Author: Trent Meikle

Yeah, smartwatches are great, but there’s just something special about a low-key version that’ll hit a lot of the same notes. Xiaomi’s Smart Bands have managed just fine for years, asking very little in return. The same goes for Xiaomi’s new Smart Band 11 — not to be confused with the Band 11 Active — that it just unveiled in China. Xiaomi what you got Announced on Weibo, Xiaomi confirmed the Smart Band 11, which doesn’t add all that much over its predecessor. It’s still downright impressive, however, offering a 1.72in AMOLED with what appears to be a decent selection…

It’s been a busy week for Anker at IFA in Berlin. Yesterday, we saw the company’s new Soundcore sleep earbuds debut, but the announcement we were keenest on was the Soundcore Space 2 Pro headphones. The line-up has always gone all out despite its relatively affordable price, and that sentiment holds here with a $200 price. The highlight — according to Anker, anyway — is the inclusion of the company’s ‘Thus’ chip. After debuting in April, Anker has done anything and everything to stick it in its products, and now it’s the Space 2 Pro’s turn. The idea is for…

Yesterday, Sony PlayStation held not one, but two State of Play showcases. The first was the usual affair of teasers, trailers, and announcements for some of the upcoming games headed to consoles. The next was… the same, but focused on titles developed by Japanese developers. Unfortunately, there was hardly anything worth writing home about. That heaps a certain amount of pressure on Nintendo’s rumoured Direct next week. Resident Evil https://youtu.be/KGlapnJFacE Okay, maybe it wasn’t all games. The show kicked off with a an “exclusive clip” of Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil film, releasing 18 September. It… looks like a Cregger movie, which will excite Weapons and Barbarian fans to…

Well, that didn’t take long. Only a few months after Acer unveiled the Predator Atlas 8, the company unveiled another one at IFA in Berlin this year. That would be the Acer Predator Atlas 7. No, we haven’t forgotten how numbers work. That ‘7’ is referring to the 7in 16:9 FHD display it’s now rocking — smaller than its brethren. Atlas 7 incoming Everything that made the initial Predator Atlas 8 such a specimen is still present in the Atlas 7. The first rendition is seemingly still on track for release in October, and EMEA is on the guest list.…

Recent years have seen automakers duking it out for the title of the cheapest EV in South Africa. Not Jaguar Land Rover, which just introduced its first fully electric Range Rover in South Africa, carrying a starting price of R3.9 million. The company is now taking orders for the car locally, hoping its exemplary specs justify the high cost. Range Rover, Electric Boogaloo And they are exemplary. They bloody better be, considering. The Range Rover Electric promises to be quieter and more responsive than anything else in the factory. It’s powered by two 260kW electric motors — one above each…

When Mario Kart World launched alongside the Nintendo Switch 2 last year, it seemed like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was done for. Kaput. Finnito. We enjoyed our time with World, sure, but it never had us coming back for another lap quite like Deluxe did for nearly eight years straight. Now, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is officially getting a free Switch 2 update. We can only imagine that sales for World were on the decline, prompting the upgrade. “My death was… greatly exaggerated” The update dropped yesterday for all owners of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It adds enhanced visuals in both docked and handheld modes, though Nintendo…

We’ll never say no to something from Anker’s Soundcore range, especially a new pair of sleep-focused earbuds. The Soundcore Sleep A30 lived up to our expectations and then some. The company, currently attending IFA in Berlin, just announced the Soundcore Sleep Earbuds 4 and Sleep 4 Pro — and they look like a solid upgrade. Same ol’ audio, now with OLED If it’s an audio upgrade you’re looking for, you’re fresh out of luck. These are nearly identical to the Sleep A30 internally, though Anker has included upgrades to the battery life and ANC to stave off angry would-be buyers.…

If there’s one thing you can always count on, it’s Sony propping up its bass-heavy ULT speaker range pretty regularly. The last we saw, the company expanded the punier ULT Field range, while the ULT Tower 9AC only got a small look-in. Yesterday, Sony unveiled three new behemoths to the Tower family — the ULT Tower 5, Tower 7, and the ULT Tower Max. The trio are currently headed for South African shelves sometime in October. Sony just ULTed The arrival of this threesome means Sony will be saying goodbye to some older models to make room. It may well…

For years, DStv has resiliently stuck with the same ol’ packages — even in the face of cheaper on-demand streaming models. Many believed that the new owners of MultiChoice, Canal+, would bring about a much-needed overhaul. Thus far, that hasn’t happened. But it’s about to, according to DStv’s own website, which detailed the broadcaster’s intent to introduce all-new plans and rework many of the older ones later this month. DStv has since removed the offending pages, which were published ahead of the intended reveal date. Fortunately, MyBroadband managed to get hold of the plans before they were taken down. DStv Media…

Two years ago, Sonos took its first crack at making headphones and came out the other side only slightly scathed. It may even have learned a thing or two. We had a good time with the cans, though they were a little pricey, at least compared to the stiffest competition. Now, Sonos is back with the Ace Ultra, with a few big improvements. At the same time, Sonos unveiled the new Beam Ultra soundbar, yet another refresh of a beloved Sonos entry. The Beam line was long overdue for a refresh, with the second-gen Beam releasing all the way back…