Tech Vibes

Image credit: Toyota Back in 2001, Toyota revealed a car that changed the car industry. The Prius became the first-ever production hybrid which herald the new age of vehicles that combined both an electric motor with a high-efficiency engine to produce more miles with less fuel. Twenty-two years later, the Prius is known as one of the best-selling cars of Toyota. For that reason, Toyota has charmed as yet again with a new Prius. In the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show at the LA Convention Center, Toyota revealed the all-new 2023 Toyota Prius and its twin, Prius Prime . This is what Dave Christ, Toyota group vice president, and general manager had to say about the new Prius: “The weight of the Prius name is heavy – it carries with it the identity of an entire category of vehicle powertrain. We’re confident the all-new 2023 Prius and Prius Prime will continue this important legacy.” The fifth generation Prius comes in two variants, the Series Parallel Hybrid (HEV) model which is expected to b...

So you are planning on getting a new phone but your budget isn’t high enough to get you the flagship phones introduced by Apple down to Oneplus, well you don’t have to worry because there are other’s that you are guaranteed to appreciate and are reasonably priced to fit your budget. Below is the list and specs of the bests five you can get for less than $500. 1. Google Pixel 6a Price: $449 SPECIFICATIONS Screen size : 6.1 inches Android version : 12 Processor : Tensor Cameras : 12.2MP main, 12MP ultrawide (Rear); 8MP (Front) RAM/Storage : 8GB/128GB WHY YOU SHOULD BUY The best cameras on a budget phone Bright display Tensor chip powers new experiences WHY YOU SHOULDN’T BUY Poor result on our battery test Noticeably cheap materials This phone is said to be the best cheap phone one can go for. Its price is sure to drop lower in a couple of weeks to come. 2. iPhone SE (2022) Price: $429 SPECIFICATIONS Display : 4.7-inch LCD (1334x750) CPU : A15 Bionic RAM : 4GB Storage/ Expandable : 64GB, ...

2022 has seen one of the biggest recessions since the Great Recession of 2008. It looks like there might be another Great Recession. Countries like Ghana, where I’m from and live have seen their currency rate depreciate in a way it hasn’t not in a long time. As of January 2022, 1 dollar was equivalent to 6.29 GHS but currently, 1 dollar is equivalent to 14.39 GHS making it the highest the dollar has ever gone against the Cedi. Ghana isn’t the only country experiencing this economical hardship, there are other countries with similar problems. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones with these problems. As a matter of fact, It looks like the tech stocks have had a worse experience. Due to the hike in interest rates, economic uncertainty, global pressure, and the strong American dollar, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index has fallen more than 30% since Jan 2022 and falling into a bear market. Last week saw the fall of these NASDAQ stocks escalate in an unprecedented way. Big Tech firms like...

The release of iOS 16 was a game changer. It was intended to create an interesting experience for iPhone users which iOS 15 wasn't able to provide. Those who are eligible to upgrade to iOS 16 are experiencing amazing new features. To make it more interesting to use, Apple has recently released iOS 16.2 beta 2 and iPadOS 16.2 beta 2. Apple is targeting to release the new beta update in mid-December. It is coming with a few notable changes and some new features. Below is a list of 5 of what has been added to the beta. First and foremost, Apple has provided bug fixes with this beta. One of the major and annoying bugs Apple is fixing is one that previously prevented one from swiping back from the camera opened on the iPhone Lock Screen. Secondly, iPhone users in India can now experience 5G for the first time. But only those whose network providers are Airtel and Jlo can experience 5G. Thirdly, Apple has introduced new animations in the Music app for play/pause and skip forward/backward...

As you may know by now,  Elon Mask  the richest person in the world is now the new boss of Twitter. But right after taking over Twitter, there’s been some decisions made which caused a lot of Twitter employees to lose their jobs. Truth be told, this shakedown isn’t new. Whenever there’s a new boss, there are going to be some layoffs. But the layoffs happening with Twitter employees are happening in a way that is a bit shocking.  Reports show  Elon  has plans to reduce (layoffs) the workforce of the platform of 8,000 which is about 50% of the staff. This has led to many Twitter staff waiting to see if they still have a job or not as an email setting out mass layoffs has been sent.  Reports are showing that some employees got fired before receiving any notice.  Senior manager Simon Balmain  wrote in a message aiming to find a new job;  "This morning I lost access to my Twitter systems without warning, meaning I’m part of the layoffs from a ro...

“All SIM cards that have been linked to Ghana cards, that is completed Stage 1 registration, but have not completed Stage 2 registration of biometrically verifying users, will be blocked from the end of October 2022.”   This statement was issued by The Minister for Communications in Ghana, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful who made it abundantly clear that there will be no more extensions for the 10 million people who have already done Stage 1 of the registration by linking their cards to the Ghana Card but are yet to go through Stage 2. All other unregistered SIMs will also be blocked at the end of October 2022. No excuse will be accepted since most individuals have received their Ghana Cards and have had ample time to register their sim either through the self-registration app which is the first of its kind in the world or by visiting your network provider to register. Sure, there are some who are opposed to the SIM Card registration exercise for ideological, philosophical, or political...

As we all know by now, the  EU  mandated recently that all smartphones switch to USB-C charging . Long before this, there have been a lot of rumors and speculations about Apple switching to USB-C charging . Yet Apple never confirmed that it was going to switch. The mandate from the  EU  changes everything. Will Apple Capitulate and accept the change? Well, In an interview with the Wall Street Journal,  Craig Federighi  and  Greg Joswiak  of Apple confirmed that “ Apple is 100% planning to respect the new law passed by the EU ” conforming all sorts of devices to a standard USB- C charging connector. As to when exactly Apple is going to make the transition, we do not know yet. What we know for now is that the mandate given by the EU had a deadline of 2024. At the moment, Apple is testing iPhone 15 Pro models with USB-C connectors . So we should expect the next iPhone (iPhone 15 ) to come with the USB- C charging connector. But incase it does not, ...

Last year,  WhatsApp  went down as part of a massive outage that also took down  Instagram, Messenger , and  Facebook . It was nearly six hours before it the outage was resolved and WhatsApp came back online. After a long year without any other issues, it happened again. Around 3 AM ET, users of  WhatsApp  started experiencing issues with the app.  Downdetector  reports there have been more than 60,000 reports of issues with the app so far. Meanwhile, the owner of WhatsApp, “ Meta ” hasn’t issued a comment on the problems yet even though the issue spans globally.  Whatsapp  rarely experiences outages but when it does, it affects countries that use  WhatsApp  as their main app for communication and also for work. Last year's outage coursed some workers in Brazil to lose their jobs. Small businesses in Africa were also affected. Although the app( WhatsApp ) started working perfectly after 2 hours of the outage,  Meta  h...

credit to Meta Yesterday, Meta gave us an introduction to how social virtual reality is going to look like with the introduction of the new  Meta Quest Pro , and hear me out LEGS! Yes, LEGS!! During the event, Mark Zuckerberg joined leaders from Reality Labs at Meta and a few special guests to the advancement they have made in making the metaverse a reality. The success they achieved with the previous generation  Meta Quest 2  was emphasized.  credit to Meta Meta Quest Pro and Legs Meta quest 2 aided in making virtual reality more social by showcasing fitness innovations, gaming, and work. But Meta’s vision goes further than that. Meta revealed the  Meta Quest Pro , a high-end VR headset retailing at $1,499 . The headset is aimed at making it possible for the physical and digital worlds to grow a step closer to each other. It also gave Meta the chance to flex the result of all the money it’s invested into Reality Labs. The new Meta Quest Pro will begin shipping ...