Author: Brett Venter

We’ve seen Energizer phones in the past, and they’ve often talked a big game. Not quite as big as the company’s new P30K Apex, which may only require a monthly energy top-up. That puts it within range of Nokia’s battery heroes from days gone by. Only, this is supposed to be significantly more advanced. That’s down to Energizer cramming a 30,000mAh battery into the thing. It won’t be as pocketable as the venerable Nokia 6110, which weighed a svelte 137 grams with its 900mAh battery. We’re not sure what the P30K Apex will weigh, but current power banks matching its…

Changes to Amazon’s Prime Video service in South Africa are slow to arrive, but they generally do. The company introduced ads on its platform at the beginning of 2024. These eventually made it to South Africa, despite no official ‘Prime with ads’ tier launching. Now, the Yanks are getting some features yanked from the basic plan. Never fear, though. Amazon has also announced Prime Video Ultra, which will return the resolution features subscribers are about to lose. And a few other things, if we’re being totally fair. They’ll just have to add about R85 ($5) on top of an existing…

Not everybody is cut out for using the internet. Scams abound, and some of them are even pretty slick. Handily, Meta has just released a set of AI-powered anti-scam tools intended to help those Darwinian disasters who can’t spot someone trying to steal their information. The new tools are coming to Facebook, WhatsApp, and the standalone Messenger app — all of which are serious attack vectors. These will warn users when a friend request is suspicious or when they’re about to link their account to a new device. Meta scam prevention There are a couple of other features coming from…

Huawei’s newly announced Mobile WiFi X is an excellent example of ‘Exactly What It Says On The Tin’ (click this link with caution). If the image isn’t enough of a giveaway, Huawei’s device is an X-shaped mobile WiFi station. It folds out into its shape when in use, folding flat if you need to take it somewhere. Provided that ‘somewhere’ is in China. The device has launched as a partnership with China Mobile, but it looks slick enough that we hope they appear over here, too. Mobile WiFi X, man Huawei reckons that the Mobile WiFi X isn’t just an…

The Rabbit R1 AI device was a massive blunder for the company. So much so that it has an entry in the Museum of Failure. Now the company is back with something called Project Cyberdeck, which promises to be a “vibe-coding machine.” How exactly this will differ from a standard-issue laptop hasn’t been fully explained, but the company obviously hasn’t given up on making AI-focused hardware. The company spoke to Engadget about its current plans for the project, which mostly involve concept renders and hardware sourcing for now. But how much faith should folks put into Rabbit’s ambitions this time…

Fans of Audi’s five-cylinder engines will want to turn their gaze towards the automaker’s new RS 3 Competition Limited. The name comes from the fact that there won’t be a full production run. Instead, just 750 will hit roads around the world. Those roads will be very aware that Audi’s Sport Quattro successor is roaming around on top of them.  The visuals Audi has revealed so far show a typically sporty frame. Angular and aggressive, the special edition RS 3 looks like it goes as fast as it actually does. Whether it’ll justify more than R2 million at the dealership will probably…

Wristwatches aren’t immune to popular culture partnerships that pull in new buyers, and Citizen’s Star Wars Mandalorian CA0857-09W Eco-Drive chronograph is no exception. Citizen has a new editionsof its arm accessories on the way, heavily layered with Star Wars iconography. Pricing for the new Eco-Drive units isn’t known yet. They’ve yet to launch (into space?), but they’ll probably command serious enough price tags. The cheapest Citizen watch in this range retails for around R7,500, but you can probably expect something closer to the R20,000 mark when the Mandalorian version lands. Mandatory Mandalorian Visually, the Mandalorian CA0857-09W Eco-Drive is a serious…

Have you performed a smartphone upgrade in the last few years? Well done, you’re good for at least a few more. Unless you drop the thing, but that’s on you. But the sort of folks who nab a new phone every time they come out are, for the most part, wasting their cash. I’ve seen this with every major smartphone maker, from Apple to Samsung, with all of the major Chinese manufacturers joining in to varying degrees. Samsung’s tendency to release the same phone as the previous year has been especially well documented on Stuff. That’s not because the South…

Rugged smartphones have been doing some interesting things of late, but few are attempting what the RugOne Xsnap 7 Pro is trying to pull off. The Ulefone-owned brand demoed a version of the upcoming device at this year’s MWC, and it’s… unique. How? RugOne plans to stick a removable action camera into its handset. It should function like a regular phone, until you pop out the magnetic bit and use that to record… stuff. Active stuff, probably. There’s little point in using an action cam for the World Excel Championships. Or is there? Pls no rugpull, RugOne The Xsnap 7…

Yashica was once a more prominent name in the camera and optics world, but that doesn’t mean that the Japanese company has been idle lately. The latest from the company is the Tank, a surprisingly affordable compact camera that still finds space for a decent set of features. But first, just how affordable is this thing? A price tag of HK$800 puts its Rand cost at a little under R1,700. Of course, you’ll still have to ship it over to South Africa to play with one. That’ll elevate the full price to R1,900, plus whatever SARS decides you must hand…