Author: Brett Venter

When you turn twenty, everything gets more expensive. That’s certainly the case for Razer’s 20th anniversary reissue of the Boomslang, its first-ever gaming mouse. We first saw the mouse in December last year, when Razer wisely kept the pricing for the upgraded wireless peripheral concealed. The pricing is out, and if you want to be one of the 1,337 owners of this limited edition nostalgia cash-grab, you’d best be prepared to drop more than R25,000 for inclusion into the club. 1337 Boomslang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZdIHA_n3CE Pricing for the new version of Razer’s oldest mouse has turned up on the company’s German website,…

A short while ago, Chinese car-maker Xpeng unveiled its Iron humanoid robot. At the time, its creators were forced to slice open the foam covering that gave it its shape to prove that it wasn’t just a human in a zentai suit. Now, we can be much more certain that there are actual mechanical bits inside the ‘bot. How come? At a recent public appearance in China, the robot performed its disconcerting stroll into place. Unlike the first unveiling, though, there was a slight malfunction. Heart of Iron Things didn’t go entirely according to plan, when XPENG’s latest generation IRON…

If you’re anything like us, tablets are a good idea in principle, but actually finding a use for one is tough. Volkano’s Cosmic 11in tablet, based on its price and specs, immediately suggests the same usage every other tablet eventually gets used for: entertainment. A very specific kind of entertainment, in our case, but you could go the streaming media route too. But comic books and graphic novels are ideally suited for the 11in display on this R3,000 tablet. You’re getting a lot of screen for your money. Might as well use it to read very small text, right? Boxing…

Can you transition from a cartwheel into a backflip without landing on your face? Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot can, apparently, though we hate to think how many times the humanoid robot launched itself into the padding behind its landing area before its creators captured the footage they wanted. If Mirror Me’s 35km/h artificial humanoid isn’t scary enough for you, witnessing Boston Dynamics’ darling show off its newfound agility might do the trick. It’s not like Atlas was a slouch before. Its previous heavy-metal incarnation was fairly skilled in this area. A lightweight body (and better programming) only seems to have…

It wasn’t long ago at all that visuals of Sony’s WF-1000XM6 leaked online. In the intervening time, Sony confirmed that a full reveal would take place on 12 February. It would be awfully inconvenient if someone spoiled the Japanese company’s fun and detailed everything ahead of time. That’s called (bad) foreshadowing, by the way. Someone absolutely has spoiled Sony’s surprise, detailing the upcoming XM6 earbuds with fantastic precision. Well, fantastic for us. Sony’s PR department, not so much. Meet the WF-1000XM6 Previously, we saw the changes to Sony’s earbuds’ outer design; now it’s time to peer inside. Not literally, because…

Vivo’s recent run of upgraded smartphone camera tech could see the Chinese company making a slight pivot in search of more revenue. A report out of China, specifically Jiemian News, claims that the brand is setting its sights on the vlogging camera market. That segment is already occupied by some heavyweights, like DJI and Insta360. DJI’s Osmo Pocket series is the pick of that bunch for pocketability, while Insta360 makes some impressive hardware of its own. Vivo’s vlogging venture There are few details concerning Vivo’s apparent vlogging camera. Mostly, the news concerns timelines for development. The Chinese outfit reportedly started…

Ulefone handsets are now commonly available in South Africa, so hopefully the brand will launch its new Armor 27T Plus and Pro Plus handsets here in the near future. The lineup adds camera options we’ve seen in phones before — night vision, infrared, and thermal cameras — but it’s always cool to see the options appear in other venues. As you might expect from the name and feature set, these are rugged phones from Ulefone. They join the existing Armor range (you can buy a Ulefone Armor X32 today for R3,800 if you can’t live without a 20MP night vision…

Canon’s PowerShot range has turned 30, which means it’s time for some nostalgia. The Japanese company has reissued its PowerShot G7 X Mark III as a limited anniversary edition. It makes some cosmetic changes, but remains largely the same camera that you can still buy… basically everywhere. The anniversary edition of the compact point-and-shoot is a little scarcer. Even though it’s only supposed to become available from 28 April this year, pre-orders on Canon’s American site have topped out. Maybe South Africa’s outlets will have to deal with less rabid fans (besides you, obviously) and the PowerShot G7 X Mark…

It’s been some time since Stuff saw one of MSI’s Raider notebooks in the office. The newest version, the Raider 18 HX AI (A2XW), sticks to what makes the series an excellent one. Expect beefy hardware, enough weight to curve your spine if you attempt to use it as a portable device, and truly abysmal battery life. At least it’s not as heavy as the company’s Titan range. You also needn’t expect much in the way of imaginative design. MSI’s gaming notebooks haven’t evolved much over the years, with the largest change being more aggressive accents while keeping the same…

Packard Bell doesn’t make phones, do they? Based on the handset we’ve got sitting on our desks, that would be an incorrect assumption. In reality, the Packard Bell Daytona G16 Pro is most likely a rebadged unit from… elsewhere. Exactly where is something we’ll get to, but since you can buy one for around R2,000, why not give it a chance? From the outside, it looks just like a… well, a phone made by a company like Packard Bell. The badge and branding are authentic enough. Provided you’re not as pedantic about phones as we are, you would probably never…