Home//Stuff Magazine South Africa/July/August 2016/In This Issue
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016WELCOME“Mo money, mo problems”, argued Mr Smalls. A more accurate, contemporary version might be “mo cards, mo problems”. The modern wallet is a nightmare of cheque, credit, loyalty and gift cards, vouchers and coupons, and receipts for things you probably can’t return anyway or for expense claims you’ll probably never get around to filing – and that’s before you’ve put any actual cash in the thing.Those businesses that straddle the divide between finance and technology, appropriately dubbed “fintech” companies, want to help (and turn a profit in the process). From consolidating cards, enabling mobile payments and international remittances, and helping us understand our spending habits (and hopefully change them), to alternate, digital currencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin, or smart-contract systems like Ethereum, the world of money is changing rapidly and…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016SHOOTS AND TRACKS YOUR HOOTS AND STACKSza.olympus-mea.comThis roughty-toughty 4K cam has activity tracking as well as ultra-crispy shooting powers•It’s got a laser!It hasn’t got a laser. But it’s got an LED that looks like it might be a laser, and along with its brutalist aesthetic – familiar to users of Olympus’s stills cams – the TG-Tracker looks every bit the action camcorder. It’s got a more ‘trad’ form than a GoPro, being roughly rectangular with the lens on the end, but it adds up to about the same volume.•It’s got a screen!Many things have sceens. But this chunky green monster has a foldout 1.5in/3.8cm 115k-dot LCD like a grown-up camera. How’s that going to work with a waterproof case, you might cry. Well, dry your eyes, for the TG-Tracker is 30m water/shock/freeze/crushproof without any extra casing.…3 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016?WTF IS HOVR?Those are some low-tech scales.What? Oh, you mean the SORTR? Here’s what happens: all across the land, people are engaged in arguments. Cat versus dog, cake versus biscuit, yesterday versus tomorrow – the kind of discussion that bounces endlessly around saloons and salons and salles de bains. Resolution is rarely reached. Until now. An IFTTT routine on your smartphone picks up on heated debate and automatically alerts the SORTR service. Moments later, a greased chap on an electric scooter turns up with this, which balances out the argument… in real time!So the heavier thing wins, then.Ha! Does it now, Sir Isaac? You’ve fallen into the causation-versus-correlation trap! Just like that shirt, you’re inventing a trend where no trend exists. Anyway, the results can be unexpected. The cat often out-psyches the…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016APPS1 Comixology Unlimited$5.99/month / iOS, AndroidNo Marvel or DC – they have their own apps – but Comixology still has a huge comics library –Walking Dead, Saga, Hellboy, etc – and now it has a subscription option. Um, in the US. Yes, we’ll let you know.2 Strava PremiumR120/month / iOS, AndroidStrava’s just further gamified your commute by adding Live Segments to its mobile apps, a feature only previously on Garmin devices. You’ll see an animation of you versus your PB and the segment leader.3 Rawr MessagingFree / iOSGood luck trying to convince your social network to switch apps, but if they do, you’ll be faced with the ‘fun’ of customisable avatars that can be animated with the use of hashtags, such as #dance.4 Infuse 4.2Free / iOS, Apple TVOnce you…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016START MENUKICK-STARTERYoung geeks are the new movers and shakers TECHNOLOGY WILL SAVE US MOVER KITCoding kits for kids are great, but you don’t want your little ones sitting around in front of the PC. You want them lolloping about outside, bioconverting sugary treats into an all-night sleep. King of kits Technology Will Save Us gets you. Its latest project is this snap-together wearable for kids. The Mover has LED lights, sensors and a brain, all of which can be activated in various ways using the PC-based Make program, while your little Poindexter can make his or her own apps from scratch. from $45 /techwillsaveus.comKICK-STARTERTorqueing about a revolution GEOORBITAL WHEELIt’s the dream of every cyclist slogging into a headwind: just pop out the front wheel and install this self-contained 500W, 32km/h motor…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016WTF IS BOx?Erk. That looks like the tool of a hideously stylish dentist.It does. You’ll notice that, in a dentist’s lair, the only tools on show are the dainty, picky ones. Not anything that suggests leverage. Certainly not the thing that attaches your wobbler to the door handle. But, shudder ye not, odontophobics! This Swiss Kickstarter project is nothing to do with teeth, except for the facilitating of the passing of beer over them. It’s a bottle opener.Phew. And, yay!But not just any old bottle opener, of course. Bottle Opener X (BOx) has hidden innards including… wait for it… an AAA battery! Weird, eh? It’s connected to a circuit board, upon which such Wi-Fi wizardry is activated as to sync your bottle-opening activity with an app on your smartphone. For why? Why,…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016DECIPHER#11 BOTSEssentially, bots are artificially intelligent respondents that you can hold a conversation with – but in the case of the latest crop, most of them are not there just to amuse you. Bots are built to help you accomplish tasks – ordering food, booking airline tickets, choosing clothes – in a very natural, conversational manner. Buying flowers was the example shown by Facebook at its recent F8 summit. Using Messenger chat you can pick a bouquet, customise the message and have it charged to your account. That’s not anything that you couldn’t do on a website or app, or by calling up a real person – but bots can do some things faster, and at minimal expense to the site or service running the bot. That’s a win-win situation…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016NO WALLET REQUIREDSnapScanAndroid, iOS, BlackBerry 10If this is the first time you’re hearing (well, reading) about SnapScan we can only assume you survived a shipwreck a few years ago and have only recently been retrieved from the island to which you managed to swim (and where you learnt to perform your own dentistry with an ice skate). Welcome back! You know those square, barcode like things you thought were bad tattoo ideas? They’re called QR codes. SnapScan makes it possible to scan one and make a payment from a linked credit or debit card. Plus, SnapBeacons use Bluetooth to let your phone recognise when you’re in range of a SnapScan merchant so you can pay without even bothering with that step. Over 28 000 restaurants, shops, vendors, charities, flea market wolf T-shirt…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016THE FUTURE OF FINTECHCard collectorsWhen we say we’d like a lighter wallet we don’t mean we want to be broke, we mean we’d like to get rid of the glut of bank, loyalty and gift cards that deform our wallets and make us feel lopsided when we sit down with them in a back pocket. A number of companies (Coin, Gyft, Plastc, Swyp and Wocket, to name a handful) have created all-in-one cards that amalgamate your card collection into a single, sometimes digital, card. The problem, though, is many of the international solutions rely on a magnetic stripe alone, and that doesn’t cut it here in South Africa where chip-and-pin cards have become the standard. The other problem is they don’t do away with cards entirely – which would be first prize. These…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016SNAP UP A CAMERA UPGRADE•HipstamaticOriginally a resolutely old-school app, Hipstamatic was all about virtual film and lenses, its interface even aping a point-and-click camera. You can now opt for a modern design with a raft of controls. Either way, this app is superb if you want the convenience of a smartphone combined with the character of ‘real’ photography.Stuff saysR60 / iOS•VSCOIf your camera app must come with a side order of social network, chances are Instagram will come to mind first. VSCO, though, is a much better camera, providing more advanced controls and some decent editing tools. The interface feels a bit arty and opaque, but once immersed you’ll find it great for snapping and sharing.Stuff saysFree / Android, iOS•GeometriCamIf you feel reality’s a bit boring, even when swathed in filters, GeometriCam can convert…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Pink-remental gainsfrom R25 400 / myistore.co.zaLast year Apple reinvented the laptop with the 12-inch MacBook. Despite its infuriating lack of ports, it was pretty darned brilliant.The most important change to this year’s MacBook can be summed up in one word: pink. Apple now makes a MacBook in rose gold.We think this must be the only pink laptop we’d be happy to own. Like the iPhone and iPad rose gold, it’s a subtle pink, not the day-glo shade that might earn disgusted looks on the Gautrain.It almost seems pointless to tell you about how well made the MacBook is. As we’ve said in nearly every review since MacBooks began, it’s a lovely all-aluminium thing. One day there’ll probably be one of these propped up in the Design Museum next to a Philippe…3 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Oasis: What’s the story?from R8 000 / takealot.com• Sasquatch, Godzilla, zombies… they’re all about as terrifying as the Kindle Oasis’s price tag. Get the Wi-Fi/3G version and it’ll set you back a monstrous R9 000. The Wi-Fi-only version isn’t much cheaper at R8 000, which is still a lot for something that shows your ebooks and graphic novels in black and white. Especially given the Kindle Paperwhite costs R2 800.• But let’s assume that you love to read. We don’t mean you roll deep with Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, just that you devour a tome a week. Then the Oasis is the best e-reader you can buy.• Its superiority revolves almost exclusively around its design. For something made of plastic polymer, the Oasis feel deluxe in the hand. The slight ridge on its back…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Tesla’s techie toys•Wings of desireThe falcon-wing doors may seem impractical at first, but extra hinges just above the windows allow the doors to be opened electrically with just 30cm of space. The tailgate also opens electrically.•Car in a carJoining the big screen is a smaller unit where you’d expect the dials to live. This has an animated Model X showing what the sensors are picking up, your speed, battery life and sat-nav instructions.•Must dashA huge 17in/43cm touchscreen in portrait orientation dominates the dashboard and controls your driving experience. So no physical controls for music, GPS, climate control or suspension settings.•Stop and steerThen there’s Autopilot – the closest you can get to autonomous driving from a production car. If road markings are clear, it’ll accelerate, brake and even change lane. But you need…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Megapixel megalomaniac•Zippy zoomWith a 23MP sensor, the Xperia X is higher-res than almost everything else out there, and Sony boasts this is its “fastest phone yet”. It certainly has none of the Z5’s shutter lag problems.•Selfie-indulgentMost phones have fixed-focus selfie-snappers of around 5MP resolution, but the Xperia X has a 13MP front camera with autofocus. So in the right conditions it can easily outdo the Galaxy S7.•Light and shadeThe Xperia X seems to be snapping right as you tap the shutter button when lighting’s plentiful; not so at night, which is when the sharpness also tends to suffer at the edge of the frame.•For 4K’s sakeSony has chopped 4K video out of this phone, presumably because of complaints about the previous model overheating. Despite that setback, this a very tidy camera…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Go faster strapRtba / withings.com• Forget heart-rate tracking and fat-burning zones – the Go is all about simplicity. You get basic step and sleep tracking in a super-simple wearable that’s barely bigger than a R5 coin.• It clips onto your clothes, your shoes or your keys, or you can wear it on your wrist like a watch. No need to slip it off to hop in the shower either – it’s waterproof down to 50m, so you can even hit the pool or open water.• The steps you clock up fill the E Ink screen, with a smartphone companion app working out distance and calories burned. It automatically throws in duration, start time and distance when it thinks you’re running or swimming. Sleep tracking is a more basic affair, working out when…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Catalyst Mirror’s Edge:Once again, we slip into the red sneakers of Faith, a free-running freedom fighter from the totalitarian City of Glass. And this time EA has fleshed out one of gaming’s few female protagonists. There’s only a nine-hour story to cram it into, but Faith comes alive over that time.Each of the game’s five districts, from the spectacular Anchor to the subtle, golden Downtown, has its own aesthetic that you’ll want to charge right into. And while Catalyst has a linear story, you’ll find side missions including timed dashes, billboard hacks (like futuristic graffiti) and package deliveries. Because, hey, there might be a huge conspiracy to unravel, but you still have a day job.Catalyst manages to stop these diversions from feeling like pointless fluff by giving you insights into how ordinary…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016CLOCK AND ROLL1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016BETA YOURSELF GARAGEBANDTHE BASICS•Embrace loops. On OS X and iOS, GarageBand has a loop browser, enabling you to create songs by drag and drop. This is great for building confidence in songwriting. Using the occasional loop can also add texture to custom compositions.•Use Smart Instruments. Ignore those who balk at the idea of automated accompaniment. Smart Instruments in GarageBand for iOS are an excellent way to learn how to construct chord progressions, and also a speedy means of fashioning a custom backing track to jam along to.•Learn to play. In the ‘New Project’ dialogue on OS X, click ‘Learn to Play’ for playalong intro vids for guitar and piano. Lesson Store has free full courses and R90 tutorials where artists teach you how to play their tracks.•Tap dance. Live Loops are handy…3 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016PLAYLIST SCI-FI EBOOKSDown StationSimon MordenWith a similar beginning to Philip José Farmer’s To Your Scattered Bodies Go, a bunch of Tube workers run from a huge fire and find an underground door leading to a sunlit beach. They pass through, and the door disappears. What follows is magical, violent and thrilling.R200Under the SkinMichel FaberEven if you’ve seen Scarlett Johansson’s turn as an alien predator in the 2013 film, it’s well worth devouring the chilling novel it’s adapted from. More slow-burning than the movie, it’s an oddly compelling thriller that’s probably best not combined with a Sunday braai…R115Ancillary Justice/Sword/MercyAnn LeckieAmbitious and wildly inventive, this trilogy is essential reading for fans of military sci-fi. It follows a sentient spaceship with a hive mind capable of controlling hundreds of once- human ‘ancillaries’. That is, until…3 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016DIGITAL DISTRACTORSBEST FOR PRE-SCHOOLERSSago Mini FriendsOut of all the Sago apps, this one’s particularly good. You choose a character and scoot about a neighbourhood. The mini-games are simple enough for most — fix a birdhouse; play dress-up; eat some snacks — and they cunningly promote empathy and sharing.Free / iOS, AndroidBEST FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLERSToca BlocksMinecraft is great, but it’s slightly intimidating for the younger end of the gaming spectrum. Toca Blocks offers a creative sandbox within which kids can let their imaginations run wild. It’s also all about digging and building, but as it’s all in 2D it’s a lot easier for kids to visualise.R25 / iOS, AndroidFOR BIGGER KIDSLove You To BitsA point-and-click adventure reimagined for touchscreens: Kosmo must search for his robot girlfriend’s components, which have been scattered throughout…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 20165-MINUTE HACKS IF NOTHING ELSE, AT LEAST...1 ...BECOME A SPOTIFY COMPLETISTWant all your old CDs, iTunes downloads and Napster playlists filed neatly next to your Spotify Discover Weeklies? Here’s how to bring it all under one musical roof:Scan your CDs. To save typing in the names of all of your old albums, use CD Scanner For Spotify (R40, iOS). Scan the case’s barcode and, as long as it’s in Spotify’s library, the album will appear in your account.Import from iTunes. To make sure all those old iTunes downloads are in your Spotify library, click on ‘local files’ under ‘your music’ and drag the tracks into ‘songs’Combine your playlists. Got some playlists marooned on the likes of Deezer or Tidal? Soundiiz (soundiiz.com) will convert them to Spotify playlists for you.2 ...GET FREE APPLE MUSICWell, six months of…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016OUR MONTHI BOUGHT TODAY’S TECH USING TOMORROW’I’ve been playing with WeChat, the clever app that’s so often mistaken for a competitor to WhatsApp. The flagship app from Chinese messaging giant Tencent is so much more than that. It’s offered features like in-app voice- and video-calling for years. Most of its rivals still don’t. The newest functionality is the WeChat Wallet, which is so impressive we’ve used it to make this magazine a buying catalogue. You’ll see pages throughout the mag that let you buy right off the pages (at a discount, no less). It’s the future, and we’re giving you a taste of it.Toby Shapshak, Publisher and Editor-in-chiefI FELL IN LOVE WITH MY PHONE AGAINAfter one too many drops my iPhone 5 finally called it quits. I loved the form factor,…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016TAKE IT LIKE A POLAROID PICTUREimpossible-project.comAS WITH POLAROID CAMERAS OF YORE, THE FILM PRICE QUICKLY ADDS UPNothing says ‘I was born in the wrong era’ like a Polaroid camera. But this one is not all analogue…•This is a firstAs in, it’s the first Polaroid-style ‘instant’ format camera to be launched in over 20 years. There are plenty of existing Polaroid cameras still in the world, all of which owe their continuing functionality to the Impossible Project, which rescued the original manufacturing machines from a Dutch crusher and began marketing the film cartridges to enthusiasts. But now, Impossible is realising its dream by releasing an entirely new camera.•Analogue… and yet digitalThe basic shape of the I-1 will be familiar to anyone who has ever seen an old Polaroid camera, even if the matt black finish and…3 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016DECIPHER ALLOW US TO EXPLAIN…#12 TWITTER RULE CHANGESTwitter was built for quick, bite-sized missives. But even so, that space can feel awfully crowded sometimes.Add in usernames of friends or attach images, video links or polls and your precious 140-character count might actually be more like half that. Luckily, changes are coming that will give you more room without dramatically changing Twitter’s unique approach. The social media giant has announced that certain elements will no longer take away from your character count, including other users’ names, photo and video attachments, polls, gifs, and quoted tweets from others. So you’ll be able to go nuts with media and still have 140 characters for text. Other upcoming changes include no longer having to put a period before someone’s name in a reply to let it be widely…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016ON THE HORIZONSimultaneous live streaming of global sporting events – that’s all sorted, yes?Nope. Turns out that, despite high-profile services such as the WWE’s wrestling app and Red Bull TV, the server demands for delivering content to a worldwide crowd are both (a) tricky and (b) expensive. Enter, stage left, BitTorrent, aka the Queen of Streams*, which has launched a platform for hosting live event streaming. It’s a peer-to-peer system (as you’d expect), making the viewer double as the broadcaster, removing the need for the aforementioned expensive content delivery infrastructure and slamming broadcast lag times while it’s at it. It’ll be launching on Apple TV soon, with Android and iOS apps to follow. Now BitTorrent just needs to sign up a few big-name broadcasters.*No-one has ever called them that.…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016BEST OF ANALOGUE WATCHESCitizen Eco-Drive OneYour hero is the Jack Russell, born for the chase and ever willing to throw itself into the tightest gap. Confident in your judgement of the available space, you flit and twist through rush-hour pavement traffic to arrive at work on time. Valuable seconds could be lost to the tangle of a bag strap, so your clothes and accessories are slim and figure-hugging. Like this watch, curved to fit snug your wrist and measuring just 2.98mm thick – with a solar-powered Eco-Drive movement.Rtba / citizenwatches.co.zaMontblanc TimeWalker Pythagore Ultra-Light ConceptYou have a tattoo of a hummingbird on your biceps. Power-to-weight ratio is way more important to you than strength. Which is why you desire this Montblanc concept, which weighs just 14.88g. It achieves this through the use of titanium…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016GAMESFIRST LOOK CALL OF DUTY: INFINITE WARFARE PS4, Xbox One, PCCall Of Duty: Infinite Warfare is shaping up to boldly go where no COD game has gone before: outer space.With Earth stripped of its natural resources and reliant on off-world colonies for survival, it’s going to be a bad day in the office when the Settlement Defense Front decides to send bombs and bullets instead of the usual care packages.Leading the fightback, you’ll be in control of Tier One Special Operations pilot Captain Reyes, with combat shifting from ground to space with “few visible loading times” – though you shouldn’t expect No Man’s Sky levels of exploration.Naturally, Call Of Duty’ competitive multiplayer mode will be making a return too; but with Destiny, The Division and upcoming mech stomp-a-thon Titanfall 2…6 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016MANAGING YOUR MOOLAH22seveniOS, Android, onlineBased in Cape Town, 22seven is a local success story that’s gone from cheeky start-up to thriving business in a few short years. Originally a subscription service, Old Mutual snapped it up, dropped the monthly fee and helped position 22seven as the go-to PFM app for savvy spenders and savers. Plug in details for your banking, retirement fund, investments and any debts like car payments or home loan information and the app will show you how much you have, and how much you owe. But that’s just the start. It’ll tag expenses, and let you tag the ones it can’t figure out, to provide in-depth data about your financial habits. It’s a complete look at your financial situation in one place. The interface is slick, the suggestions are…3 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016DIGITAL DOSHDOGECOIN (DOGE)You’ve probably seen the doge meme on the internet. You know, the one with a Japanese dog breed called the Shiba Inu, usually covered in phrases like “such wow” and “much amaze” written in that bane of the typographic world, Comic Sans? Yeah, that one. Well, it turns out doge also inspired someone to create a cryptocurrency bearing its name. Dogecoins aren’t going to be limited to a fixed number like Bitcoin and aren’t quite as readily accepted. By and large, Dogecoins are used by geeky sorts to digitally tip one another on the internet for producing quality content. Dogecoins are also used to raise money for causes the Dogecoin community deems worthy of its attention, like paying for the Jamaican bobsled team to go to the Sochi Winter…4 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Twist and shoutR3 300 / 3dr.co.za• Plug in Samsung’s SmartCam PT (pan/tilt), connect it to your Wi-Fi network with the SmartCam app for Android or iOS in minutes flat, and you’re ready to remotely monitor your home, office, holiday home, bank vault, yacht’s interior or anything else that’s sheltered from the elements (and has a plug point in range).• An integrated speaker and microphone allow for live or recorded audio and two-way comms, while motion detection and night vision (via an infrared LED) notify you whenever the camera detects a bump in the night (or day). You can also set up to three motion-detection zones, so the cat moving about doesn’t set off an alert, but does if it climbs the curtains.• Rotate or tilt the camera right from the SmartCam app.…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Make 9 a doublefrom R12 000 / huawei.com/zaBeing first matters. It gets your name in the history books and provides supremo bragging rights. Huawei likes being first.The P9 is the first phone to feature a dual-camera setup where one of the cameras is monochrome and the other is colour. It’s easily one of the most interesting smartphone cameras we’ve seen recently, as it offers something genuinely new.Yes, we’ve seen dual-camera setups before in phones such as the HTC One M8, but instead of having one normal camera and a weaker second one that gathers depth data, here you get two high-quality 12MP Sony sensors, each with an f/2.2 lens – and the twist is that one of the sensors is monochrome. Sure, the P9 can take arty black and white shots, but its…3 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Upgrade-itis?•Chips inThis generation uses a Skylake Core M processor, which is faster and more efficient. But we don’t think you’re going to notice all that much of a difference; performance is about 10% better this time.•Gamer-gateIt’s not great for gaming, though. The Intel HD 515 is marginally snappier than last year, but it’s still going to be the last team member picked. It’s outclassed by MacBook Airs and 13in Pros.•Rev the engineThe SSD and 8GB RAM have a big hand in the overall speed. Where the old MacBook storage revs up to 500MB/s, this one writes at 650MB/s and reads at 850MB/s. It’s a joy to use.•Shiny, happy laptopAs a roving work machine to use everywhere, we’d rather take this than an iPad Pro, a Microsoft Surface Book or a…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Clean, lean, green machinefrom R427 200 / toyota.co.za• To some, the Prius is the epitome of socially conscious and innovative motoring. To others, it’s the four-wheeled equivalent of doing your tax return. Toyota wants us to believe the Prius isn’t only for short-shower-taking, kale-eating, free-range egg-buying soccer moms with money to spare. Hence the updated face – now full of triangles and points, like some sort of rotund, origami cat – and new glossy white plastic-laden interior. But what about the drive?• Put your foot down and the Prius leaps into action, albeit quietly, with imperceptible gear changes as the digital speedometer, centred in a long, thin display above the dashboard, climbs. Road noise is amazingly low and the ride is so comfortable you’d think you were in a much larger, far more…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Clash of the dash: Apple vs AndroidApple CarPlaySpeak upTo activate Siri voice control for dictating messages or making calls on the move, just press and hold this white button. Eyes on the road!Cast offYou can’t re-order the apps, so Apple’s Podcasts, for example, will always appear on the first page, while your favourite could be relegated to the third.It should come as no surprise that Apple’s gone with a grid of square icons for its in-car homescreen, given that this has been the stylistic approach of its screens since the first iPhone in 2007. Irritatingly, though, you can’t re-order the apps to put your favourite ones first.With just eight icons on each ‘page’, prodding the one you’re after is mighty simple even when doing 120km/h on the N1 (should the N1 ever clear up enough to…5 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016One-inch punchR14 000 / panasonic.com/za• If you’re off on your holidays, the Panasonic TZ110 might be your ideal companion. With a big 1in/2.5cm sensor, 10x optical zoom, RAW shooting and 4K video capabilities plus an electronic viewfinder all squeezed into a point-and-shoot body, this superzoom snapper is designed with portability and performance in mind.• The TZ110 is a thoughtfully constructed and well-designed camera. The body is smooth metal, but the lens barrel and small grip on the right side give you plenty of purchase. There’s a lot of customisability with the controls and you’d barely notice it hanging around your neck.• The rear panel is dominated by a 3in/7.6cm touchscreen. There’s also that electronic viewfinder, which is activated when you hold the camera up to your eye: great not only for…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Turn around, bright eyesRtba / lg.com/za• One of the ‘LG Friends’ peripherals to accompany the LG G5 smartphone, the 360 Cam creates 360° photos and videos using two 13MP wide-angle cameras facing in opposite directions. Each captures an image wider than 180°, which the software meshes together to create an all-round picture.• The 360 Cam is nicely compact, very light, and when not in use it can be slid into a hard case to keep its lens free from scratches and dirt. The case also doubles as a sort of tripod – if you flip it and stand it on a flat surface, you can insert the 360 Cam the other way around.• There is a standard tripod mount on the bottom, and a hatch that flips up to reveal a USB-C port…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Running with the packIf you want to test your competitive edge in Catalyst, as with most games, it’s time to fire up multiplayer. Unlike most other games, though, instead of featuring a live mode Catalyst hands you a Social Play system with two elements that can impact on other players’ game worlds: Beat LE and Time Trials.To break down Catalyst’ terminology: ‘The Beat’ is the system runners use to communicate in the City of Glass. Each Beat Location Emitter (Beat LE) allows players to mark a location in the city for other players to reach. It’s a great way to highlight interesting sights or secret locations you might not have found alone.Time Trials, as the name suggests, let players create timed runs almost anywhere in the game world and then push them to…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Caperitif the (very) friendly ghostAper what now?Take a wine, add some flora for flavour and colour, and you’ve got an aperitif or “aromatised wine”. Think of it as a boozy take on tea, but you don't usually drink it neat, you mix it with other things. Vermouth and quinquina are examples you’ve probably encountered, and possibly mistakenly imbibed at four in the morning at a house party where the beer’s run out, only to pull the sort of face Trump makes when you mention immigrants.So what’s this “Caperitif”, then?Inspired by European vermouths, Caperitif used local ingredients for its distinctive flavour, and became a staple in South African bars and co*cktail books of the early 20th century. Around 1910 it vanished when the company that made it closed shop. Fast forward almost a 100 years…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016LEVEL UP WITH...APOGEE JAMfrom R2 120 /mercurymusic.co.zaThe JAM is a plug-and-play system to connect electric guitars and basses to a Mac or iOS device. The original is studio-quality (make sure you get a Lightning cable in the box) but, for an extra cost, the JAM 96k further ramps up the quality in terms of build and recording resolution.CME XKEYR2 000 / cme-pro.comAlthough you can tap on your Mac’s keyboard or iPad’s screen to trigger sounds, a MIDI keyboard’s better. The Xkey is small, light, responsive and portable, even if the short key travel initially feels a little strange. For iOS, you’ll also need Apple’s misleadingly named Lightning to USB Camera Adapter (R600).SPARK DIGITALR3 650 / audiobuy.co.zaThis dinky microphone ably deals with vocals and acoustic instrument recordings, and has connectors for iOS (Lightning)…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016SCI-FI EVOLVED: THE SUB-GENRE CLASSICSCYBERPUNKNeuromancerThe original cyberpunk novel has it all: a hacker hero, a Tokyo-esque city, sinister corporations and AI. It also coined the word ‘cyberspace’, aptly describing it as a “consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions”.PSYCHOLOGICALThe Drowned WorldJG BallardSet in the year 2145 in a post-apocalyptic London, this classic describes a world where the ice caps have melted and Nature is taking back the planet. As their environment changes, human minds regress to a primal state.SPACE OPERAConsider PhlebasIain M BanksEpic, emotional and overblown: that’s space opera. And Star Wars isn’t the only galactic tussle you should dive into. The first of Banks’Culture novels sees a mercenary hunt a rogue AI that’s protected by a god-like alien.APOCALYPTICCat’s CradleKurt VonnegutIn this classic, fatalistic satire about the shortcomings of modern man, a scientist figures out…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016MAIL OF THE MONTHIS THERE AN ECHO IN HERE?Q I was looking for a way to make my life easier and stumbled upon the Amazon Echo so I set my mind on buying one. But last month Google premiered their Google Home, bringing me to this dilemma of which one to chose. I want a Bluetooth speaker and voice-enabled capabilities to tell me reminders, answer my questions, turn my lights on/off and stream music. But I know that the Google Home is not released yet. Should I wait? I am traveling to the U.S later this year so finding one in S.A will not be a problem. Which device do you think is better?GerardA At the moment the decision is pretty easy. As the Amazon Echo is actually available to buy it's the…4 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016OCEAN UFOSXanthglarb’s crashed his spaceship again. Typical…There’s no denying that this thing looks exactly like a flying saucer stranded at sea. The very shape of it screams UFO, which is why creator Jet Capsule decided to call it the Unidentified Floating Object. We can, however, assure you that this Saturn-like structure is strictly limited to the safe(ish) salty waters of planet Earth, and any resemblance to a giant R2-D2 going for swim while wearing an outsize collar is just a byproduct of your overstimulated imagination.So… what is it?It’s a house, silly. Well, think of it as a kind of futuristic houseboat, designed with freedom and autonomy in mind. Featuring a two-storey interior complete with windowed underwater level for viewing all the wonders of the deep in safety, each UFO capsule is…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016HOT STUFFENTER ALEXA , RIGHT ON CUEWith question marks over functionality , Pebble announced the Core would work with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. Handy .SHOULD WE WAIT, A ROUND ?Delivery times are quoted as Sept (Pebble 2), Nov (Time 2) and Jan 2017 (Core). But will Pebble add a round version , as with the original Time launch …HOT FIVE #1TREBLE PEBBLE, YOUR WATCH IS A SUCCESS PEBBLE 2, TIME 2, COREThe Kickstarter ticker machine hassurvived another Pebble-fuelledonslaught. Two new watches and a newstandalone fitness device formed a singlecampaign that skyrocketed to over$10m in just a few days. Both the plastic,monochrome-screen Pebble 2 and themetal, colour-screen Pebble Time 2 haveoptical heart-rate sensors, but thecompany’s realised that fitness trackingis at the forefront of wearable buyers’minds and so the Core has the thing…5 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016ICON MOONIN ITS ‘LIVE’ MODE, THE MODEL TAKES OVER 29 AND A HALF DAYS TO FULLY ROTATEUh-oh, get out your The Sky At Night badge.Fine words from someone who spends so much free time staring gormlessly at the fantasy worlds of Game Of Thrones. You could at least be contemplating the very real, super-fantastical landscapes of our own planet and its solar system. And anyway, how nice to finally be able to silence those cries that you want the Moon on a stick. “I already have the Moon on a stick,” you can reply, “so how about you get on with what I want from you?” Zing!You will surely never wield that much power.Nor do we want it. All we need is enough reward for our humble activities to be able…3 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016GIGA PIXELUSE THE FORCE (AND THE SCROLL WHEEL)If you like a film, you buy it on DVD. If you really like it, you watch it with the director’s commentary. If you really, really like it you read the original scripts. But when ‘like’ turns to ‘love’, that’s when you turn that script into a 123-metre top-down infographic, featuring every scene and every line. That, it seems, was the only way Swiss artist and Star Wars fan Martin Panchaud could calm his thumping heart. You can scroll (and scroll) through the whole glorious love-letter at swanh.net… and you really should. It’s a marvel.NEWS FEEDXBOX VR?By the time you’re reading this, we’ll know whether Sony launched a 4K PS4 at the E3 gaming show. But a new rumour, at the time wewere reading…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016MSI BACKPACK PCVR HEADSETS HAVE HEFTY CABLES › GET RID AND WEAR THIS PC ON YOUR BACKThat is an odd-shaped PC.That’s because humans do not, on the whole, have PC-shaped backs. Look closely and you’ll see that this PC has straps. The Department of Education may decide that children no longer need carry schoolbooks, so they might as well carry their computers around on their backs.Where does their lunchbox go?Junior-sized fishing gilets with serving-compartmentalised pocketry. Hmm, let’s end that fictional child-based scenario and come back to the truth, because the ‘angling vest’ idea is actually pretty solid for the real use of the MSI Backpack PC – freedom of movement in VR.Why do I need to move? I’m in a virtual reality.Because cables. The headsets for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Switch, twitch, or ditch“Switch”. Perhaps the most annoying marketing phrase of our lifetime. Nowadays, everyone wants you to “switch”. Switch bank. Switch supermarket. Switch insurer, cellphone provider, doctor. Everything must switch. FNB did a devastatingly good job with that word. I was at a radio conference a few years back and we were talking advertising campaigns. Turns out, a year after FNB launched the “Steve” campaign and told everyone they would help them “switch”, new credit card applications were up 1 400%. That’s insane. On top of it, FNB rolled out access to tablets and phones, the Slow Lounges, eBucks on fuel and I forget what else. It was real innovation in South Africa’s banking sector. And it worked. In the future though, banks are going to have to work much harder.In the…7 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016LIKE A WAIT? IT’S A CAMERA WITH NO LCD SCREENWith characteristic savoir faire, Leica has launched a digital camera that has something missing•No screen, no stressIn Leica’s words, taking the screen off the back helps the M-D user “focus on the absolute essentials of photography”. Namely: aperture, distance, sensitivity and shutter speed. And composition, obviously. There’s no live view, no digital setting screens to muck around with, and no knowing whether you got the picture you actually wanted until you get home and physically swap the SD card into your PC. Even then, because the M-D only shoots in RAW, you’ll have to go into your virtual darkroom and ‘process’ the pictures before you can think about doing something hideous like posting them on Instagram.•What do you get?A selection of beautifully engineered dials to twiddle. There’s a prominent ISO…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016MAKING MONEY MOBILEWeChat WalletAndroid, iOSInstant messaging might be one of the few things most people like more than money. So why not combine the two in a single app? WeChat’s done just that. Powered by Standard Bank, WeChat Wallet lets its users transfer money from one WeChat Wallet to another for free, pay for things anywhere SnapScan (see p48) is accepted, and buy prepaid airtime or electricity. Users put money into their Wallet using a bank card or via a transfer from another user, and can get it out from supported retailers like Spar stores, or via Standard Bank’s ATMs. Its advantage over rivals? You don’t have to bank with Standard Bank to use the service. And you can send money to any WeChat contact with a Wallet of their own in…4 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016MAKING RANDS MAKE SENSEEasyEquitiesInvestment is something done by people who are eventually portrayed by Michael Douglas or Leo di Caprio in films, right? Okay, maybe you shouldn’t go full Wolf of Wall Street, because that guy went to jail. Don’t worry, EasyEquities is totally above board. It’s a service that uses something called “fractional investing” to give everyone a chance to invest. In other words, you can buy into a R1 000/share company without buying a whole share. You can even encourage friends with vouchers, or be good to future you by opening a tax-free investment account through the wholly online service. But it’s the fractional investing that’s the highlight – there are no minimum investment amounts and no monthly costs involved. Pick your favourite companies by clicking on their logos, decide how…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016App:rovedFOR KEYBOARD WARRIORS•Moog Model 15The price tag of this synth is a bit rich, but it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than the recent $10 000 Model 15 hardware reissue. And for your 500 bucks, you get something that sounds just like the real thing (as in amazing), works in much the same way (so many patch leads!), but takes full advantage of digital. So there are presets aplenty, inter-app connectivity, and several virtual controllers. In short, it’s superb — the best standalone iOS synth bar none.Stuff saysR580 / iOSFOR PRIVATE PIRATES•Opera VPNIf you’re frustrated at being in the wrong country to view certain online content (or, worse, are stuck somewhere that blocks pretty much the entire internet), you’ll need a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Most cost money but…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Time to backtrack…•Shoots and scoresAs long as you don’t put it into any intensely challenging conditions, the P9’s shots are very punchy. There is a bit of shutter lag in poor lighting but this is a fast, responsive camera.•Background blurThe aperture simulation is a pleasant surprise. We’ve often called this mode a worthless gimmick, but the P9’s wide-aperture photography can make even the most mundane subject look arty.•DSLR-styleHuawei has redesigned its app to simplify access to the extra modes. Just flick out from the shutter button and an array of controls pops out, letting you change shutter speed, white balance and more.•Selfie importanceThis Huawei can’t shoot video at 4K, maxing out at 1080p @ 60fps. Still, the selfie camera, which has an 8MP sensor, is more than good enough, dealing with indoor…1 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Cheap, not cheerfulThis super-cheap lens-swapper is aimed squarely at smartphone-savvy Instagram addicts looking to level upR4 700 (body only) / canon.co.zaTech specsSensor 18MP APS-C CMOSProcessor DIGIC 4+ISO range 100-6400 (12,800 in extended mode)Display 3in/7.6cm TFT, 920K-dotsViewfinder Pentamirror, 0.8x magnificationAF points 9Video 1080p @ 30fpsConnectivity Wi-Fi, NFCBuilt-in flash? YesDimensions 129x101x78mm, 485gDAY 01Can a DSLR ever replace a phone’s camera for sheer immediacy? Canon thinks so, hence the 1300D: a super-cheap lens-swapper aimed squarely at smartphonesavvy Instagram addicts looking to level up. How do we know that’s the target audience? Well, despite a spec that’s so stripped back it might as well be naked, it arrives rocking NFC and Wi-Fi for easy uploading and a dedicated Food mode. QED.It really is cheap, too – at R4700 it costs less than any other new DSLR…5 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016O for the wings of a SUVfrom $83 000 / teslamotors.comDespite being a company that’s been making cars for less than 10 years, Tesla has already managed to make a significant impact on the luxury auto market. Not that Elon Musk is the kind of man to sit back and wallow in his achievements: as well as the affordable Model 3 saloon to look forward to, there’s also this, the Model X.Following the trend towards SUVs over conventional cars, the Model X combines a range of around 460km with the kind of performance that would shame plenty of supercars… particularly if you opt for this version, the sporty P90D, and then make it even more peppy by going for the 532bhp Ludicrous Speed upgrade (named after the setting in 1987 Mel Brooks sci-fi parodySpaceballs, we suspect).The…3 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Sony, yet so farR12 000 / sonymobile.com/zaSony phones are changing. For years the best of them have ended up in the ring with the flagships from Apple, Samsung, HTC and LG, duking it out to see which is going to make the best ridiculously expensive phone of the year. But the Xperia X shows Sony is opting out of that battle. This year, at least.This phone costs R1 100 less than something like the Samsung Galaxy S7, but it still has sufficiently high-end hardware to feel, look and act like a real bank-balance-drainer. Don’t get us wrong, at R12 000 this is no bargain basem*nt job… but if the X ends up selling better than its premium ‘Performance’ big brother, then the way Sony rolls in the future could change.So is the Xperia…3 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Silent but deadlyBose QC35R8 600 / macnificent.co.zaThe longest non-stop passenger flight is currently Emirates’ Auckland-to-Dubai trek, which takes 17hrs 15mins. You know what lasts longer? The 20hr battery in Bose’s QC35s.The QuietComfort range has long offered users a sterling combination of marshmallow-like comfort and baby-blocking noise-cancelling. The 35s add freedom-enhancing Bluetooth and produce very clear, crisp and balanced sound. Others have more bass or attack, but the QCs deliver a clarity and spaciousness that makes them suited to whatever movies or music you travel with.STUFF SAYSA fine wireless choice for the discerning travellerMake the callYou can take calls hands-free, and there’s noise-cancelling in the mic to ensure your voice is broadcast clearly.Phone homeThe app makes setup, updates and managing multiple devices (you can connect to two at once) simple.Come fly with theseThe…3 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016OverwatchRemember Blizzard? Well, the World Of Warcraft developer now has a first-person shooter. And it features giant apes in power armour.Imagine Pixar ditched films and you’ve got the gist of Overwatch. Countless hours of our lives have been hoovered up by its closed beta, and the full release is set to do the same. This is the most joyful shooter we’ve played in a long time, blending old and new for a mechanically complex experience that’s easy to enjoy.Those seeking ladder-climbing glory may be frustrated by some of the compromises made for the sake of a harmonious community. But if you like to play for 10 minutes of unbridled fun, then this is the unmissable shooter of 2016.It’s a game where notching up kills will guarantee you victory. Across each…2 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 2016Media hoardNow You See Me 2 _cinemaIn a winter where cinemas have been once again dominated by bombastic superhero epics, Now You See Me 2 is a remarkably quaint affair. A sequel to the magic-themed heist movie of 2012, it sees Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo and the rest of the Horsem*n crew dazzle their way through a series of wildly implausible set-pieces while trading snarky one-liners. It’s pure popcorn with few ambitions beyond a slick two-hour runtime, and that’s OK up to a point.To be sure, you’ll have fun with this film. Its rollercoaster pacing and commitment to silliness mean it rarely lulls into indulgence à la David Blaine and his massive block of ice. Lizzy Caplan’s turn as the whip-smart Lula is a constant delight, outshining Daniel Radcliffe’s droll villain.It’s…4 min
Stuff Magazine South Africa|July/August 20166 INSTANT UPGRADES TRAVEL TECH FOR KIDS1 LEAPFROG EPICKids love tablets, and while you could just let them loose on your iPad, we’d recommend buying them a child-focused tab like this. For starters, you’ll feel much more comfortable: the Epic runs Android but it comes with a customisable LeapFrog skin, safe browsing and curated app store – no more cries of “Daddy! It says I have to pay some money!” LeapFrog’s own apps are pricey, but they are also educational without looking like lessons, so there’s less chance of your child just spending hours on Angry Birds.R2 000 / takealot.com2 ONANOFF BUDDYPHONES INFLIGHTMost headphones are easily lost or broken, and not that kid-friendly. BuddyPhones are strong and bendy, and come with stickers for your little tyke to personalise their pair (or the long-suffering cat). We like…3 min
