Author: Stuff writer

Xbox and Netflix can’t agree on adaptation deal If you’ve got your ear to the ground, you might’ve known that Netflix was eyeing Xbox’s stable of intellectual property and licking its lips. The exclusive film and TV adaptation rights to Xbox games would surely do the streaming giant well, it thought. Look at how well Halo did. $500 million for seven years of exclusivity oughta do it, right? Wrong, says Xbox, which wanted $800 million, according to this newsletter from Puck. Netflix has yet to comment on the matter, while Xbox has said it has seen “record-breaking interest” in its…

Is it just us, or does Black Friday seem to be coming earlier and earlier every year? Not wanting to miss out on all the spending, Amazon’s ‘Early Black Friday’ sale started yesterday and runs until 31 October. There are a dizzying number of deals and special offers, way too many to list them all. Sorting through them yourself can also be tedious. So if you’re looking for tech-related deals, you’ve come to the right place. It’s worth noting that while the sale runs until 31 October, there’s no guarantee that stock will last that long. Disclaimer: When you purchase…

In what has been a rocky year for South Africa’s fuel pumps, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has confirmed yet another round of relief for motorists, set to kick in from 4 November 2026. As a purely temporary measure, the national fuel levy will be reduced by R3/l for diesel and R1.50/l for petrol next month until 1 December 2026. Thereafter, the relief will continue to provide support for motorists at a lower amount until 5 January 2027. “To provide temporary relief, the fuel levy will be reduced by R3 per litre for diesel and R1.50 per litre for petrol from…

We’re still not over the official fuel price adjustments for October, but the latest petrol price predictions from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) hint at a slightly less incendiary November. There’s still an increase for drivers on the cards, but the hikes aren’t as steep as initially thought — with diesel expecting a R1.25/l hike at the pumps. Compared to the last round of predictions, it’s quite a drop. The same goes for petrol prices, which were believed to add R2.79/l to the price in November. After the CEF’s latest snapshot (captured 16 October), that figure has fallen greatly, with a more…

YouTube talks now?! YouTube talks now YouTube’s next big idea is really, really stupid. So stupid, we wonder if it’ll ever make it out of the limited test in the US to the rest of the world. The Google-owned platform calls it ‘Ask YouTube’ and it’s essentially a repackaged version of the AI Overviews currently plaguing regular Google searches. Except these show up in YouTube search. It’s meant to sit front and centre in the platform’s search functionality whenever you ask a basic how-to question or something similar. You know, the sort of query that might’ve netted YouTube a view…

Many South African motorists are still reeling from the R3/l+ petrol and diesel price hikes inflicted upon them this October. The potential for some more government relief does ease the sting a bit, but not by much. Early data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) suggests that November will be yet another rough month for drivers. A rough month ahead That might not seem possible considering October’s official adjustments sent inland petrol prices soaring beyond R30/l for the first time in South Africa’s history. And until the government confirms a cut to the general fuel levies, we’ll likely be stuck…

Petrol and diesel price hikes are showing no signs of slowing down after the official adjustments for October brought inland petrol prices over R30/l for the first time in South Africa’s history. It’s an even uglier sight for diesel drivers, who saw their fuel expenses touch R33/l, with early figures promising another hike in November. Some relief may be on the way, however. The Standing Committee on Appropriations has adopted its report on the Second Special Appropriation Bill. If that didn’t manage to permeate your suburban brain, we’ve got you covered. The bill proposes the withdrawal of R10 billion from…

Apple’s next-gen streamer may never let you lose the remote again Now that Apple has deemed the original Apple TV 4K from 2017 ‘vintage’, what better time to announce something new? That, apparently, is exactly what’s happening, with the likeliest culprit for a debut being the upcoming ‘Welcome Home’event, scheduled for tomorrow. But what does it actually bring to the table? A new chip, certainly. Older reports reckoned the streamer would incorporate an A17 or A17 Pro chip, the cheapest way of ensuring it’ll get Siri’s new AI smarts. More recent scuttlebutt suggests it’ll get something a tad more robust,…

Another day, another plug-in hybrid bakkie entering the country. This time, that honour is afforded to GWM, kitting out its P300 bakkie series with a plug-in variant for the first time. A bit of a mouthful: the GWM P300 2.0T Pioneer Hi4-T PHEV is also the most expensive of the bunch, beating out the former R700,000 flagship. If you’re serious about taking GWM’s hybrid tech home with you, you’ll need to lay out R915,000. You’re getting a pretty powerful petrol engine coupled with an even better electric motor. GWM’s no slouch when it comes to making a good-looking bakkie, and…

Someone, please take us back to 1985, when the biggest problem facing motorists was the R1/l price of petrol. It’s a far cry from the absurd fuel prices plaguing Saffas in 2026, with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) officially confirming an R3/l+ hike for October, sending petrol prices soaring above R30/l. Those new prices will kick in on the morning of Wednesday, 7 October. Unless you want to pay more for your petrol, you’ll want to get down to the nearest fueling station. Uh… now. It’s an equally dire situation for the country’s diesel drivers, who will be…