Author: Brett Venter

Garmin’s Venu X1 wearable corrects the greatest — perhaps the only — drawback regular folks might feel when purchasing one of its beloved Fenix or even Forerunner wearables (besides the price). That would be their size. Regular folks, meaning people who aren’t in training for something physically demanding, tend to favour comfort over all the body insights Garmin’s wearables provide. But what if there was a way to have granular stats and a comparatively slim device on your wrist? Apple makes those — they’re called the Apple Watch Ultra. Garmin’s answer to that is the Venu X1, which addresses the…

Are you ready for more tech in your printed (or digital) issue of Stuff than ever? Who wouldn’t be? The August-September 2025 issue is packed with the very newest tech we could get our hands on, including new TVs that won’t destroy your bank account, fitness wearables to up your sports game (or any other game you care to name), and the newest smartphones from South African darling Huawei. Want more? Let’s see what we can do about that.  Headlining the August-September 2025 issue of Stuff is a monster feature that packs 101 different (and excellent) gadgets into a compact…

If Sam Altman and OpenAI can’t find enough training data on the internet, perhaps they can extract it directly from your brain. That’s not actually what’s going to happen (we think), but the OpenAI founder and the company under his thumb are looking to expand into the human brain. The Financial Times reports that Altman is looking to found and fund (via the ChatGPT company) Merge Labs, a new startup that takes aim at the work being done by Neuralink. You know, the folks who stick computer chips into people’s skulls? OpenAI your mind The move isn’t surprising. When Altman…

You wouldn’t trust a mechanic who struggled to identify a fuel injector, so why would you entrust your health to a doctor with similar difficulties? A new study conducted on doctors in Poland, and published by The Lancet, suggests that routine reliance on AI can diminish medical professionals’ skills when the crutch is removed. The outcome of the study, which “assessed how endoscopists who regularly used AI performed colonoscopy when AI was not in use”, was not great. Those medical professionals who regularly relied on AI became less capable over time than those who didn’t. AI capability The study assessed…

What can you expect from a R2,000 smartphone? That’s a question we’re constantly asking at Stuff, and it’s surprisingly hard to answer. Not because there’s a shortage of hyper-budget phones like the Spectra J1 Pro — we’ve seen a load of those in recent years — but because brands battle to share them. That wasn’t a problem with the Spectra Mobile J1 Pro, a R2,000 smartphone currently available at various South African retailers. This one was practically fired at us from a cannon, and we were happy to take the impact. How often do we get to handle something new,…

The existence of the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE suggests the existence of a Galaxy S25 FE, an unannounced ‘affordable’ version of its Galaxy S25 flagships. The device’s existence is also suggested by several recent leaks, including spec details and renders of the upcoming smartphone. Spotting the S25 FE Images of the Galaxy S25 FE, in the shape of very official-looking renders, come via German website Winfuture, while spec details appeared thanks to British retailer Tesco. The company listed the phone’s details on its website, briefly, but someone is always watching. Listed specs may not be wholly accurate, even if Samsung’s…

Google is rolling out a new “preferred sources” feature, starting in the United States and India, that lets users prioritise Top Stories that come from specific outlets. The internet giant introduced the function into testing for Labs users in June of this year, followed by its full release. Google what I want According to Google, the “new feature in Search […] lets you customize your experience to see more from your favorite sites within Top Stories.” While the new option is aimed at Search users, its release so soon after websites have complained that AI Overviews is mugging their traffic…

Standard Bank has joined the Department of Home Affairs’ (DHA) drive to make Smart ID and passport services more easily available than, you know, going to Home Affairs. The South African bank joins FNB and Capitec in making DHA services more accessible to the average citizen. Standard Bank on it Eventually, that is. The bank said in a statement that “will enable clients to apply for and renew their smart ID cards and passports through our digital banking channels in the near future.” The service, according to Standard Bank, has been available through nine of its branches, but it’ll be…

Do you need a second screen that fits in your bag as well as on your desk? The Acer PM161QT assumes the answer to that question is ‘yes’, and also assumes that it’s the answer to your next one. ‘Should I buy a portable monitor?’ Plenty of folks have optimised the way they work to include two monitors. In addition to making you feel like a 90s computer hacker, it’s an easy way to transfer information from one source to another without… you know, stealing it. But lugging a regular screen and stand (and power brick) from hot-desk to hot-desk…

If Kawasaki can envision a rideable robotic tiger, surely China can give it a robotic antelope to eat? Xianhua News Agency reports that the country has deployed a fur-covered robot to the Hoh Xil nature reserve in its Qinghai Province. The robot’s purpose is to keep tabs on the herds of Tibetan antelopes in the area — without upsetting them, which is why the robotic quadruped has been disguised as one of their own. If their species were sporting 5G access and AI smarts, at any rate. How does an antelope? It’s not the first time anyone has thought of…