Author: Stuff writer

Chromebook are getting better and better over time, but the Google-powered laptops are also getting cheaper and cheaper in some cases. And today, Google revealed the cheapest models to date. The Haier Chromebook 11 and Hisense Chromebook will be available for just $149 (about R1,800 or so) apiece, with pre-orders starting up today. Only American retailers have been announced so far: the Haier will be sold at Amazon, while the Hisense will be available from Walmart. They’re similarly specced devices: both have 11.6in (non-touch) displays, quad-core Rockchip Cortex A17 processors, 2GB RAM, and 16GB internal storage. The Haier promises 10…

Look what we woke up to this morning – a freshly-pressed invite straight from LG, for a 28 April event in London. The G4 is nearly upon us, folks. We’ve seen relatively few G4 leaks compared to the amount we were drowning in this time last year. LG’s 2015 flagship could have anything from a Snapdragon 808 or 810 processor, to a metal, plastic or now (judging by the invitation) a leather body. We could see Note 4-like metal sides with a faux leather rear, and if that is the case then there’s a strong chance that LG’s sticking with…

Not content with releasing its gorgeous metal-clad One M9, HTC has quietly lifted the curtains off a new phablet, the One E9+. Leaked online over the past few weeks, the latest handset to join HTC’s roster is a bit of an odd one. It’s got a 5.5in 2K QHD display, out-sizing and out-pixelling the One M9’s 5in 1080p screen. While it also shares the same front-facing BoomSound speakers, rear 20MP camera and front-facing UltraPixel snapper, it’s all wrapped up in a plastic body. With 3GB of RAM and an octa-core MediaTek processor running the show, it’s a little odd to…

Last week rumours began to circulate that Apple was preparing to launch a new plastic iPhone in September, tentatively dubbed the iPhone 6C. Well, now we appear to have photographic evidence to back that up. Mobile component reseller Future Supplier has obtained spy snaps of what appears to be the rear casing of the upcoming smartphone. It looks distinctly similar to the iPhone 5C in terms of shape and size (the 6C is rumoured to come with a 4in screen, just like the 5C), there are a couple of clear differences. First, the hole for the rear camera’s LED flash…

Earlier, we were drooling over a video render of the LG G4. It looked sleek, curvy, modern and very, very appealing. But the reality might turn out to be a little different. That’s because some fresh photos, allegedly of the G4, have appeared on the XDA Developer forums, and it appears to look very similar to the existing G3. There’s no extra information to go along with the photos, but certain things are easy to determine. The rear volume and power buttons for one thing, have a squarer shape to them, when compared to the current G3’s rounder buttons. The…

Apple’s MacBook touchpads already offer a great degree of gesture control, but with the new MacBooks, the touchpads are now more force-sensitive. This ‘Force Touch’ technology as Apple calls it, gives a higher level of sensitivity and accuracy, which new app Inklet is taking advantage of. A STYLUS FOR YOUR MACBOOK With Inklet, you can use a stylus to draw, select images and use varying pressure to adjust the thickness of lines. It’s a lot like using a separate tablet but with a smaller surface area and when your finger alone won’t cut it. Inklet also claims its software has…

Two reports from Taiwan’s Digitimes news site suggest that Apple will launch three iPhone models for its annual update – and they’ll include a 4in iPhone 6c. The iPhone 6c (Digitimes calls that a “tentative” name for the phone) will be pitched as an entry-level to mid-range device and as such is likely to use a plastic case, much like the iPhone 5c. The price tag, it claims, will probably be in the $400-500 (around R4,800 to R6,000 – without our usual markup) range – quite a bit cheaper than the iPhone 5c’s launch price of $600 (in South Africa,…

If you think the impending launch of the Apple Watch means the window for alternative third-party smartwatches is closing, think again. The Pebble Time has racked up nearly $20 million, and newly announced options from Vector and Frederique Constant are turning heads. And you can now add Olio to that list. The upstart smartwatch maker has just revealed its debut product, the Model One – and it’s a stunner. Compatible with Android handsets and iPhones alike, the Model One blends classic watch styling and premium materials with an interface that makes saving time as important as telling it. And its…

Windows RT has more or less been kicked to the curb, as Microsoft revealed that devices running the half-baked operating system won’t get the Windows 10 upgrade (although they’ll get some sort of update). But the common Surface line apparently isn’t done for good. WinBeta reports that Microsoft is on the verge of announcing a brand new Surface 3, which will continue the lower-end official Windows tablet line. According to the article, it will continue to be differentiated from the Pro line, which made its best splash to date with last year’s Surface Pro 3. Better yet, the new tablet…

Look at your phone. Now look back at the screen. Tell us which handset you think looks prettier. Unless you’re rocking an iPhone 6 or have manged to somehow nab a Samsung Galaxy S6 or HTC One M9, then we’d bet money on the above G4 render out-classing your smartphone. A concept video showing off a render (read: an interpretation based on leaks) of the LG G4 has been created by Croatian designer Ivo Marić, and has been shared by French site Nowhereelse.fr. Marić has taken leaked render images, also picked up by the French site, and turned them into…