Author: Trent Meikle

It’s been a long time coming, but WhatsApp’s paid-for ‘Plus’ subscription is now live for some Android beta testers. Meta is taking its time with the rollout, meaning only a select few regions have access at the moment. WhatsApp hasn’t confirmed exactly which those are, but one thing is certain: South Africa isn’t involved. Yet. Would you pay for WhatsApp Plus? We’re not complaining. For the moment, WhatsApp Plus is a ‘nice to have’ for folks who spend a lot of time on the messenger. It mainly offers cosmetic upgrades, judging by the official FAQ. That might change somewhere down…

We’re still a little mad about Showmax being sunsetted, but this may help us get over it. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup around the corner, many Saffas are prepping their wallets to secure the necessary DStv subscription. Before, that was DStv Premium, the priciest of the lot. Now, the Canal+-owned company has announced that just about anyone can get in on the action, whether they sport a costly Premium or R100/m Access subscription. Soccer? I hardly know ‘er! It’s the package that has the most eyeballs,” said Rendani Ramovha, Canal+ director for content for sports in English and Portuguese-speaking…

You won’t find a bigger fan of Admyt than Stuff’s own Toby Shapshak. Although we doubt there was much competition in the ranks for an app that specialises in parking. The glowing testimonial makes sense, considering Admyt speeds up the entire ticket-based parking experience you’ll meet at nearly every single mall in the country. And now, it’s getting a little better. But only for Discovery Bank clients, unfortunately. If you can’t count yourselves amongst some of SA’s banking elites, you’ll miss out on the new perk heading their way. That perk is free parking — assuming your definition of ‘free’…

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory As if Jeff Bezos needed a bigger head, the Amazon founder’s space company, Blue Origin, just hit a big milestone. The company has (successfully, we might add) re-used a first-stage booster, mimicking what SpaceX has been doing for more than a decade. Still, more billionaires with space tech is a good thing. Right? After New Glenn survived its November 2025 outing, Blue Origin managed to get its GS1 booster up and running for another mission. After launching smoothly, the first-stage booster detached itself and returned to Earth safely. That’s where the wins end,…

Gaming’s worst-kept secret, AKA the long-rumoured remake of the best Assassin’s Creed game, is nearly here. Well, sort of. According to Insider Gaming, the Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag remake, also known as “resynced”, was initially meant to be unveiled yesterday, before Ubisoft corrected course at the last minute. The official reveal is now pencilled in for sometime next week, where it will officially confirm a release date of 9 July 2026. Ahoy, mateys! Apparently, Ubisoft has remained wary of unveiling the Black Flag remake for years, and that may all change again next week. The game is definitely real, though. Despite the delay, the report…

There’s no shortage of Chinese-built sub-R10k smartphones in South Africa. Honor has thrown another onto the pile. That’d be the Honor 600 Lite, launching at a fairly manageable R9,000. It goes above and beyond a typical mid-ranger’s capabilities, adding a dedicated ‘AI Button’ to the side — like the Magic 8 Pro. It’s more expensive than last year’s 400 Lite, which could be picked up for an even more reasonable R8,000. With the world going in the direction that it is, we should probably count ourselves lucky that Honor has stuck to a four-digit price. Saffas will be privy to…

If one thing is certain, it’s that South African drivers are facing another round of fuel price increases. The Central Energy Fund (CEF) reckons motorists are in for a nasty shock come May, with diesel drivers facing another major increase. To help ease the pressures introduced at the beginning of April, South Africa saw a R3/l cut to the general fuel levy. Now, it looks like the country could keep that reduction around a little longer. Better than nothing, right? That’s according to a report from Bloomberg, which claims South Africa has “enough fiscal space to extend a fuel-tax cut by…

While the rest of South Africa’s banks quietly upgrade their branches to appease the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), Capitec is speedrunning the system. Since Capitec’s last major Smart ID expansion, which brought the total number of Smart ID branches to 67, the bank has equipped nine more of its branches with these powers. Capitec in the lead It’s clear to see why Capitec is pulling ahead of the pack. It employs Self Service Terminals (SSTs), which the bank reckons can help any of its customers apply for a Smart ID in less than five minutes. The other banks participating…

Spotify, the music streaming service, has gone in loads of different directions lately, none of which involve what started it all: music. Audiobooks make sense for an audio company, whereas a Spotify-branded urn… doesn’t. The streamer’s latest stunt doesn’t stray quite as far off the beaten path. Spotify now sells printed books. Really. Spotify Blu-rays when? Only for UK and US users at the time of writing, however. That doesn’t mean the streamer won’t eventually expand its partnership with Bookshop.org globally. There was a time when audiobooks weren’t available locally, and now, they’re available in 22 countries — including South…

YouTube Shorts have plagued Google’s video app for years as it attempted to play catch-up with the likes of TikTok. Whether you like them or not, there they are — on both desktop and mobile. That ‘See fewer Shorts’ prompt is more of a decoration than anything else. Now, YouTube is adding a way to rid your feed of Shorts for good. Keep them long, please Kinda. It’s not quite the nuclear option we had hoped for. The change builds upon the in-app timer Google added back in October, meant to slap your wrist and pull you out of that…