Author: Stuff writer

If you’re keen to binge-watch so many box sets your eyes will turn 16:9, check out these tips from Stuff and get even more from Amazon’s on-demand streaming TV service, Prime Video. As one of South Africa’s more affordable streamers at R80/m, Amazon’s Prime Video is stacked with thousands of movies and series – featuring original content like The Boys and Invincible we can promise you won’t want to put down… THE BASICS Nuke the ads The big new Prime Video feature for 2024 was ads. ‘Yay.’ In terms of the annoyance factor, they’re about halfway between YouTube and ITV. They’re not a…

Alexa, tell me the exciting origin story of the very first Echo! Sorry, but you can’t chat with websites just yet… although, given how many Alexa devices have arrived since the original Echo, it’s probably only a matter of time. After all, back in 2014, the idea of a talking speaker was just as strange, and early adopters were cautious. Sure, it was easier to ask Alexa to play a tune than pulling out your phone to send it across via Bluetooth. But there was something vaguely dystopian about that first always-connected, always-listening Amazon Echo. The severe industrial design surely…

Hey, I’ve seen this one! Despite glasses-free 3D peaking in 2011 with the release of the Nintendo 3DS, tech companies can’t seem to take a hint, with Samsung stepping into 2025 with another fresh attempt to make the technology a staple. First demoed at CES 2024, Samsung has returned a year later with an almost complete product – the 27in Odyssey 3D monitor – that’ll have you watching The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl the way Robert Rodriguez always intended. It’ll manage the feat with the help of AI, of course, and more importantly a ‘lenticular lens’ “attached to the front…

You’ve outdone yourselves. We’re now apparently getting nostalgic about a circuit board. Not just any circuit board: this is the original Raspberry Pi. And although it looks like it’s been fished out of a parts bin, this tiny device kickstarted a revolution upon its release a decade ago. A team including engineering guru Eben Upton and Elite creator David Braben had identified a crisis in computer science: interest was dwindling and many of those who did rock up at varsity had barely any programming experience. The Pi was designed to get people experimenting. Did they first experiment by communicating with…

Not in the mood for stressful sprinting or murderous mayhem? These mobile games are designed to bring inner calm rather than making your temples throb… Townscaper | Android (R87) | iOS (R60) A city-building game without the busywork, Townscaper dumps you in an endless expanse of water and has you tap the screen to plonk down little islands. Depending on where blocks are positioned, oddball structures and features automatically appear, such as lighthouses, gardens, washing lines and – bizarrely – UFO-like buildings improbably suspended by way of gigantic fans. Mini Metro | Android (R21) | iOS (R80) Subways aren’t generally…

Yes, okay, fine, you own an example of Apple’s finest engineering. But have you ever wondered if the iPad Pro (M4) could be a better, faster, slicker piece of tech than it already is? Perhaps there are ways you could be using it better? What if there’s an app you’ve overlooked? We’ve taken care of all of those questions, leaving you with only one: Which of these Apple iPad Pro (M4) upgrade options are you going to implement first? Apple iPad Pro (M4) Upgrades ChargeASAP Flash Pro Plus Portable MagSafe top-ups for your iPhone and AirPods Pro, Apple Watch charging,…

Listen up, pop pickers: Stuff is here to help you find songs you like, manage your library, share your playlists with friends and even (if you really must) sing along. Once we’re through with you, you’ll be an Apple Music genius. Let us mould you… shape you into the musical aficionado you were always meant to be. THE BASICS Make it personal Apple Music needs training. Tap-hold to ‘favourite’ tracks, albums and playlists you like – or ‘Suggest less’ for what you don’t. This will affect regularly updated personal mixes and stations in Listen Now. To base an entire station…

We get it. You’ve got Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra. Until the South Korean company comes up with a new entry in the series, this is as good as it gets. Or is it? Turns out you can improve upon even the very pinnacle of premium. There’s always someone willing to take it one step further and they’ll help you to do the same if you’re willing to part with enough money. You’ve already dropped thirty grand or so on your smartphone, what’s another R25,000? Or, if you’ve spent enough, we’ve got a selection of upgrades you can do that will…

Ah, the flip-phone champion. But whatever happened to the Razr V1 and V2? No idea. Perhaps they lurk to this day in a dusty, long-abandoned Motorola lab, waiting to take off a future archaeologist’s fingers. Or maybe they were just the ones that didn’t make it – including a reported super-skinny prototype that had the benefit of being as thin as four credit cards… and the snag of conking out after 20 minutes. But the V3 lasted for hours – especially if you spent ages gushing over the lovely design before you got around to actually using it. Well, it…

Cost-of-living crisis or not, are you really going to talk about cardboard tech? Not all of Google Cardboard was cardboard. The original kit included lenses, magnets, Velcro and a rubber band! And on its debut at the 2014 Google I/O conference, this DIY slot-in-your-own-smartphone headset grabbed all the headlines. This was Google making a play for the future, saying VR didn’t need specialised hardware beyond your phone: it could be accessible to everyone, encouraging developers to build a new generation of immersive digital experiences. Like a VR stationery store so you could buy more tape when your headset fell apart?…