Author: Brett Venter

Price increases are on the horizon for several of Samsung’s smartphone lines. They’re already sitting in customers’ front yards if they happen to live in South Korea. Affected units include some models of the Galaxy Fold 7 and Flip 7, as well as the Galaxy S25 Edge. The price increase went into effect in Samsung’s native country yesterday, on 1 April. It’s an awful day to announce that retail prices are going up, but it seems that it had to happen. The move also suggests that costs are set to rise outside South Korea. Samsung goes up It’s not every version…

It’s been quite a while coming, but Artemis II has officially left Earth. The NASA mission is carrying four astronauts on the first lunar trip since 1972, when the last Apollo mission took place. That’s around a 54-year gap between ambitious exploration projects. The astronauts, three from NASA and one from the Canadian Space Agency, departed aboard NASA’s Space Launch System. Liftoff occurred at 06h35 AM Eastern Daylight Time (around 00h30 PM SAST), with the initial stages proving entirely successful. Artemis II invades space Artemis II will see the four astronauts travelling for ten days. It’s technically a lunar flyby, but it’s…

Would you look at that? It’s an all-new product category from Apple. We haven’t seen that in a while. The Apple MacBook Neo is a more affordable version of the company’s customarily high-quality hardware, with Stuff’s review unit being the base-model Indigo Neo. There are a few other shades — Silver, Citrus, and Blush — to choose from. At R12,000, the Neo is the machine that’ll put Apple in front of eyes that might otherwise look elsewhere. A few weeks ago, you might have snagged an M1 MacBook Air for not much more money, but they seem to have mysteriously…

Finally, some smartphone innovation. Even if it’s not likely to be particularly fast. The HiBreak Plus, a smartphone from BigMe, features an e-ink display, stylus support, and dual-SIM support, and is currently available for pre-order. The price tag? R4,300, or $250. And, unlike many of the wackier takes on your phone, this one ships directly to South Africa. Shipping is free; customs duties are your problem. They could be worth surmounting, based purely on the price tag. And the features, of course. HiBreak Plus reading BigMe hasn’t announced all of the phone’s details, but the big ones are mostly known.…

It’s been more than a decade since Stuff last used a Samsung laptop. The company still makes them, but it doesn’t sell them here. But, if you can somehow lay your hands on the company’s new Pro Keyboard and you already own the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, you can make one. Or you could just head out and buy an entire laptop with the money it’ll cost you. Samsung’s Tab S11 Ultra will drain R27,000 from your bank account. Add the not-available-here Pro Keyboard, and you’ll bump that price up by another R6,800 ($400). Pro Keyboard user There’s no denying…

Cyberpunk 2077 is an excellent open-world RPG, even if it didn’t quite start out that way. If ever there was a game that should have some sort of VR component, it’s CD Projekt’s tale of Night City. Well, guess what? Yes, there’s a virtual reality version of 2077 on the way. Unfortunately, you won’t get to play it at home. Or in South Africa, though you’ll definitely wish you could. The title has teamed up with a company called Zero Latency VR to launch a warehouse-sized experience on “the world’s largest true location-based free-roam VR network.” That’s very Cyberpunk 2077…

Remember when the apps that harvested user data for advertising purposes were free? Yeah, Instagram Plus is hoping to change all that by convincing users to pay to have their data harvested for advertising purposes. Okay, fine, you’ll get a few other features non-paying users won’t have. But, as far as we can make out, handing over a monthly subscription won’t stop Meta from turning your clicks, views, preferences, and other things into ad sales. Good thing the new paid tier of Instagram is only in the testing phase in the Philippines. Instagram Plus… what? At least, that’s according to…

Google has been working on live translation via headphones — and the company’s apps, of course — for a while. Now, access to the ‘I never need to learn another language’ service is expanding its reach. It’s also jumping from being Android-only to supporting iOS. South African users who don’t spoof their global location will still have to wait a while longer, though. Live Translate has expanded beyond its initial Mexico, India, and United States rollout, but it hasn’t arrived in SA yet. Google lives to translate Instead, intrepid tourists in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Thailand, and the UK…

Apple turns 50 this year. The company and its partners are doing all sorts of things, but Caviar’s new Jobs Edition version of the Apple iPhone 17 Pro is taking it a little far. There’s a very limited number of these customised phones available, and they come with something special: a bit of Steve himself. Allegedly, anyway. And not actual human DNA, either. Apparently, the limited-run iPhone will include “a titanium Apple logo encasing a fragment of Steve Jobs’ original black turtleneck.” Said fragment will have its “authenticity confirmed by certificate.” iPhone: Jobs Edition Which means purchasers won’t be able…

If you don’t already have enough earbud choices in your life, Lenovo’s new Erazer XP6 AI translation buds are here to give you more analysis paralysis. They’ve been listed on the official Erazer website for some time, but you can’t actually hand over R1,400 for a pair. It’s “not set up” for that. But if you’re willing to take a chance, you can nab Lenovo’s new buds in their screen-fronted case from Banggood for about R850. That includes shipping to South Africa. It probably doesn’t include whatever Customs will demand of your little shipment. Erazer XP6 Gun As for why…