Author: Stuff writer

The BlackBerry Classic launched with an array of new software features to augment its return to a familiar design, but what about everyone with an earlier BlackBerry 10 device? Luckily, your time has come. BlackBerry has announced that the OS 10.3.1 update is starting to go live around the world – barring any delays from carrier certifications – which will bring promised functionality like the BlackBerry Assistant and Blend. It also delivers access to Android apps via the preinstalled Amazon Appstore. The Assistant, of course, is BlackBerry’s take on Siri, Cortana, and Google Now – a long-overdue voice-based helper that…

Last February, Sony sold off its Vaio PC line – while always distinctive, it had lost a step with consumers. But now under the rule of Japanese Industrial Partners (JIP), Vaio is back in action with new hardware. Announced this week, the Vaio Z (seen below) is the first of the fresh Windows laptops, and it’s a 13.3in ultrabook that can transform into a tablet with ease. Granted, while a pretty thin laptop, it’ll be a sizable slate, but at least the hinged lid makes it a viable option for touch input with a tablet-like form, plus you can rotate…

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Neptune Duo. The Duo itself consists of two parts – the Hub and the Pocket. The former is essentially a rather bulky smartwatch with a 2.4in touchscreen, and it holds within it everything you’d expect to find strewn about after an explosion at a smartphone factory – namely, a quad-core processor, 64GB of storage, a 1000mAh battery and 3G and 4G network modules. That means that the Hub is essentially a smartphone replacement, letting you send messages, browse the web and take calls. The Pocket companion on the other hand, is, for lack of a…

Cast your mind back to September 2012 and you may remember  a Kickstarter project for Instant Lab, a portable camera that took – then instantly developed and printed – photos of digital images directly from your iPhone’s display. Two and a half years on, it’s finally available for anyone to buy. The brainchild of The Impossible Project, a Berlin-based company that manufactures and sells film to users of vintage instant cameras like the Polaroid SX-70 and 600 series, the new device – called the Instant Lab Universal because, instead of just the iPhone 4 and 5, it now works with…

A recent Samsung blog post suggests the Galaxy S6 could feature wireless charging tech built-in, negating the need for an optional case. The blog post, titled “Wireless Smartphone Charging as an Industry Standard”, gives clues right from the off, by mentioning Nikola Tesla and his invention of wireless transferring energy. Previous Galaxy smartphones had the ability to benefit from wireless charging, but only when an optional case was fitted. The post mentions how wireless charging has evolved over recent years: by becoming more efficient, while component prices have dropped. The Galaxy S4 charging pads for example, used 80 components while…

Google recently canned the Glass Explorer Programme in an effort to redesign the smart glasses and try again in the future, but that isn’t stopping Sony from debuting its rival eyewear in a few short weeks. The Sony SmartEyeglass Developer Edition (SED-E1) will release on 10 March, the company revealed yesterday, at a price of $840 (just under R10,000) in the States. Like Google’s Explorer Programme, affixing Developer Edition to the name lets Sony have a little leeway with this early-adopter-targeting release. And the company may need it, because SmartEyeglass – which must be paired with a phone running Android…

The HTC One M9 has been making headlines, and now that we’re getting closer to MWC 2015, the leaks are coming at full speed. But not much has been revealed about the alleged HTC One M8i, the mid-range alternative to HTC’s popular One M8. That was the case, any way. Leak extraordinaire @upleaks has divulged more information about the rumoured mid-ranger smartphone – namely, all of its specs. Design-wise, the unit will reportedly share the same physical characteristics of the One M9, as well as dimensions and weight of the One M8. This means that premium-feeling metal is probably involved,…

It’s the games that make the system, right? That’s especially true with the Nintendo 3DS, which judged on its technical merits isn’t a particularly great bit of hardware. The graphics are well behind those of the PlayStation Vita, the 3D effect is finicky and rarely put to essential use, and the touch tech feels ages old compared to phone and tablet screens. But where else are you going to play some of Nintendo’s best modern games, not to mention a solid handful of third-party efforts? The New Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL (yes, “New” really is part of the console’s…

Another day, another Galaxy S6 leak. And this one could potentially hold some bad news for power users. An Amazon listing for a Samsung case from manufacturer Verus shows off a distinctly clear side view of the handset, which matches previous leaks of the device. Although the rear of the S6 isn’t shown, there’s a distinct pin hole for a microSD and/or SIM slot on its right hand side. All iterations of Samsung’s flagship devices have so far had both the microSD cards and SIM cards located on the back, accessible via a removable rear cover. The new location suggests…

Samsung didn’t get to where it is today by churning out rubbish devices. Ever since the South Korean tech giant smashed it out of the park with the Galaxy S2, it’s consistently put out flagships worthy of our attention. Our two main gripes however, have been build quality and software bloat. The former looks well on its way to being fixed, with the Galaxy Note 4, A3, A5 and A7 all featuring metal, not to mention numerous leaks consistently supporting an all-metal premium Galaxy S6. And now it looks like the software bloat is also on its way to being…