So far, so good: Eskom keeps load shedding away on Friday

Disney has dropped its first and very dramatic teaser trailer for Frozen 2. The teaser shows Elsa using her ice powers to take on the ocean, but the water body repeatedly gets the better of her. We also see Anna and Kristoff hurrying off to what can only be assumed is someone's aid. Two new characters are also spotted, with one using magic seeming related to Autumn. Finally, the characters look over a field of orange trees, as if Autumn has taken over in the same way Elsa's Winter powers did in the previous movie. While it seems like Autumn is definitely the...

WhatsApp will be launching a Group Invitation feature in the near future, according to WABetaInfo. This means that you may soon be able to have more control over your privacy settings regarding group invitations. The feature will allow you to choose who, if anyone, can add you to their group chats. If your privacy setting does not allow you to automatically be added, you will receive a request to join instead. WABetaInfo also reports that the feature will first appear in iOS Beta updates. Feature image: Memeburn

On Wednesday, a slew of Instagram users took to other social networks to complain about their dwindling follower numbers. But it seems that people aren't actually smashing that unfollow button en masse. Instead, Instagram acknowledged that there's an issue with the platform. "We’re aware of an issue that is causing a change in account follower numbers for some people right now. We’re working to resolve this as quickly as possible," it tweeted from its official account. https://twitter.com/instagram/status/1095664792373743616 The company failed to elaborate the nature of the "issue" but didn't explicitly suggest it was a purge of fake or bot accounts as many online...

Load shedding apps first came to the fore in 2014, back when it was common practice for our glorious electricity provider to switch off our lights at the most inconvenient times. Some five years later, South Africa's once again facing long nights lit only by ever-shortening candles. But while this fate can't be avoided by the average South African, we can all be prepared for when it does. That's where apps, and their ability to quickly serve information, come to the fore. We've seen a fair few of these come and go, but one has stuck around since 2014. Perhaps its the name,...

The season premier of The Bachelor South Africa will be aired on M-Net's YouTube channel this Valentines Day. This means that everyone with a stable internet connection can watch as the country's first ever Bachelor, Lee Thompson, begins his "quest for love". Thompson, a 30-year-old model from Port Elizabeth, will have 24 ladies to choose from. "The season premier will be available on the M-Net YouTube Channel for 28 days after it flights, for fans who want to relive every moment, and/or who can’t watch it on the night," said YouTube's reps in a press release on Wednesday. Though the rest of the...

February is Black History Month in the United States, and to honour the occasion Instagram has released some new features to celebrate the African-American community. Under the hashtag #ShareBlackStories, Instagram will feature content from creators, as well as short films "featuring distinct black voices". "On the official @instagram account, you’ll see stories from incredible creators like Tawny Chatmon, Paola “Pao Pao” Mathé and Uzumaki Cepeda," the company said. Instagram has also added new camera effects and stickers for Stories, so that users can take part in celebrating. "Available now, these effects touch on themes of family, bravery and good fortune," it explained. According to the company, this will last from...

According to Buzzfeed News, Apple is planning a launch event set for 25 March, where it is expected to debut its news subscription service. Though Apple itself has not confirmed the report, Buzzfeed's sources say that the launch will be focused on the company's upcoming subscription services rather than any new devices. The news service will provide subscribers with access to articles from multiple publications. A report by The Wall Street Journal claims that Apple intends to take 50% of the service's profits from partnered news sources. Feature image: Apple

Instagram is reportedly testing a web version of its direct messages feature, according to TechCrunch. This means that, soon, Instagrammers could be chatting to their Instagram followers on the web, rather than through the mobile app. Reader Jane Manchun Wong tipped TechCrunch off about the test, and revealed a screenshot showing Instagram's Direct symbol at the top right of the web page. As the feature is still being tested internally, there is no confirmation of when Instagram Direct for web will go live. Feature image: Memeburn

Showmax and South African school for film and arts AFDA, have revealed a new deal that will give local film makers the opportunity to publish their work on the video-on-demand platform. "From 18 February, 18 of the best recent short films made by AFDA students from their Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth campuses will be live on Showmax," said the streaming company in a press release. According to Showmax, platforms like YouTube and broadcast TV do not give local talent the right kind of space for their work to be noticed. "Thanks to the growing popularity of video-on-demand services, there’s...

South Africa's unemployment rate dropped in the final quarter of 2018, Statistics South Africa announced on Tuesday in its Quarterly Labour Force Survey results. The rate decreased from 27.5% in Q3 2018 to 27.1% in Q4 2018, after an additional 70 000 citizens found employment during this period. In total, 16.5-million South Africans are currently employed. https://twitter.com/StatsSA/status/1095254861053128705 While this is a small win that should be celebrated, there are a multitude of negatives that should be highlighted. For one, this means that 6.1-million people remained unemployed in South Africa in Q4 2018. Additionally, the youth unemployment rate -- specifically looking at those aged between 15...

If you're an FNB Connect user, you will now have the option to roll over your remaining data to the following month. In a statement on Tuesday, FNB revealed that the move is in response to ICASA's requirements on data expiry on mobile networks. FNB Connect will also introduce a free data transfer feature, allowing users to send data to one another on the network. This also includes data that has rolled over. The network is also adding an option for users to receive data depletion notifications at 50%, 80% and 100% "allowing them to actively track and manage usage". "This is part...

Google has added more actions to its right-click menu in Gmail that will allow you easier access to more of the platforms features. "With these new options, you can take even more actions, directly from a message, " the company said on its G Suite Updates Blog. The update will allow users to reply, forward, add labels, make related searches and even open emails in separate tabs, all from the right-click menu. The new options will roll out to all users over the course of February. Feature image: G Suite

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World has retained its top spot on Southern Africa's box office chart for a second weekend, this according to data from Ster-Kinekor. The flick held off Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston's second place flick The Upside for a consecutive week, while Aquaman remained in third as the highest grossing flick on the chart with a haul of R52.9-million to date. In fourth place, DJ Black Coffee and Kagiso Lediga's Matwetwe continues its local popularity surge, jumping two places to fourth this week. Bohemian Rhapsody fell one place to fifth, while South Africa's other two movies...

If the announcement on Sunday that load shedding was set to ruin South Africans' lives once again for the next few months didn't annoy you, Eskom's latest announcement surely will. On Monday, Stage 2 load shedding was implemented from 9am, but by around 1pm, not enough load was being shed from the grid. In response, the company's spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe on Monday afternoon announced that the country is now facing Stage 4 load shedding for the remainder of the day. Stage 4 is the most severe level on its panic chart. https://twitter.com/KhuluPhasiwe/status/1094918900637200384 This will allow the ailing power utility to shed more than 4000mW...

In a new special look trailer released at the Grammy Awards, Disney has given the world its first taste of Will Smith as the Genie in Aladdin. The short reveal shows a buff, blue and ever so slightly CG Genie coming out of his lamp to introduce himself to Aladdin. Will Smith Instagrammed the moment, saying "I told y’all I was gon’ be Blue!" https://www.instagram.com/p/BtuUnAoh8ER/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Fans however, seemed more shocked to see the actor as an entirely different colour, than excited for the live action classic. https://twitter.com/QuinnKeaney/status/1094777851738501120 https://twitter.com/JvJoeontheRadio/status/1094776887979720704 https://twitter.com/bradmiska/status/1094778279721140227 https://twitter.com/CaillouPettis/status/1094777489610629125 Let's face it though, can anyone really compete with Robin Williams? Ever? The movie will premier in May. Feature image:...