Author: Brett Venter

PC juggernaut Valve announced a bunch of new stuff last night, none of which (as far as we know) included the number ‘3’. The new Steam Frame and Steam Machine might well give the company an excuse to finally bless the world with Half-Life 3. Probably not, but we’re never going to stop dreaming. If we’re doing that dreaming with a new lightweight VR headset on our noggins, so much the better. The Frame, announced alongside the console-like Steam Machine PC, promises to let games hop in and out of VR titles with remarkable ease. Steam Frame-up The main drawcard…

Anyone who has played Hideo Kojima’s weird walking simulator Death Stranding will be familiar with the protagonist, Sam Porter Bridges (Norman Reedus), and his equally weird suit that lets him carry massive loads around. What if you could purchase that? Meet the Z1. A new partnership between Kojima Productions and a company called Dnsys asks whether you’d like to own Porter’s suit — or one very much like it. The gadget in question? Dnsys’ Z1 Exoskeleton Pro, which can also be purchased without the Death Stranding branding, if you’d rather not wait until December orders start. A strand-type Z1 DNSYS…

If you’ve been looking for an affordable 5G smartphone, TCL’s newly-launched 60R 5G handset could be the end of your minutes-long search. The Chinese brand announced that its handset, priced at R2,000 here in South Africa, is now available from Cellucity, Takealot, “and other participating retailers.” Whoever they are. Announced earlier this year, the TCL 60R offers a fair amount of smartphone for not terribly much money. The 5G aspect is the highlight, with other features mostly making the grade at this price point. Going 60R so The TCL 60R manages to be more affordable than the company’s last handset…

Vodacom and Starlink have signed a deal that will bring the satellite internet company’s “high-speed, low-latency broadband internet to millions of businesses across Africa and to expand rural network coverage,” according to an announcement from Vodacom today. Before you get too excited, though, the language of the announcement is murky enough that we can’t tell if South Africa, which has had problems getting the satellite internet service licensed in the country, is on the guest list. We’ve asked for clarification, but at this time, it’s unknown whether South Africans get to participate. Starlink for me? Vodacom operates in 47 different…

China has probably abandoned the idea of military conquest and empire building, instead settling on what Civilization players know as an ‘economic victory’. Its sudden surge of motor vehicles entering the South African market, a pattern that closely mirrors the country’s rise in smartphone dominance from 2012 onwards, indicates that it is well on its way. The country’s motoring brands and sub-brands have increased their presence on South African roads in recent years, helped along by highly competitive pricing and improved quality in the models that turn up on our shores. The expansion of China’s motoring industry isn’t confined to…

The wackiest Apple accessory since its R470 polishing cloth is here. The American tech maker has announced the iPhone Pocket, an interesting way to notify every pickpocket in the area that you’re carrying an iPhone on your person. Apple says the wearable fashion statement was “[b]orn from the idea of creating an additional pocket,” something that could easily be solved with a backpack, handbag, or the much-maligned cargo pants instead of handing large sums of money to Apple for a fancy rugby sock. Still, folk’ll pay for this one. iPhone Pocket sand The oddball accessory is the product of a…

A new version of Apple’s newest smartphone, the iPhone Air, could take a little longer than expected to arrive. The handset, announced this year, was supposed to get a sequel in 2026, but according to a report by The Information (via Reuters), it’ll miss that date. iPhone Air up in the air The report is largely unsurprising, given that Apple has supposedly changed production priorities for its 2025 smartphone lineup. The Air’s numbers, according to Asian sources, have been scaled back, with more traditional devices taking their place. This suggests that the iPhone Air isn’t selling as well as expected,…

Negotiating with a car salesman is a bit like chess. Avoid traps (those ‘optional’ extras), strengthen your position (be prepared to walk away), and, hopefully, knock a few bucks off that tag price. Omoda might offer you less leverage, since you’d be buying its new C7 SUV brand new, but it can’t hurt to try, can it? Salesmen are human, after all. The Chinese brand has launched three trim levels of its C7 SUV in South Africa, which will be in showrooms from today. These are priced between R540,000 (provided you pay cash) and R690,000 (ditto), depending on which option…

Realme loves its limited edition partnerships, with the best being reserved for its GT series phones. The company’s GT 8 Pro is the latest to get the limited treatment, even if we saw something very much like it not so long ago. Like the GT 7 Dream Edition, the Realme GT 8 Pro Aston Martin Limited Edition is taking the Aston Martin Formula One team’s branding and making it its own. More or less. The same green hues, the same branded badges on the back, but it’s a completely different set of hardware. Racing to get a GT 8 Pro…

If you’ve been paying attention, you’d know that Australia is banning young people — under the age of sixteen — from accessing social media. The idea, right or wrong, is that such a ban would prove beneficial to their mental health. That idea seems to have caught on. Denmark is next in line to prevent kids aged fifteen and under from getting onto social media platforms, though it has left a little space for younger teenagers to get onto TikTok and the rest. With their parents’ permission, of course. Social media sucks (for kids) The Danish government said late last…