Author: Brett Venter

It’s a good time to be a parent and a DStv Family subscriber. The R340/m package from satellite provider DStv has always prioritised kid-friendly content, and, says the company, it’s about to get a whole lot friendlier. It’ll do this by adding three new channels to the package. All are kid-centric, with the Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, and DreamWorks channels joining the lineup from 25 August. Joining the DStv Family Muitichoice CEO Byron du Plessis said, “While our broader packaging review remains ongoing, our research shows that Family customers value kids’ content as much as they do local shows and movies.”…

Okay, okay… the headline makes Google’s newest daily ‘we stuck AI in this thing’ update sound much cooler than it is. Docs users can now summon the power of Gemini to turn their boring old text document into an audio version of the same thing. It won’t turn the minutes from your last company meeting into a full-on audiobook, though that would be a much cooler feature. This one doesn’t work much differently from text-to-speech programs, the first of which was available back in the 1970s. You ask Gemini to read something, and it’ll read it to you. Out loud,…

If you’re one of many users who trust Grammarly to check your online communication, you might be thrilled to note that the grammar-checking app is about to get more comprehensive. The newly announced features use artificial intelligence (of course they do) to handle more of your writing workload than just ensuring you sound like you completed high school in your office emails. The app’s new AI functions are paired with a new tool called Grammarly Docs, which promises to “build on your writing, voice, and ideas” via a combination of AI chat and the service’s new agents. The service reckons…

It’s not often we see something genuinely novel from a smartphone, but HMD’s new Fuse handset promises just that. The company that used to put out Nokia phones calls this “a phone that grows with your kids,” but that’s not what will grab your attention at first. The most eye-catching feature is an AI feature called Harmblock+, which “[s]tops nudity from being shown, shot, or stored.” That’s a major concern for any parent looking to give their kid access to a smartphone, but it’s not where the HMD Fuse begins. Sparking the Fuse HMD’s new handset starts life as a…

When the most serious complaint you have about a set of in-ear headphones is the way the case is oriented, you know something’s gone terribly right. That’s the case with the Beyerdynamic Amiron 100 in-ear phones and their, er… case. That’s about the extent of our problems with these premium-feeling earbuds, unless you feel like quibbling about the R4,000 retail price. As with their on-ear cousins, the Aventho 100s, the Amiron 100 in-ears are an excellent blend of build and audio quality, with a selection of ear-tips to better keep these stem-toting headphones firmly lodged in the holes on either…

If you’re one of OpenAI’s frequent South African ChatGPT users, you may want to cast your eyes further afield in search of better pricing for a subscription. The AI company has launched its cheapest subscription to date, but it’s confined to users in India for the time being. OpenAI goes to India ChatGPT Go will set subscribers back 400 rupees, or just over R80, per month for broader access to the company’s services. The pricing is a concession to that country’s economy. For contrast, South Africa is expected to pay the full American rate of $20/m for ChatGPT Plus –…

On the list of products Samsung could choose to jam artificial intelligence into next, we wouldn’t have expected a water purifier to be right at the top. And yet, the South Korean company has launched its new Bespoke AI Water Purifier Countertop in its native country. The water purifier isn’t set to be cheap, either. It’ll be priced in South Korea at approximately R18,500. Similar tabletop products here at home will run you less than a third of that. They’re lacking 2025’s AI buzzword and, Samsung says, can’t perform as well as its new Bespoke unit can. Samsung’s purity test…

The eventual entry of SpaceX’s Starlink in South Africa has been the subject of much speculation, with the country’s regulatory requirements being the major sticking point. Despite offering free internet access to SA schools and asking the public to motivate for its arrival, the satellite internet service remains fairly absent. But that’s not all Elon Musk’s company has been trying. There’s only really one hurdle SpaceX isn’t willing to leap over — the 30% ownership requirement for companies entering the country. A submission to South Africa’s Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, seen by Stuff, makes this much apparent. The…

Flying taxis are the next market for folks looking to make money out of moving people from here to there. Joby is one of the companies getting in on the future mobility action, having previously conducted lengthy test flights, some with NASA’s assistance. The most recent development for the company is a first — the first public airport to public airport trip for a flying taxi. That’s a bigger deal than it sounds like — taking off from an airport is fraught with all sorts of regulations. Unless you’re doomed hero Richard Russell, who never bothered to ask for permission.…

Any time you get more tech than you’re paying for is a good time. Acer South Africa, ostensibly to help shift users from the outgoing Windows 10 operating system to Windows 11, will offer some new buyers a free Iconia A10-11 tablet. Just to sweeten the deal. The marketing stunt free offer isn’t a shabby one, at least. The Acer Iconia A10-11 currently retails for R3,000 in most locations, offering basic Android performance in a 10.1in display that would prove more than adequate for a comic book library. Acer your deal ‘Free things’ are never that simple, however. There are…