Author: Brett Venter

If you’re all about that bass, the work being done at the University of Tsukuba in Japan that turns your stomach into a subwoofer could be what you need in your life. Yes, you read that correctly, and no, it’s not a joke. Japanese researchers are working on a way to turn your abs into a bass-producing machine. One of the features pitched about the tech is that it’s silent, since it combines “electrical muscle stimulation with low-frequency vibrations” to let users “physically feel deep bass in virtual reality (VR) and everyday music.” The neighbours will probably appreciate your subwoofer…

If you were ever caught by the 1980s allure of the Ferrari Testarossa, prominently featured in Miami Vice and Sega’s OutRun arcade racer, the launch of the Italian brand’s new plug-in hybrid version might be enough to reignite that passion. You’ll still never afford one, but at least it’ll be a modern vehicle that’s out of your price range. That’s somewhat easier to reconcile yourself to. But, if you do happen to have a spare R10 million just wasting away in a trust fund, Ferrari might sell you a shiny new 849 Testarossa. Surprise Testarossa Ferrari’s newest uses a main…

Microsoft’s Xbox and LG’s PlayWare car software solution are teaming up to bring the former company’s cloud gaming features to “select vehicles.” According to Xbox, soon “passengers in internet-connected vehicles will be able to stream and play games directly from the Xbox app.” The vehicles capable of performing the task are not yet known, but they’ll support LG’s Automotive Content Platform, which is powered by webOS—the same software that runs LG’s TVs. The solution, appropriately known as PlayWare, offers “a broad array of high-quality and diverse global and regional content, including video streaming, music, gaming, and location-based services.” You’re going…

As businesses from restaurants to the smoking industry are aware, the key to building customer bases is to get them while they’re young. With that in mind, Google has just announced its new AI Literacy hub, a place to keep the company’s “latest AI resources and learning tools for parents and guardians, students and educators.” The website’s launch follows several injections of AI into Google’s products across most of its platforms. It’s not quite barging into primary schools like a Scientologist with a monthly quota, at least. Most of the resources are intended for parents, teachers, and high-school students. Google…

Parents looking for more convenient access to the PlayStation 4 and 5’s parental control settings (you did know those were there, right?) can now download PlayStation Family, Sony’s new app for helping “parents set up and manage their children’s gaming experience on PlayStation – straight from their supported mobile device.” Many of the controls Sony’s new app offers are already present on the company’s consoles, like playtime and age restrictions. Moving these to a paired mobile device like a tablet or smartphone makes sense. Kids do like to play games when the ‘rentals aren’t at home, and PlayStation Family provides…

Amazon is the latest company to have a set of augmented reality glasses in development, according to a report from The Information. Amazon’s glasses, known internally as Jayhawk, are intended for the company’s customers, with a separate project for its employees also in development. This second set of glasses, codenamed Amelia, is specifically for delivery drivers working for Amazon. These glasses will (somehow) speed up deliveries. These could be ready as soon as the middle of 2026, claim the unnamed sources who spoke to The Information. Don’t jaywalk, Jayhawk instead The consumer-focused glasses will have something in common with Meta’s…

Content creators looking to get serious about their craft could do worse than the newly announced Canon EOS C50 cinema camera. The Japanese company has launched its newest video specialist with at least one feature intended to set it apart from the rest — the ability to shoot vertical and widescreen video at the same time. That’s probably just to grab your attention so you’ll look at the rest of the weapon loadout. The EOS C50 stuffs serious video smarts into a relatively compact 670-gram frame. If you must capture stills with it, those will happen at 32MP (6,960 x…

Aston Martin, as a brand, is synonymous with British engineering, James Bond, and high-speed performance. Also, video game gear. It makes perfect sense, then, that the company has teamed up with another British brand, Egg. Egg, as you may not be aware, manufactures baby gear. And now, as the “official stroller partner of Aston Martin”, the companies intend to sell anyone with enough money the “ultimate luxury stroller.” What makes it the ultimate stroller, you ask? That’s an excellent question. Aston Martin, baby If you believe the marketing lingo, the new Aston Martin Egg3 stroller embodies Aston’s “passion for exceptional…

The first vinyl LP was pressed by Columbia Records in 1948, incidentally the same year that Ozzy Osbourne was born. Now, in 2025, there’s Tiny Vinyl, a new four-inch vinyl record format. The Blizzard of Ozz passed his entire 77-year span without seeing the LP get really, really tiny. Again. See, Japan launched a three-inch vinyl format in 2003 that was (briefly) resurrected in 2019. Tiny Vinyl hopes to stand out by offering four-inch records to all and sundry. The stated reason for its creation is to make a format that is “more aligned with how artists are making and…

Don’t get too excited about your first look at Samsung’s Galaxy S26 smartphone lineup. While renders of the handset’s Pro, Ultra, and Edge models have turned up, and they do appear to show differences in these models’ cameras, they’re cosmetic. There’s no real sense of what sort of camera hardware is coming. But it does appear that Samsung is heading back in time a little, bringing back the little island its camera sensors used to live on. The Galaxy S25 lineup featured the sensors as standalone protrusions. This look at Samsung’s next products suggests that’s going away. Eying the Galaxy…