Author: Brett Venter

The launch presentation for Samsung’s Galaxy A53 5G smartphone might go down as the company’s most ‘How do you do, fellow kids?’ moment to date. The entire event was filmed vertically. There were colours and influencer types everywhere. The music was thumpy and non-stop. You can almost smell the executives in the background, nodding sagely and saying, “The kids’ll watch this one, for sure.” But at Stuff, it’s mostly the olds watching. While trying not to claw their eyes out. The only mercy was that the event was brief. Still, we got to take a look at Samsung’s Galaxy A53…

Stuff has covered loads of MSI notebooks in the past. Until about nine months ago, they were all largely the same. Powerful, slabby black monoliths of gaming perfection. The brand’s red-and-black motif was recognisable, sure, but it was hard to tell machines apart without measuring the thickness with a calliper. The MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbow Six Extraction Edition is a welcome break from the monotony. It’s a gorgeous-looking gaming PC with enough spec inside to make you feel all internally warm. Externally too. Yellow, can you hear me? There’s no sedate colouring to be found here. When the MSI Crosshair…

Tech is entering the sporting world in ever bigger ways. This week we saw Spotify join forces with FC Barcelona, now it’s Google’s turn. The search giant has gone in a slightly speedier direction, by sponsoring McLaren’s Formula One ambitions for the next few years. The new partnership between the British automotive company and the American purveyor of tech goes beyond just a few stickers. Yes, Google will include its Android mascot on McLaren’s F1 livery. But it’s the new Chrome rims that are especially (visually) impressive. Searching for Google McLaren’s MCL36 Formula 1 race cars will feature Chrome branding…

When the fine folks over at Multichoice decided to limit concurrent DStv streams to a single screen, South Africans were very much annoyed. The attempt at preventing password sharing makes sense from a financial perspective. But from a customer perspective, not so much. So news that Netflix is also working on ways to limit password sharing between households might draw at least some ire. Or perhaps it won’t. The American streaming platform is no stranger to attempts to maintain fewer than four viewers on an account. Its latest crack at it, currently being tested in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru…

*hits blunt* “Hey, you know what would make Instagram even better? Let’s add NFTs to it!” This probably isn’t how it actually went down, but it really can’t be too far off. Meta founder and all-round galaxy brain Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that support for NFTs is coming to the picture-posting platform. Speaking at SXSW, Zuckerberg said, “We’re working on bringing NFTs to Instagram in the near term.” NFT #sponcon nightmare ahead Zuckerberg added, “I’m not ready to kind of announce exactly what that’s going to be today. But over the next several months, the ability to bring some of your…

In the beginning, there was Wordle. And there was much posting of coloured cubes on Twitter, and rejoicing. Then came The New York Times and a purchase in the “low seven-figures”. And there was much Right-Click-and-Saving in the land. At the time, changes to the guessing game were expected. Wordle was to remain free-to-play for a time, but there was always a chance that it would require a login or a subscription to access once The New York Times figured out what to do with its new toy. Wordle Archive goes away The first official enforcement of the NYT’s new…

Spotify has finally made enough money to be able to sponsor a soccer team. And not, like, Coventry City or Liverpool. A real soccer team. FC Barcelona is the team that’s, er… teamed up with the music streaming service. The sponsorship includes both shirt and stadium branding and kicks off from the 2022/2023 season. It’ll run over four seasons. No penalty for Barcelona FC Barcelona’s stadium, Camp Nou, is undergoing a name change as a result of the deal. It’ll now be known as Spotify Camp Nou. The streaming service is the first sponsor to secure naming rights for the…

Time flies when you’re taking photos of everything in sight. Japanese camera Brand Fujifilm is celebrating its ten-year anniversary in South Africa. How? By building a new place for people to work, obviously. But the new Johannesburg head office isn’t just about people earning a living playing with cameras. Okay, it kinda is. But it’ll also offer a few new aspects for the company. There’s set to be an on-site repair center, and then there’s the company’s Technology Centre Africa. Fujifilm goes green(er) Which, yes, is more or less an experience center. Most major companies have one these days, but…

When you hear the word ‘Kawasaki’, you probably picture something… specific. Sleek and fast, electric-snot green, with the word ‘Ninja’ in the title. You’re probably not thinking about Bex the robo-goat, which looks like something you might shoot on a cyberpunk hunting trip. And yet, here we are. Bex is indeed real. It looks a little like a children’s carnival ride before they spray fur on the thing, and it’s designed to carry cargo. It owes at least a little of its existence to Spot, the robot dog. After all, if Boston Dynamics can achieve success replicating canines, robotic capridae…

You’ll remember that in February, Huawei and South Africa’s Department of Labour were feeling a little disagreeable. See, Huawei’s staff complement is made up of 90% foreign nationals. The acceptable maximum, according to South African employment equity regulations, is 40%. This made the department responsible for this sort of thing understandably miffed. Things were said. Legal action was threatened. But then things cooled down a little, and both parties resolved to settle this matter out of court. That’s exactly what has happened, and it seems like everyone has more or less what they want. Huawei doing so far? In a…