Author: Brett Venter

We told you we’d be back with another competition and this one is a doozy. Sadly, that also means that we’re limited to a single prize for this one but we promise that it’s going to be worth it. Why? Because we’re going to be giving away an HTC One M9. Don’t go confusing this giveaway with the one that we’ve currently got running in the July/August issue of Stuff Magazine, because that’s something different. There, we’re giving away three other HTC One M9 smartphones. So if you want to cover all your bets, you’d best grab a copy of…

Samsung is gunning for Apple in a big way this year with a slightly larger version of their Galaxy S6 Edge, called the S6 Edge Plus, apparently on the way. Gee, we wonder if that’s going to be going after the Apple iPhone 6s Plus at all…? Of course it is. Details are sketchy, coming by way of renowned phone hardware leaker @OnLeaks who posted several images of the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus over the weekend. Also there was a blank of the supposed new phone with some measurements – and it looks as though Samsung will be increasing the…

Confirming previous reports, Nokia’s looking to stage a comeback on the smartphone front. At least, that’s what current Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri has said to Germany’s Manager Magazin. But things won’t be the same as before. The Verge reports that Suri has said “We will look for suitable partners. Microsoft makes mobile phones. We would simply design them and then make the brand name available to license.” So the company would likely stay away from the manufacturing process, instead giving out designs to companies who would then use the Nokia branding when selling the devices. There’s still a time-restriction in…

In the gaming world, where Microsoft goes, there eventually will go Sony. Except when it comes to backwards compatibility, apparently. So when the Xbox One officially got a 1TB version of the console, it was just a matter of time before the PlayStation 4 followed suit. And that time is now. Sony have announced that a 1TB version of the PS4 is indeed on the way, called the PlayStation 4: Ultimate Player Edition. Nice name, but all it really means is that there’s a larger storage capacity available. Still, it had to happen. And it’s been confirmed for South Africa,…

You may not have heard of Aspera. Odds are that you’re completely unaware of this Aussie company who have entered the tech market by making a range of rugged devices – from smartphones to tablets – and they’re here in South Africa now. Nice to see something heading from there to here for once, really. But it makes sense that an Australian company is making rugged tech, they probably just need to get spiders to test it that side of the world. If it can survive an arachnid attack there, it’ll survive most things here in SA. Not everyone gets…

So BlackBerry’s Android phone (yes, we know how strange that sounds) looks like it might actually be happening, with BlackBerry hardware being wrapped around Google’s OS. What the result will be like we’re not wholly sure but it seems that the phone, codenamed ‘Venice’, will be their slider with that physical keyboard. Haven’t seen one of those in a while. And the specs for the device have been outed, as well as a release date for it. Venice will appear, according to website N4BB, in November this year and it’ll be hauling along a set of specs that will pit…

It’s been a good run but it’s finally time for Stuff to announce some winners for the month of June. Up for grabs this month is one of ten Edifier MP19 speaker systems, capable of playing media from microSD, over a cable as well as through the built-in FM radio. Did you want one? Good, then you probably entered. If you didn’t enter then, sadly, you don’t have a shot this time around. But first… As is customary, here is some detail on how the competition draw works. Winner’s names are drawn randomly by a computer that has been fed…

Samsung’s been slimming down their phones for a while but the newest leak, if accurate, points towards the thinnest Samsung handset to date – the 5.9mm thick Galaxy A8. The skinny phone was spotted by French website Nowhereelse.fr, which saw it in the flesh. As it were. Go on, check that dimension with a ruler if you happen to have one handy. Not very bulky at all, is it? It’s still not the thinnest handset on the market though, that accolade belongs to Oppo’s R5 handset which measures just 4.8mm through the middle. But Oppo’s phone doesn’t feature a headphone jack,…

We’ve been teased with the ability to unlock a door or device using nothing but an eye-scanner in popular fiction for ages and it’s about time that the world caught up with that. Well, you’ll find that Fujitsu’s newest handset, the Arrows NX F-04G, has become the first smartphone to feature iris recognition technology. Yes, Fujitsu makes smartphones. And this particular one comes with the highly futuristic biometric access option where it’ll scan your eye and allow you access to the phone. As well as certain website logins. The features is called Iris Passport and it definitely beats a fingerprint…

The most disappointing thing about this review is that we didn’t get our hands on the leather-backed edition of the LG G4. Not that it would have made a difference to the phone’s performance (and if that’s all that is the deciding factor when it comes to buying a new phone, I’ve got this idea for a calf-skin phone… er… skin to pitch to an accessories company quickly) but it would have been something to experience. Sadly, there was no opportunity for Stuff to caress a leather-covered back-side on the G4 so we had to make do with the standard…