Author: Duncan Pike

Japan’s second and third-largest car manufacturers, Honda and Nissan, are reportedly considering a merger, according to Japanese publication Nikkei. The move would enable the two companies to pool resources to better compete with the world’s largest automaker Toyota and the rising threat of Tesla and China’s BYD, among others. This isn’t the first time Honda and Nissan have collaborated. The two companies teamed up in March this year in a ‘strategic partnership’ to cooperate in electric vehicle development. Nissan and Honda sitting in a tree Should the companies come together, whether with shared equity under a new holding company or…

At Huawei’s latest ‘flagship product launch’ held in Dubai last night, the tech company unveiled a host of new products, including the new folio-style foldable Mate X6, new additions to the mid-range Nova smartphone series and MatePad tablet range, and a new pair of wireless earbuds. We’ll get to those shortly but another announcement caught our eye. Stuff wasn’t able to attend the event this time around but we’ve learnt that Huawei’s tri-folding Mate XT was confirmed to arrive in South Africa next year via our friends at Hypertext. Have you met my new Mates? There was no local launch…

What if cows could herd themselves? They’re probably not there just yet (Ed: if you know of any self-herding cows please reach out to us) but researchers at the University of Sydney will tell you their ‘SwagBot’ is the next best thing. Border Collies will soon be out of a job. SwagBot started its humble beginnings in 2016 as a herding robot but researchers have since upgraded it with sensors and access to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems. The augments mean SwagBot can now monitor the health of livestock and determine the type, density and health of…

Uber South Africa today announced a new offering for people looking to move their big packages. Courier Bakkie, as you might have guessed, allows you to make use of a spare bakkie to transport large items like furniture or big appliances that won’t fit in your family sedan. With the update, Uber also said it is rebranding its ‘Uber Package’ product to ‘Courier’ to “better align with the growing range of transportation services made available to Users by independent contractors, via the Uber App.” Uber’s Courier Bakkie rolls out It isn’t often that South Africa is the first to try…

If you missed Google’s announcement earlier this year in July, the company said it was making changes to the way incidents were reported for Google Maps across all platforms – including Android Auto and CarPlay. Examples of the new updates have begun to surface online, indicating a wider rollout isn’t too far off. The update includes a redesigned user interface, which is supposed to make incident reporting easier, and the use of crowd-sourced incident reports from Maps users as well as surfacing reports from sister app Waze. Google said at the time, “To help keep your fellow drivers informed on…

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that we love tech at Stuff – it’s kind of our whole shtick. But we also know that an always-connected life can get tiresome. When that happens, it’s usually a good idea to take a step back and touch some grass (or ‘go play outside’). Legacy Hotels & Resorts obviously thought we needed to spend some time outside because it invited Stuff on a three-day trip to its Elephant Point estate. Our trip started with a rather comfortable five-hour drive from Johannesburg in the recently facelifted VW Touareg 3.0 TDI R-Line. Although we didn’t get…

Four months after a botched security update brought an estimated 8.5 million Windows servers and PCs to their knees, Microsoft has announced the Windows Resiliency Initiative to hopefully avoid such an outage from happening again. The new initiative includes core changes to improve the reliability of Windows systems, new security features for Windows 11, and will require better deployment practices from security vendors. More security, fewer global outages Microsoft’s new initiative includes what it calls a “Quick Machine Recovery” feature, as part of the core Windows changes and as a result of improvements to the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE).…

What does the future of the smartphone industry entail? If you guessed AI, then you aren’t the only one. The 27th Africa Tech Festival kicked off earlier this week at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Comprising an estimated 15,000+ attendees, 400 speakers, and 300 exhibitors across three days, the first day saw Honor hold a panel discussion during AfricaCom: Telcos of Tomorrow and as part of its wider showcase at the event. The discussion, chaired by CNBC Africa business anchor Zanele Morrison, included Honor South Africa CEO Fred Zhou, Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes, and Vinod Nenwani, head of…

In search of audio opulence with a touch of automotive excellence? Danish audio company Bang & Olufsen’s latest collaboration with Ferrari for its Beolab 50 speakers and Beosound Theatre soundbar is probably right up your alley. This isn’t the first time B&O and Ferrari have launched co-branded products. The pair’s previous collaborations include the Beosound 2 wireless speaker, Beosound Explore portable speaker, Beoplay H95 headphones, and Beoplay EX wireless earphones. With the Beolab 50 and Beosound Theatre, B&O and Ferrari have turned their attention to the TV room. Here’s what close to R4 million buys you. How much is too…

After yesterday’s update to the Steam client, Steam Game Recording has officially exited beta and rolled out to gamers on PC, macOS, and the Steam Deck globally. This means Steam gamers now have a baked-in method for recording, editing, and sharing gameplay clips and won’t have to rely on third-party software. They still can, of course. Most PC gamers tend to stick with their favourites, even when a new thing drops. But Steam Game Recording is built into the Steam client, one of the most well-put-together gaming clients available, which means recording your clips is now easier than ever. Steam…