Author: Brett Venter

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the open-world game, along comes Ubisoft with playable NFTs. Yeah, that’s seriously about to become a thing. The French gaming giant has announced a new platform — Ubisoft Quartz — dedicated to “playable and energy-efficient NFTs in AAA games”. Which is exactly what it sounds like. The company is about to make some in-game items wholly unique. Or, rather, it’ll do this to batches of them. You can equip ’em, use ’em, sell ’em, and buy ’em. We’re getting some serious Counterstrike: Global Offensive vibes here. Want Ubisoft’s Digits?…

Before you get too excited — yes, BMW and gaming brand LVL are teaming up to create a real-life Rocket League. But no, they won’t be using actual, life-sized cars to do it. Even though that would be awesome. Instead, the motoring brand and the gaming gear creator are making something called Das Race Goal. This is a Rocket League-like esports event that uses RC cars and an arena to recreate the whole football-using-cars mechanic. BMW banging around The event will see six three-player teams navigating remote-controlled cards roaming around the BMW Welt stadium in Munich. The cars will traverse…

There are people who like sneakers and then there are folks who treat them like the investments they are. Those intrepid fans will either snag a compelling sneaker drop as it shows up, or they get to go hunting. The hunt, if we’re being honest, may just be the best part. The problem with it is not knowing what you’re going to get. After all, how do you tell if those kicks are as pristine as promised? What if there’s a hidden scuff you’ll only see after the courier has stopped by? eBay has recognised the problem, and it’s releasing…

Thank goodness that’s (almost) over. Stuff’s last print issue for the year is on shelves everywhere around South Africa, and we’ve got some seriously good stuff waiting for you. But that’s always the case. So what makes this issue any different?  Well, this year’s issue is home to Stuff’s annual Wishlist. This is the tech that we reckon will go down well as gifts around the Christmas tree, the menorah, or the sónargǫltr. No matter what floats your respective religious or festive aquatic craft, we’ve got a category for you. And no, they’re not divided by spiritual affiliation. Whether you’re…

There are changes afoot at Samsung. The electronics giant has announced internal changes, combining some divisions and naming two new CEOs. It might seem a bit like dry business news, but it does have some interesting implications for the company as a whole. The merger of its two largest consumer-facing businesses could lead to the company becoming more responsive. It may also see better-integrated tech and an enhanced software platform take shape, according to analysts. Samsung’s newest monster Samsung is combining its mobile and consumer electronics arms into a single entity called the SET Division. This will be headed up…

Sony has (re)joined the ranks of tech-makers tempering expectations ahead of the festive season. The Japanese company has already warned that the PlayStation 5 will be in shorter supply. Its ZV-E10 mirrorless camera, a favourite of vloggers, is also set to become a rarity for the next few months. Sony announced this via its website, where it said (translated), “parts procurement is delayed due to the effects of global semiconductor shortages.” Sony comes up short This means that the company won’t be selling the shooter via its website. Nor will it take orders for units, meaning that what’s in store…

User data is a very valuable commodity on the internet. This should be concerning to basically… everyone because we’re all commodities to the right industry. The newest report of user data ending up in unexpected places might keep you from picking up a Tile to track your kit. Life360, the app that just purchased the tracking hardware company, has reportedly been handing over large quantities of user data to data brokers. This information comes by way of The Markup, who spoke to two former employees who wished to remain anonymous. Two people who used to work for location data brokers…

Robots are already disturbingly capable on a physical plane. They’re able to run, jump and flip better than the vast majority of humans. The major thing keeping them from being seriously creepy was that they don’t really look like us. You’ll notice that last sentence is in the past tense. Meet Ameca. Ameca is the robot that’ll haunt your nightmares this evening. Not because it’s utterly alien, but because of how alien it isn’t. Well, at least, not totally alien. What a robot uprising looks like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPukuYb9xWw Ameca is a humanoid robot that, currently, looks to have the most advanced…

Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule, already considerably delayed, hit a significant snag earlier this year.  This, unfortunately, has left NASA with a bit of a problem. Starliner was supposed to take on the role of ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station following a successful orbital test. Which has turned into a bit of a windfall for SpaceX. See, SpaceX and Boeing are supposed to alternate duties when it comes to heading to space. NASA likes redundancy. But only one of those two are currently running operations. NASA to see you, Elon The American space agency has announced that it’s purchasing…

Last week, Spotify took over large swathes of social media with its annual Wrapped. Apple Music did the same thing, to slightly less acclaim. Now educational app Duolingo is taking a crack at summing up the year it had, providing each of its users (that completed more than ten lessons in 2021) a roundup of how they did. The feature, called Year in Review, sums up how many words were learned, how many minutes were spent submerged in a language you’ll likely never seriously use, and how much XP was earned. Because it’s all about seeing those bars fill up.…