Author: Brett Venter

Acer has had gaming handhelds before, but its upcoming Predator Atlas 8 is the first to fall under the company’s ‘serious’ gaming banner. The previous outings were filed under ‘Nitro’, the more affordable range from Acer. So what’s the big deal about this upcoming gaming hardware? Well, it’s supposedly the first hardware to use Intel’s dedicated handheld gaming chipset, the Arc G3 Extreme. Acer does point out (sort of) that this is an “up to” situation and not the default. Expect to pay more for Intel’s newest hardware and the performance it supplies. Predator Atlas 8 *shrug*?  Acer’s Predator Atlas…

Stuff has long been fascinated with the products Vertu comes out with, and the company’s new AlphaFold is no different. The luxury brand tends to include premium features that have nothing to do with hardware and everything to do with the size of your bank account. And its foldable really lives up to that pattern. The thing is, unlike the Louis Vuitton earbuds (and much like the Xor Titanium), this is a completely customised device. It’s not simply a repainted phone, like the Steve Jobs Edition iPhone. If you want one of Vertu’s foldables, the starting price is R112,000. It…

There’s a reason why anything complicated is compared to rocket science. One of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets — the same type used for manned launches — exploded on the launchpad last night. Nobody was hurt, as far as is known, since it wasn’t actually supposed to lift off. Instead, the New Glenn rocket was undergoing a hot-fire test on the pad. The test was being recorded and streamed, with the subsequent spectacular explosion being caught on camera. We’re not using ‘spectacular’ lightly, either. Blue Origin blew up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O90WZJALYc Blue Origin’s rocket was supposed to launch at a later stage.…

The existence of WhatsApp Plus hasn’t really been a secret, but it’s officially here. Worse, it’ll be going global. Even worse than that? The subscription offering will also encompass Facebook and Instagram. But at least it can’t get any worse, right? Actually… the company says that it’s also developing other subscriptions, for Meta creators, businesses, and folks who use Meta AI. That’s a problem for the future, though. In the meantime, you’ll wind up paying at least R65/m for Facebook Plus or Instagram Plus. WhatsApp Plus is set to be cheaper, at around R50 a month. WhatsApp with all these…

The current robotics drive seems like it’s confined to companies with budgets, but it doesn’t have to be. All you need to get involved is a little programming know-how, a 3D printer… and about R41,000 for additional parts. A new project released on Hugging Face will handle most of the work, eventually leaving you with your very own pair of robotic legs to play with. It’s not really for having lying around the home, though. The project’s creators have designed the LeRobot Humanoid for more scientific endeavours. Still, if you have the cash and hardware, you can just… make a…

Programming your own smartwatch might be a little too far, but what about building your own smartphone? The Makerphone 2 from CircuitMess — the folks who also sell self-assembled NASA wristwear — could be just what you need to feel more in control of your tech. It’s supposed to be more-or-less idiot-proof, too. CircuitMess reckons that its product doesn’t require anything like soldering. It just clips together, a bit like a model aeroplane but without the glue. We suppose you could use glue if you’re very confident. Makerphone for me But you’ll have to wait for a while to get…

And now for something completely different. Oppo has a reputation in South Africa for affordable smartphones, but the Bubble is something entirely unexpected from the company. For starters, it’s difficult to guess what it is just from the title. Even the images shown here aren’t an immediate giveaway. Oppo’s Bubble might look like an AirTag knockoff, but it’s actually a small magnetic AMOLED display that you can plonk onto the back of your smartphone. An iPhone, for preference, since its MagSafe magnetic ring is built into the hardware. But it should work with more models, including Oppo’s own. Not the…

It’s a bad time to be launching premium over-ear headphones. Xiaomi has just announced an affordable pair, the Redmi Headphones Neo, for various markets. South Africa isn’t confirmed for this launch (yet), but we dearly hope they make it over here. And not just for the price, either. International pricing puts these at around R850, which translates to a price point closer to R1,000 here in SA. Based purely on looks, the Redmi Headphones Neo will outstrip what you’re paying for them. After a closer look at these cans, it’s obvious in other ways, too. Redmi Headphones Neo logistics The…

Huawei’s recent(ish) history in the smartphone arena saw the Chinese company cut off from various component sources. It adapted by pulling most of its missing supply chain in-house, and that development is still ongoing. Most recently, the company announced a new initiative to compete with TSMC, the world’s foremost semiconductor producer. Announced at the 2026 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Huawei presented something it calls the Tau (τ) Scaling Law. The company “proposes replacing geometric scaling with time (τ) scaling as a new guiding principle for the evolution of both semiconductors and electronic systems.” Huawei’s chip off the…

South Africa’s fuel levy relief, currently being used to offset astronomical petrol and diesel prices, is set to expire soon. The measure, announced in March this year, was always going to be temporary. Recent statements by SA’s finance minister Enoch Godongwana have made it clear that the Treasury is looking at ending the relief program. Godongwana told members of Parliament that the fuel levy relief program has already cost the country more than R17 billion in lost tax revenue. According to the minister, “This is further disrupting an already fragile global economic environment, shaped by trade wars and supply chain…