
One of the most important new technologies in our renewable energy future is one you've probably never heard of. Called wheeling, it is the way that electricity is accounted for when you move it across the grid and you’re probably already using it, Open Access Energy founder Gerjo Hoffman tells Stuff editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak. Read more on Stuff.
Mar 25, 2024
28 min

Most of South Africa's youth don’t watch a TV set. Why should they? They have a mobile entertainment console in their hands that can access the new form of television: streaming. Jason Probert, general manager for digital services for MTN South Africa, tells Stuff editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak how he is making it easier and more cost-effective. Read more on Stuff.
Feb 20, 2024
23 min

Before he sold his startup to Workday, MIT-trained Sayan Chakraborty worked at NASA’s famed
Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an engineer on interplanetary spacecraft; and later on the early commercialisation of GPS. He has seen many new new things in a storied career, including as vice-president of software development at Oracle.
As much as AI is a game-changer, he tells Stuff editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak, “every business nowadays is a talent business”.
Jan 29, 2024
36 min

For many millions, a mobile phone is their only computer and their only screen. Jason Lobel, MTN South Africa’s head of video, wants to get streaming services to those people, he tells Stuff editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak. Read more on Stuff.
Oct 17, 2023
31 min

PayShap is the biggest thing to happen in banking in South Africa, if it is done right, says TymeBank’s co-founder and group CEO Coen Jonker. The new rapid payment method is
a “game changer” and the “key that will unlock the true digitisation of the cash economy,” he tells Stuff editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak. Read more on Stuff.
Sep 26, 2023
22 min

Instead of buying expensive textbooks, which learners are stuck with, what if you could “rent” them? Calling it a "Spotify for textbooks," this is the idea behind MTN’s new educational offering, MTN South Africa’s general manager of digital services Jason Probert tells says Stuff editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak. Joining them is Thabiet Allie, the head of new business development and who is driving the operator’s online learning. Read more on Stuff.
Aug 11, 2023
22 min

Gaming is still a fundamental way us humans interact and hasn't always been on a high-tech console, MTN’s gaming geeks tell Stuff editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak. Veteran executive Jason Probert is general manager of digital services for MTN South Africa, while Bradly Kirby is senior specialist of eSports and gaming– and gamers themselves. Apart from this philosophical reminder, gaming is how we have fun, blow off steam and socialise. Some of us do it on a padel court, others over a PlayStation. Read more on Stuff.
Jun 26, 2023
35 min

“Going solar” is the catch phrase of the year. Again. But how do you tell the shysters from the bone fide solar installers? And how do you get finance for an off-grid system? Also, without having to become an expert yourself, what exactly do you need? This is the what Hohm Energy does, providing a marketplace for finding providers and financiers, its head of business intelligence Matthew Cruise tells editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak in the third episode of Stuff’s going off-grid podcast series. Read more on Stuff.
May 30, 2023
22 min

South Africans are good at solving problems. With extreme load-shredding, we’ve started finding alternatives in true “n boer maak ‘n plan” style. From LED lightbulbs with built-in batteries to backup batteries for Wi-Fi routers, and a new category of small, but powerful, power stations, there are a range of new Eskom-induced technology. Several innovative South African companies have their own ways of tackling the blackouts. In the second of Stuff’s going off-grid podcast series, editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak meets local firm Syntech. He speaks to co-founder Ryan Martyn and CEO Craig Nowitz. Read more on Stuff.
May 22, 2023
23 min

With rolling blackouts hitting stage 6, insurance companies have stopped insuring against some Eskom-related claims. But, if your home solar system was installed by someone without the right certification and not registered with the correct authorities, that system isn’t insured. Nor is your house as a result, warns Chris Liebenberg, Elite Energy’s technical director. Going solar needs planning and research, he tells Stuff editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak in the first podcast in a new series about getting off-grid. Read more on Stuff.
May 16, 2023
25 min
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