Author: Brett Venter

You’ll want to head down to the video showing Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot at work sorting machine parts. A static image doesn’t do the event justice. Atlas, the redesigned robot that has terrified us for years, has just shown off its new autonomous capability by getting to work sorting car parts. It doesn’t look far from being offered a contract to continue working 24/7 and (possibly) setting us all up for a real-world Feet of Clay. Atlas plugged https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_7IPm7f1vI The video above, shared by Boston Dynamics on YouTube, shows fully autonomous operation by the robotic entity. In case its little…

First National Bank (FNB) eBucks and Pick n Pay (PnP) have teamed up to provide a range of discounts to customers who use both services regularly. You’ll already have seen one of these discounts out in the wild: FNB’s R0.99 loaves of bread, available up to four times a month. At an online event in Johannesburg today, both companies announced further discounts for PnP/FNB customers, which take in the various eBucks tiers. As usual, the higher your eBuck tier, the better your rewards. Economical FNB FNB’s entry-level clients, meaning anyone with a bank account, can take advantage of affordable bread…

Meta Platforms, the group behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and most of the other time-wasters that try to convince you to buy things, has a new target. Mark Zuckerberg’s suite of companies is exploring the search market. The stated reason for this, according to The Information, is to reduce Meta’s reliance on Google and Microsoft. Given how the largest search platform on the planet is decaying in real time, that’s not the worst idea the social media giant has come up with. A new Meta Whether Meta’s take on search is any better than the decaying husks of once-useful services we…

Amazon recently announced four new e-readers in its stable of devices. One of these, the updated Scribe, will launch with access to generative AI features. If you already laid out money for the older model, never fear. You’ll still get your totally necessary AI fix. The Scribe, “our fastest-growing Kindle since it launched in 2022”, will see the addition of on-device generative AI when it launches later this year. The catch? You’re supplying most of the data it’s working with. Shorter Scribe scribbles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqv2Jin16Pg One of the functions of Amazon’s scribble-able e-reader is the ability to use it as a…

It’s been simply ages since Stuff has had its hand on a new Nikon camera so having the Nikon Z6 III plop onto our desks was a welcome event. Unfortunately, it’s been so long that we’ve got almost nothing to directly compare the camera to. Normally this would be a problem, and it does make a review more challenging, but the Z6 III is handily capable of standing up on its own. As full-frame mirrorless cameras go, Nikon has tried to strike a balance between price and performance here and has mostly straddled the line that appeals to folks on…

Talk about an October surprise. No, not the American political manoeuvre, though there have been a few of those of late. Apple has just confirmed that it’ll be making… something official next week as October closes. What that will be isn’t certain but it’ll take all week. That’s according to the company’s Greg Joswiak, senior vice president of worldwide marketing. Joswiak gave the game away with a teaser posted to his X account, which is little more than a looping image and a missive that we should “Mac your calendars”. Apple’s October harvest Mac (😉) your calendars! We have an…

Anyone can tell you that Minecraft is one of the most popular — and lucrative — games ever made. Creator Notch, who was made a billionaire by Microsoft — is one. Microsoft’s accountants would chime in too. We’re also fairly certain. But ask the players and those who have played the blocky open-world title this way will tell you that the best way to play it is in virtual reality. This is a shame because Microsoft has said that it’s ending support for “VR/MR devices”. VR and MR stand for virtual reality and mixed reality, two technologies that are just…

If you’ve got kids you’re doubtless preparing for a slew of costumed kiddos to come traipsing past your house at some point this weekend. No, South Africa hasn’t gone all American — we don’t observe the Halloween holiday directly — but any excuse for kids to dress up and have sweets makes marketing sense. So do seasonal video game specials, like the one the Xbox store is currently running. Odds are that if you don’t have kids, you probably still act a bit like one. An Xbox gaming marathon on the spookiest weekend of the year, perhaps with a little…

There are different ways to celebrate Halloween, even in South Africa. Sure, you can raise your heart rate with high-end horror, of varying intensities, but there’s also the option to kick back, relax, and have a little fun. That’s the whole point of dressing up and asking strangers for candy, the only time you’re allowed to do that as an child. With that in mind, as well as the limitations of the South African version of Prime Video, we’ve selected ten enormously entertaining titles from Amazon’s streaming platform to tide you over until All Hallow’s Eve. These range from seriously…

Checkers may have made trips to the grocery store almost superfluous but there are occasions when you need to speak to actual humans. And, you know, push a cart. If only there was a better way. There might be, and it’s called Palletrone. Palletrone, the creation of a team of Seoul National University of Science and Technology researchers, might one day revolutionise the humble shopping cart. It’s like a regular food conveyance except that it doesn’t ever touch the ground. There’s no possible way this could go wrong. Palletrone flying high https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hvRhZIhFR4 If it’s not obvious from the name, which…