Author: Brett Venter

The world of amateur astronomy is slowly undergoing several changes. One of these is the advent of smarter telescopes, offering better views without requiring massive amounts of prior knowledge. The new Celestron Origin, just announced by the astronomy company, is the latest candidate for pushing forward what’s possible in the (heh) space. The new telescope is based on Celestron’s Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph (RASA), an F/2.2 widefield system aimed at more advanced users like researchers and government programs. But the Celestron Origin, while based on the design, is looking to be more user-friendly. Yes, AI is involved. Because of course it…

Ecoflow’s range of Delta products is in South Africa, leaving us hopeful that the newly announced Ecoflow Delta Pro Ultra will eventually turn up. The new battery storage system showed its face at CES 2024 and it’s a substantial enough upgrade to justify the Ultra moniker. While the Delta 2 and its brethren are solid enough to run large appliances for long periods, the Pro Ultra is capable of sorting out an entire home. Think of it as a Tesla Powerwall except you’ll probably actually be able to find one. If you can afford the R110,000 ($5,800) starting price, of…

Yesterday it was merely a rumour, today it’s confirmed fact. Apple’s Vision Pro virtual reality headset will turn up in the real world on 2 February this year. Well, we say the real world but really it’s launching in America. Other locations around the world will have to wait longer to experience what Apple has cooked up. If you’re a Yank, you’ll be able to pre-order Apple’s R65,000 VR hardware from 19 January, giving you ten days to decide if you’re comfortable throwing another $3,500 in the fruit company’s direction. By most accounts, the Vision Pro will change the way…

In the 21st century, everything is being enhanced through technology. By ‘everything’, though, we weren’t expecting to include good old soil. But that’s just what researchers at Sweden’s Linköping University claim to have achieved. Called eSoil, the Swedish researchers reckon that their innovation speeds up the growth in barley seedlings (barley is a key ingredient of beer, in case you need a reason to be interested) by 50%. But if all they were doing was sloshing some liquid that smells like decaying shellfish (that’s the nitrogen) onto their crops, we wouldn’t be here. At least it’s not iSoil This is…

It’s no secret that Xiaomi has had its sights set on an EV to rival Tesla’s offering. The Xiaomi SU7, if the company’s marketing is to be believed, is that vehicle. The newest electric vehicle on the planet was officially revealed in China at the end of December, with a price announcement due in the next few months. Bottom line, though, is you’ll probably struggle to afford one. It’s not just that the launch is likely to be confined to China, at least at first, and that EVs are inherently expensive. Xiaomi hasn’t gone small with the SU7, serving up…

The Consumer Electronics Show is often about the strangest new tech in the pipeline and there’s no reason to expect CES 2024 to be any different. Usually, we’re allowed to wait until the event starts before the situation gets odd but LG’s got a talent for jumping the gun. What we hope is the strangest product to issue from the South Korean company in 2024 has already been revealed, along with a preview of everything else folks can expect from LG’s CES 2024 presentation. There are TVs and monitors, some rather interesting audio kit, and then there’s this — LG’s…

So you’re stuck at the office. Everyone else is on leave. There’s no supervision? Time to bust out the browser-based video games and hope that the IT guys are feeling just as slack as you are at the end of 2023. Seriously, enough is enough. Can this year just end already? While you’re attempting to slog through the last few days, there’s a smidge of hope on the horizon. Hope in the form of time-wasters, designed to get you through the tedious and empty hours you have to fill while your customer base is (mostly) splashing around in the ocean.…

Nissan might be keen on loads of EVs in the near future but as this year’s new Qashqai proves, the company has loads of petrol expertise that would go to waste. Stuff got to spend a little over a week behind the wheel on one of these SUVs. By the end of it, we were able to appreciate the obsession some folks have with the brand. We don’t mean that you’ll somehow snag Nissan Skyline GT-R performance from what is a fairly modest family car but it’s easy to appreciate the level of engineering that the Japanese automaker ladles into…

This is it. This is the last of Stuff’s online Gift Guides. Hopefully, you’ve had enough time to snap up the best gifts this side of Santa’s factory for your varied group of friends and relatives. The last lot is for the person who’s always the last to be included in the photos when everyone’s having fun. They’re not that overlooked, they’re just the ones behind the lens. Whether these gifts are headed to a video vamp, a photo phenom, or just a general social media wannabe’s tree, you’ll find that everything is a confirmed hit. No, really, everything. That…

Some kids have parents with more money than they know what to do with. Those parents keep outfits like The Little Car Company in business. The newest vehicle to issue forth from the company? The Ferrari Testa Rossa J, a 75%-sized EV replica of the iconic Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa. One version of this replica is currently on display at Harrods in London. For most readers, this won’t matter. The sort of folks who can afford one won’t mind nipping up to the Northern Hemisphere for the weekend to check it out. Testa Rossa J, for Junior If it’s not…