Author: Stuff writer

Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed late last month that the Apple Watch will ship in April, perhaps a tiny bit later than the original “early 2015” estimate. And now the company is gearing up to share the proper details. An event was just announced for 9 March at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California, and Apple will also host one that evening at the Apple Store in Kurfürstendamm, Berlin. Apple is widely expected to use the events to provide final details for its wearable device – not only a proper release date, but actual pricing…

The Noodoe Watch looks like a fitness band, but it won’t count your steps or track sleep. And it’ll pair with a smartphone over Bluetooth LE to display notifications, but you’ll never tap or swipe the display, play games, or speak into it. It doesn’t even come with a default watch face. Seriously, it’s effectively useless out of the box. You might call it a “dumb watch” in comparison to the current and coming crop of extravagant smartphone companions, but the Noodoe is not dumb – just intensely focused. Instead, the startup of the same name sees its debut wearable…

Samsung might be the biggest name behind the Gear VR peripheral for the Galaxy Note 4, but it’s Oculus providing the software for the unit. And the company wants more exciting experiences to tempt users to its platform. As such, Oculus has announced the Mobile VR Jam 2015, which promises to award a grand total of $1 million (about R11.5 million) to virtual reality game, app, and experience developers who generate thrilling new experiences for the smartphone-powered headset. “The Mobile VR Jam is an opportunity to build groundbreaking new experiences in collaboration with other passionate VR pioneers, and win cash…

With just one week to go until MWC, Sony has accidentally leaked the Xperia Z4 Tablet on its own Xperia Lounge app. The app leaked a picture of a remarkably thin-looking tablet, along with some revelatory text which mentions “Sony’s stunning 2K display”, “the latest ultra-fast processor”, and “industry leading battery performance.” It doesn’t give away any specific specs, but seeing as it’s dropped the ‘Compact’ name, from its Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact predecessor, we can make a confident guess that it’ll land with a 10in screen, along with the same bath-defying waterproof powers. Throw in a potential Snapdragon 810…

Telltale Games has been highly successful in its own special niche: video games that appeal to lovers of TV series and comics. The episodic format of titles such as The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones mirrors that of a TV show closely enough to keep players coming back for more – albeit at the expense them feeling more like interactive storybooks than actual “games”. Telltale’s success has not gone unnoticed by Hollywood. Now film studio Lionsgate is investing money in the developer, to the point its CEO Jon Feltheimer will be on Telltale’s board of directors. It’s a good…

Revealed earlier this month, the LG Watch Urbane puts a metal-centric spin on the stellar G Watch R, delivering more of a luxury-minded impression. But there’s another version coming, and despite similarities, it looks to be pretty different. The LG Watch Urbane LTE makes several changes to the standard model, including – as the name suggests – adding LTE service for making Voice-over-LTE calls, texting, and using a walkie-talkie function. It’s the first LTE-equipped watch in the world, says the company; remember, the Samsung Gear S uses 3G. But perhaps even more significant is the loss of Android Wear as…

Recent rumours have strongly suggested that Apple is secretly working on an electric (and possibly self-driving) car. Exciting stuff – but Samsung may be determined to lay down some speedbumps for its biggest rival. How, you ask? Well, the Korean giant has officially acquired the battery business of Magna Steyr – a company Apple was reportedly in talks with regarding its electric car. Magna Steyr is an Austrian company that assembles cars for the likes of Volkswagen, Audi, and Fiat. ASSAULT AND BATTERY Samsung has snapped up Magna Steyr’s other business, which designs and builds car parts in addition to…

Microsoft has just updated its Band wearable with a new tile and an onscreen keyboard. The update is accompanied by a new Health website that will provide a dashboard for viewing the data collected by Band. For developers, there is also a preview of the upcoming SDK. At present, you can see data that includes pace, distance and elevation. According to Microsoft, Band integrates this data with MapMyFitness, so it probably won’t be too long until other fitness tracking services and apps follow suit. The band already tracks sleep, heart rate and calories. CYCLING, RUNNING, MESSAGING Cyclists are also supported…

The countdown has ended, and Pebble has lifted the curtains of its latest smartwatch – its first major update since the original arrived back in 2013. Say hello to the Pebble Time. Having launched on Kickstarter, the Time’s big sell is its (non-touchscreen) colour e-paper display, which offers a colour readout without sacrificing the Pebble’s excellent battery life. We’re told that the Time will still squeeze out up to seven days on a single charge despite the colourful new screen. That’s miles ahead of the at-best two-day battery life offered by Android Wear and the expected one-day battery life of…

Guitar Hero ruled the gaming industry for a couple of years, but too many games and too many plastic instruments sunk interest, and the series took a breather after 2010. But might the hiatus be over after a half decade away? That’s what Kotaku UK is reporting, citing information from two separate sources that claim that Activision is actively working on a Guitar Hero revival for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The game will have new guitar peripherals, says the report, although it’s unclear if they’ll be full band games with drums and vocal parts, as well. Additionally, a source…