Remgro-owned CIVH buys 34.9% of Vumatel
Vumatel, the company that triggered the fibre-to-the-home land grab in the Johannesburg suburb of Parkhurst, has announced that its shareholders have entered into an agreement with Remgro-owned CIVH to acquire 34.9% of the company as a passive shareholder. That should mean business as usual for now, but CIVH aims to “obtain the remainder of the Vumatel shareholding” in due course. The ...[Read More]
LG unveils G7 smartphone in South Africa with pricing starting at R14,000
Three weeks after the global announcement of its new flagship, LG‘s finally confirmed the G7 ThinQ handset will be coming to South Africa. Like the G6 and G5 before it, the G7’s secondary rear camera goes wide rather than telephoto — as favoured by most of its rivals — and, like the G6, the two sensors are 16MP. We’ve always liked LG’s wide-angle secondary shoot...[Read More]
Got great blockchain ideas? Tari Labs wants to help you build the things you love
The word “blockchain” tends to conjure images of cryptocurrencies and the volatility that comes with them, leaving many regular Joes (and Jills) wary. But blockchain technology has myriad other applications. One of them is managing things like digital assets — think concert tickets, in-game purchases and other digitally scarce commodities. Three visionaries are building a blockch...[Read More]
Ford Ranger: A road tripper’s delight with plenty of might
South Africans sure do love a bakkie, and casting a snoot around any shopping mall parking lot affirms Ford‘s assertions that the Ranger is one of the most popular in the class. Aside from its legendary ruggedness and versatility, the Ranger is beloved for its affordability and feature set. It’s the last of these we were most interested in when we requested a loaner 2018 version to tak...[Read More]
The Huawei P20 Pro is probably the best smartphone you can buy today
The last few years have seen Chinese smartphone maker Huawei edge ever closer to creating the sort of smartphone that can help it realise its master plan: unseating Apple and Samsung’s devices sitting plum atop the smartphone pile. With the Huawei P20 Pro, it may actually have succeeded. Cue maniacal laughter and Dr Evil visuals. Triple threat Never mind the snazzy hues of its shell, the tin...[Read More]
DJI Tello: A great starter drone, but beware of strong winds
Privacy and safety concerns aside, drones are some of the most exciting consumer gadgets on the market today, and DJI is the best-known name in the game. With each iteration the Chinese company’s consumer drones have gotten incrementally better, and easier to fly. From automated flight paths and object-avoiding sensors to improved portability, recent models like the Spark and Mavic Air are s...[Read More]
The first of Nokia’s new smartphones goes on sale today
HMD Global, the company behind the reinvigorated Nokia mobile brand announced a selection of new smartphones and feature phones at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year, including feature phones the 8110 “banana phone” and the new sub-R1,000 Nokia 1, alongside its new Android-powered flagship, the Nokia 8 Sirocco. Now we’ve got timelines for when you’ll be ab...[Read More]
Getting face to face with Samsung’s AR Emojis
Samsung’s latest smartphones, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ include a range of biometric security features including a fingerprint sensor, an iris scanner and a face scanner. The last of these isn’t just for unlocking your phone, though. In conjunction with the front-facing camera it can be used to create AR Emoji (augmented-reality emoji). AR what now? Think of it as an animated avatar modell...[Read More]
In the April 2018 issue of Stuff Magazine
We love the smell of fresh magazine pages in the morning (or the afternoon, or the evening), so we’ve been casting our snoots over the latest issue of Stuff and we can tell you with confidence, it smells as good as it reads. Don’t believe us? Head to your local purveyor of printed materials (or, you know, the supermarket), pick up a copy of the April 2018 issue, flip through the pages,...[Read More]
Uber adds option to tip drivers
Car-on-demand service Uber and food-delivery service Uber Eats have added a feature to the latest version of its mobile apps that enables South African consumers to tip drivers or delivery people directly from the app. At the end of a trip or delivery users will be prompted to add a tip from a selection of preset amounts, a custom amount or skip the process. Uber says tips will go directly to the ...[Read More]
10 Mobile app alternatives to Outlook and Gmail
Someone smarter than us once said that email is a “to-do list made for you by other people”. Be that as it may, email is a necessary evil for most of us, but navigating it needn’t be a pain. The vast majority of email users use Microsoft’s Outlook or Google’s Gmail, but that’s no reason to stick to their accompanying mobile apps. Here are some of the best altern...[Read More]
The 9 things you should do with your Samsung S9/S9+
So, you’ve decided to get yourself a Samsung Galaxy S9 or S9+, the Android phone that’s on course to set the bar for 2018’s other handsets to try and match. Perhaps you’ve upgraded from the S8 and want to know what’s changed, or you’ve tired of Apple’s walled garden, ditched your iPhone and need a tiny tots primer course on the best Android Oreo has to off...[Read More]