Author: Brett Venter

Following extensive delays, the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission has successfully lifted off from Earth and entered orbit. The private spacefaring mission has several objectives but the main one is also the sexiest — the first private spacewalk from a crewed orbital capsule. That will take place two days into Polaris Dawn’s projected five-day mission, on 12 September. Based on SpaceX’s concept videos, it’s little more than opening the door to Crew Dragon and having the crew poke their heads out, but even that’s terrifying enough, surely? Polaris Dawn rising Today’s SpaceX mission saw billionaire enthusiast Jared Isaacman, Anna Menon, Scott…

In what is totally not an attempt to upstage Apple’s iPhone 16 announcement, Huawei has made its tri-fold Mate XT smartphone official. Not to be confused with the exoskeleton of the same name, the newest Mate has… well, two hinges and three sections that fold together. Pre-orders for the device, which remained unannounced until early this morning, opened over the weekend in China. Since then, Huawei claims it has scooped up a whopping 3.7 million pre-orders. Those numbers are especially ridiculous when the Mate XT’s price is taken into account. My new Mate XT More on that in a second,…

If you’re used to Apple’s claims, you’ll know that they sometimes get a touch… grandiose. Frequently the company can back it up and the new iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max are possibly the most advanced consumer smartphones ever made. This isn’t just born from the internal component upgrades. Apple’s AI implementation is also key. Everything you’ve seen announced for the iPhone 16 is implemented here but the dedicated camera and audio recording upgrades are also phenomenal. Assuming they work the way Apple says they will. They probably do. Look outside This year’s Pro smartphones are the largest examples…

There was always going to be a new Apple Watch, and the Watch Series 10 is predictably the most advanced wristwear from the company without an ‘Ultra’ appended to the end of it. The company announced a batch of visual and construction upgrades, as well as improved medical capability and software upgrades. Some of the latter, conferred by WatchOS 11, will bring new features to both the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Watch Ultra 2. If you recently caved in to a new Apple wearable, you won’t need to jump up to Series 10 right away—unless you really want…

An image is currently floating around online claiming to show Samsung’s still-rumoured Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition smartphone. If that line sounds skeptical, that’s because the source of the image, Android Headlines, doesn’t explain where this image is supposed to have come from. The image isn’t from the typical run of Samsung ‘leaks’, which tend to be lower-resolution versions of the company’s official photography. It looks nothing like any internal materials but could be a digital mock-up of the device. It may also be one of the ‘blanks’ used by case manufacturers to create accessories before a product is official.…

Chances are you’ve never encountered Samsung Food, an app-based service available on the company’s smart fridges. That hardware doesn’t come to this side of the planet but the updated version of the app just might. Instead of running on a fridge, this newly AI-upgraded service will also operate on a smartphone. Samsung showed off the new features at this year’s IFA conference in Berlin, a year after it originally launched at the German event. Samsung Food for thought The app was previously dedicated to making food lists, planning meals, and otherwise supplying Samsung with product creation data using a Samsung…

If DJI’s last two terrestrial product releases failed to fill you with joy, perhaps the new budget-focused Neo drone will spark some happiness in you. Set to launch in South Africa on 20 September and priced at R4,000, this little critter puts 4K video in the palm of your hand. Literally. It’s freaking tiny, of course, weighing just 136 grams. It’s being pitched at anyone who takes video or photographs of themselves regularly — so influencers and wannabe influencers — and it has the camera needed to make itself attractive to that market (and the rest of Instagram). Emperor Neo…

For excellent premium hardware in an unexpected place, look no further than Microsoft’s range of Surface devices. It’s been a few years since the range launched in South Africa and the software giant remains bent on making its partners look… well, budget-focused. Microsoft won’t call it that, of course. The Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, among other products, are “reference designs” but they’re really examples of what companies could do with a Windows-based machine. The newest batch to launch in South Africa, the Laptop 7 and Pro 11 two-in-one, are all that, plus baked-in AI. Scratching the Surface itch So…

No Man’s Sky might rank as the best comeback story in gaming. The highly ambitious space exploration game went from a mediocre launch to… well, 2024 by adding more than players could have asked for – all for free. Aquarius, the game’s latest update, adds something completely unexpected. Fishing. It’s an odd thing to find in a game that has let players explore derelict spaceships, mine planets (extensively), discover entirely new universes, build bases, and learn alien languages (very slowly) but it’s also a welcome addition. Instead of facing off against automated guards, you can relax and throw a line…

Asus has jumped on board the Copilot+ train, first with the Vivobook S 15 and now with this tasty little number, the Zenbook S 16. While the S 15 retails for R30,000, you’re expected to part with R41,000 to stuff this one into your laptop bag. Is it worth the extra premium to upgrade from Snapdragon to AMD, even with the chassis upgrade thrown in? That’s ultimately up to you but Asus has put forward a compelling case. It may not be a Mac killer for Apple superfans but anyone looking for that level of build quality should give the…