Author: Brett Venter

Web service WhatsApp is the preferred method of communication for a substantial portion of the planet. Occasionally, governments take away that communication by shutting down the internet. Well, the service has just launched something that might help — proxy support. In areas where internet access might be restricted — say, where there are mass protests — the ability to connect and communicate becomes essential. Even if it’s only to warn folks that the guys in riot gear are firing teargas canisters and are on their way. Proxy support for WhatsApp should go a long way to helping those folks out.…

It’s the time when folks promise themselves that this is the year that they’ll get off the couch and get fit. We believe in you, as it happens, but a little extra help is always handy. Fitbit, the original fitness tracker (slow down there pedants, we’re taking liberties with reality), currently offers a little something for everyone. Whether you’re an established fitness nut but don’t quite have the sinews to use a Garmin Fenix 7x to its full potential, a complete beginner, or even a type with designs on roaming the track with your folks, the Google-owned brand has something…

Video games are an incredibly popular pastime but the interface devices tend to be very specific. Controllers, especially official ones, are designed with a certain level of mobility in mind. Sony’s come up with something different, called Project Leonardo, that should let more players with limited mobility get their PlayStation 5 on. The accessible controller formed part of Sony’s CES announcements this year, along with another look at that car the company’s been working on for some time. That’ll almost certainly turn up in the next Gran Turismo, due to be released sometime this decade. Maybe. Leonardo turns up as…

Some of the smartest devices we’ve ever encountered at Stuff aren’t very smart at all. By which we mean there’s no app, no Bluetooth connection, and no way to connect to the internet. It’s just a gadget that does its very best to make your life easier. The MeacoFan 260c cordless fan is one of those devices. It’s got a single purpose… okay, well, a dual purpose… and it performs its function well. As the name and the images and all your prior history with things that look like this suggest, this is a fan. It’s supposed to keep you…

War is hell but there’s no denying that having Luke Skywalker on your side is at least a little bit cool. Air Alert, an app used by folks in Ukraine that warns of incoming airstrikes, has picked up actor Mark Hamill to voice the English version of the app. Jedi knight Luke Skywalker will warn Ukrainian users of “five types of danger: missile attack, artillery shelling, street fighting, radiation, and chemical threat.” It’s simultaneously horrifying and just a little bit awesome. If you had to have those notifications, there are worse places for them to come from. Read More: What…

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) tends to feature loads of oddball tech. Some of it doesn’t wait for January to show up, either. Lenovo, they of the somewhat boring computer hardware and smartphones we don’t get in South Africa, has revealed something called the Go Desk Station. Unlike some other items revealed at CES, this one’s probably going to make it to retail. Lenovo’s made a desktop peripheral that’s part lamp, part wireless charger, and part… webcam? It’s also guaranteed to go on sale, though it’s not certain if South Africa’s getting it. Go Desk Station (sounds vaguely threatening)…

More and more companies (with apologies to Michelle Yeoh) are trying to be everything, everywhere, all at once. The latest to make the attempt is PUBG Mobile, which has announced Beat Drop. It’s not a new musical weapon for use in the company’s battle royale, however. It’s a music label. Because that makes perfect sense in 2022. It actually does make a sort of sense. PUBG Mobile has created and released loads of its own tunes. It’s also got a history of collaboration with music artists. Whether that translates into ‘music label’, though, remains to be seen. Air dropping the…

The sort of folks who are excited by mechanical keyboards tend to be a strange lot. Even by those standards, the Finalmouse Centerpiece is a strange piece of tech. It’s a complete mechanical keyboard, sure, but it’s also a display. And powering that display is an actual PC built into the wonderfully-clacky peripheral. The display isn’t really intended for gaming or anything other than visual impressiveness, though we have no doubt that someone will play Doom on it immediately. Instead, these are so-called ‘Interactive Skins’. It’s exactly what it sounds like — animations on the keyboard that respond to user…

HTC’s got its eye on the virtual reality space. And the augmented reality space. Better yet, it’s planning to tackle both with the same device, due to be revealed at CES 2023. It has previously teased the headset, which looks to take a goggle format, but more information has surfaced of late. Part of that information is a single, weirdly angled render. Otherwise, technical details have also been revealed, giving us some idea of what HTC’s still-unnamed headset will be capable of. Since the company was responsible for the HTC Vive (and a batch of others), there’s some reason to…

If battered South African power utility Eskom is getting its requested price increase, it won’t be right now. NERSA (the National Energy Regulator of South Africa) has seen its last meeting of the year come and go without making a call. It would be tempting to think that the delay has something to do with former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter stepping down from his position but that doesn’t appear to be the case. NERSA, there is no decision Instead, the reason given for the further delay is that more time is needed. That is despite yesterday’s meeting being the…