dream of the World Wide Web as a tool that would fuel democracy had now faded and been replaced instead by a place full of click-bait articles and fake news. "A lot of people are finding that they're not so happy about it," he added. But above all, privacy has become a major concern, with the...

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has died after a long batter with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was 65. Allen was a childhood friend of Bill Gates, and the two of them founded Microsoft back in 1975. Though Allen left Microsoft in 1983, his contributions to personal computer technology were revolutionary, and many consider him a great visionary for his investments and donations over the years. He founded multiple research companies for science, biology and technology, including Vulcan Inc. which confirmed Allen’s passing in an official statement. “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of our founder Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and...

Update, Tuesday 10am: The "wildcat" MyCiti bus strike continues into its second day, affecting a vast swathe of Cape Town. There are however more lines currently operating today than on Monday, when strike action began. "The following services are currently operating on routes: T02, X02, D01, D02, D03, D04, 232, 233, 234, 236 and 237," Cape Town's MyCiti bus service tweeted early on Tuesday. Update: #MyCiTiAlert: The following services are currently operating on routes: T02, X02, D01, D02, D03, D04, 232, 233, 234, 236 and 237. Updates to follow — MYCITI bus (@MyCiTiBus) 16 October 2018 As of 6am on Tuesday, a slew of...