Author: Brett Venter

Samsung has long been suspected of having a pair of open earbuds lurking in its development studio. The folks at Android Headlines have revealed them to be the Galaxy Buds On, the South Korean company’s upcoming clip-on headphones. The major change is in the name. Previously, the rumoured headphones were called the Galaxy Able earbuds. Now, it seems, it’s just On. Galaxy On, of course. That, plus a couple of highly detailed images of the hardware, gives us a better idea of what’s coming. Buds On the way Most of what is physically known about these new headphones is based…

Meta’s Muse AI agent has been making a splash (and irritating Amazon), but company head Mark Zuckerberg reckons users will want to keep it around. So much so that Meta is launching the Charm, a little device that lets customers talk to Muse wherever they are. As long as there’s internet access. The little device, revealed when Meta unveiled its latest collection of smart glasses this week, contains its own 5G modem and a teeny little 2in display. It’s supposed to help users to access Muse without needing to go through a smartphone app. In other words, it’s hardware that…

We’re used to seeing Honor’s X9-series phones in South Africa, but the newly official X9e Pro is the first of the series to carry the ‘Pro’ suffix. A look at the specs shows why Honor is talking this one up. The battery is absolutely massive. The rest of the internals are acceptably mid-range, with a few dalliances in the premium price bracket for the X9e Pro. This isn’t the only phone from Honor to add a new suffix, either. There’s an Honor X7e Plus also bound for Africa that we should see here at some point. That one doesn’t quite…

It’s been some time since South African wearables brand Funkyfing last graced our desk. This time, it’s the sequel to the company’s original kids’ smartwatch, the Funkyfing JR 2. Because what else are they going to call it? The box and branding are aimed at slightly older kids this time around, with the blue or pink shades replaced with a more versatile black unit. It’s also a shade more advanced this time around, with one glaring flaw kicked out of the equation. Each device arrives with a Melon Mobile SIM card. The inclusion of a SIM still isn’t optional, but…

Durabook’s Z14I-DX3 looks nominally like a laptop, but at ten kilos it probably justifies the company’s description as “a workstation-class, edge AI computing platform.” Rugged laptops aren’t unusual, but this triple-screened effort probably isn’t intended for commercial use. Unless you regularly helicopter to mountaintops to check your email, anyway. The biggest clue, apart from its appearance? Durabook won’t tell you upfront how much one of them costs. Instead, the company will send you a quote if you’re sufficiently interested in owning one. Just think what the nerds in the coffee shop will do if you slam this thing onto a…

Several countries, China and South Korea in particular, have made massive bets on the future of humanoid robots. The current leader, China, if you were curious, looks to be scaling back those ambitions in the near term. That doesn’t mean that development is slowing down. Humanoid robots are still popping up everywhere from everyone. But Reuters reports that the China Securities Regulatory Commission is slowing companies in that country from heading to their initial public offering (IPO). Considering what happened after the euphoria of Unitree’s recent IPO, that’s probably not surprising. Unitree falls in the woods Unitree has a genuinely…

Apple Music might be the other other audio streaming service, but none of those others has their own dedicated music hall, do they? The Apple Music Hall, “a brand-new state-of-the-art live music venue,” was just opened in London. Which might be a sign that Apple has too much money lying around. Or perhaps it’s good business sense. The 600-seat facility is set up for artists to record directly in the company’s Spatial Audio format. That means more content on the platform that works with Apple’s audio hardware. Apple Music Hall-in According to Apple, the facility was designed “to close the…

Gamers are no strangers to odd game controllers, but the upcoming Xerdeck Kickstarter has a very specific peripheral in mind. The Australian company behind the campaign intends to turn Bluetooth-enabled treadmills and exercise bikes into controllers. Of a sort. The product, an interface between a game console, PC, or VR headset, is “an exercise platform which turns your treadmill or indoor bike into a powerful programmable game controller,” according to creators Lava Software. In practice, it’s a way to walk through either custom-built or open-world digital environments without leaving your home. Top Xerdeck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIg0jTD48es According to the company, “Xerdeck is…

The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and the Cars4Mars initiative have announced the winners of the Cars4Mars African Rover Challenge. The challenge, in case it’s not obvious, saw African students from around the continent building Mars exploration rover prototypes. The final was held at a place called the Mars Yard, part of a SANSA facility in Hartebeeshoek in Gauteng. Eighteen teams from around Africa, comprising 120 students, participated in the final test that examined traversal capability and autonomous operation — two key factors in a functional Mars rover. Cars4Mars for Africa The Mars Yard obstacle course tested participating robotic…

Huawei is expected, before the end of this month, to make its Mate 90 series official at a Chinese event. Before that takes place — the most likely announcement date is now 29 September — the company has something else planned. Set for 28 September, we should see a car take the stage alongside Huawei executives. That doesn’t mean the Chinese brand has started manufacturing. Certainly not in the way its rival Xiaomi has. The vehicle in question is the Luxeed RX, a collaborative effort between Chery’s luxury arm and the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA). Huawei plants a Luxeed…