For the first time in 48 years Bill Gates’ piggy bank, Microsoft, has officially hit a $3 trillion market cap. That’s three more zeroes than a billion — which, incidentally, has nine (nine!) zeroes attached to its end. We’ll just let that sink in for a moment. It might be a first for Microsoft, but it’s not a first for history, with that honour going to Apple more than two years ago. Honestly, we’re not surprised. Have you seen the price of an iPhone 15 Pro Max recently?

But what caused the nearly historic jump to its third trillion? Specifically, the company’s 1.5% jump on the NASDAQ caused its stock to sell for $405 per share on Wednesday, ultimately pushing the valuation over the milestone threshold. But what caused that? Our guess is artificial intelligence. Microsoft has seemingly been all-in on AI ever since OpenAI’s meteoric rise last year — a company Microsoft has invested in heavily itself.

In that time, we’ve seen Microsoft become as much of a face for AI as OpenAI — largely in part due to OpenAI’s tech backing up Microsoft’s AI efforts. We’re of course talking about Copilot and the significant improvements to Bing’s search engine, which, despite its AI-touting prowess, hasn’t yet convinced us to give it a go. We don’t see Microsoft slowing down anytime soon and unless Apple could catch up, Microsoft might be leading the race to $4 trillion.

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Dungeons & Dragons really wants to sit on your face

Ah, Dungeons & Dragons. The game that relies on, and thrives off its player’s imagination, is coming to VR. The creators of the game that’s older than most of our readers (and writers), Wizards of the Coast, recently announced their partnership with Resolution Games — the makers of Demeo — who’ll be tasked with bringing the incredibly popular IP into virtual reality.

“Dungeons and Dragons offers one of the richest fantasy worlds that has ever been created, and it only gets bigger with every new sourcebook and adventure. We’re beyond humbled to have the opportunity to work with such an incredible IP and look forward to sharing the first details of this new project in the future.”

Unfortunately, that’s about the gist of the announcement. Details are scarce, and we mean real scarce. Hell, there isn’t even a working title to go off of here. We’ll stick with the mundane (and probably accurate) title of Dungeons & Dragons VR to be safe. Even without much knowledge of the project, Resolution Games and Demeo being what they are, we reckon the IP will be in good hands until it releases. Eventually.

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Move over; there’s an Until Dawn remaster on the way

Following the disappointing report of an Until Dawn film adaptation, the Gods have blessed the world with some news that’ll put things right again: there’s an Until Dawn remaster on the way. At least, that’s what the leaks are saying, though it’s said that Supermassive Games will confirm the remaster themselves sometime over the next two weeks.

This is all the word of Dealabs’ billbil-kun (via Eurogamer), a leaker who reckons Until Dawn will be re-releasing and will be a “brand-new version”, not only for the PS5 but for PC too. Despite the big talk of a “brand-new version”, the leaker wasn’t able to ascertain whether it’d be a remake akin to that of Dead Space (2023) or a plain ol’ remaster with some new textures thrown in.

As it stands, that’s the only reputable source for an Until Dawn remake/remaster out there. That’s not a bad thing, though. Billbil-kun has proven themselves to be an ultra-reliable source in recent memory, only yesterday providing what looks to be some solid information surrounding Kojima’s upcoming Death Stranding 2 (which, if the rumours are true, will be titled Death Stranding 2: On the Beach).

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Phillips has some new headphones, and they’ll charge with sub-par vitamin D

We at Stuff love a good pair of headphones. Some of us more than others. What we don’t love is charging times. Who does? You best believe we’d rather be going deaf than have to put up with load shedding’s constant roar of generators around us. But Phillips wants to make that a problem of the past. Or at least, as much as it can. Say hello to the Phillips A6219 GO solar-powered headphones that aren’t fussy about where it’s getting that vitamin D.

They won’t exactly last forever — but if the 80-hour battery life that Phillips is promising turns out to be accurate it won’t matter, either. It’s getting that power from a Powerfoyle solar cell, which is reportedly able to charge from indoor light as well as outdoor light, meaning you’ll be able to phase out that desperate search for a compatible charger soon enough.

A long-lasting battery isn’t much help without decent sound to go with it. Fortunately, Phillips has delivered. It’s rocking some 40mm drivers that can be found in the company’s Fidelio series which have been praised for good sound for quite some time. It’s also meant to stand up to some abuse with an IP55 rating, so that’s cool.

Phillips hasn’t yet delved into pricing and availability details, but we’ll keep you posted if these make their way into the country at some point down the line.

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Stuff called the Elite 10 “the most comfortable earbuds we’ve ever worn”. Jabra scanned over 62,000 ears to develop this design, it wrote, and “that’s apparent”.

The premium earbuds “feels like a step forward for the company” and that “part of what makes them so comfortable is also what makes them great for workouts is ideal for people looking for their next workout buds”.

The “durable” earbuds’ sound profile can be tuned to your liking, and it has active noise-cancelling (ANC). It also has a Dolby Atmos head-tracking feature.

Its new 10mm drivers make the Jabra Elite 10 “the biggest of the company’s in-ears to date. They have a well-balanced sound profile when using the default ‘Neutral’ EQ setting meaning they’ll do fine for most music genres”.

Stuff concludes: “You should seriously consider the Jabra Elite 10 if you’re looking for in-ear headphones that you plan to wear for extended periods”.

Fancy a shower?

“If you don’t mind sacrificing a few features,” Stuff writes, “the Elite 8 Actives and their IP68 rating might suit you better”.

Stuff’s reviewer wrote that “it’s a wonder we haven’t showered yet while wearing the Elite 8 Actives, an operation they’re designed to survive”. Swimming in a chlorinated pool is not advised as it will damage the earbuds.

Voice calls take advantage of the six internal mics for decent clarity. Those same mics are responsible for the Adaptive Hybrid ANC and the HearThrough features.

Bluetooth 5.3 makes for speedy connections and represents a substantial improvement.

“Jabra may have done too good a job with its workout headphones,” wrote Stuff. “We’ve spent more time not working out while using them than actually breaking a sweat but since they perform equally well in both scenarios, that’s nothing to complain about.”

The earbuds’ “audio performance is more important than its other skills. Expect a detailed soundscape with a decent bass punch even without resorting to Jabra’s Sound+ app”.

Beyond audio, it added, “there’s loads to like. The fit is secure and comfortable and the buds themselves are grippy enough that we had no issues during workouts. The eight hours of battery life per charge isn’t an exaggeration. Nor is the additional 24 hours in the case for a total of 32 hours before you’ll charge the whole lot again.”

Stuff’s verdict is that “Jabra’s Elite 8 Active are expressly designed for this, able to last through a marathon in a rainstorm with enough battery left for you to listen to some tunes in the doctor’s waiting room afterward.”

Following on from the company’s flagship launch earlier this year, Huawei has just unveiled a refreshed Matebook D 16, its largest tablet yet the MatePad Pro 13.2in, a new MatePad Air with the company’s PaperMatte display technology, and an interesting-looking set of ‘earbuds’ called the FreeClip.

Huawei doing tonight?

We’ve all seen laptops and tablets before, the FreeClips and their ball-and-chain-looking “open-ear design” have managed to stand out. Whether that translates into passable audio and the durability to withstand multiple trips to and from ears, remains to be seen. However, Huawei says they’ve undergone “over 25,000 reliability tests” so that ought to mean something.

Instead of living inside your ear like other in-ear headphones, the FreeClip hangs around, quite literally, on the outside of your ear. They’re trying to pull a similar move to Sony’s Linkbuds in that they aren’t meant to isolate you and your tunes from the outside world but will allow you to bop along while nodding attentively at your colleague.

Technical details were a little light at the launch but we do know that the buds come with an IP54 rating and can provide eight hours of playback or up to 36 hours with the case with a 10-minute charge giving you three more hours of music. Stay tuned for the local price and availability date.

Coming to your hands soon

If your hands are begging to hold something new and 13 inches big, Huawei’s new MatePad Pro 13.2in is the company’s latest flagship tablet and marks another step in the company’s journey to tablet market dominance. That’s probably the vision, anyway. The tablet’s new display tech, called ‘X-True Display’, along with the ability to hit 144Hz and an impressive 94% screen-to-body ratio go a long way to help that cause.

Doodlers will be happy to know that the 3rd generation M-Pencil is launching alongside the flagship tablet that boasts improved latency and 10,000 levels of pressure sensitivity. When words are required, it supports Huawei’s smart magnetic keyboard. If this sounds appealing, we’ll keep you posted for the local price and availability date.

Not much of a doodler? Then you’ll probably be more interested in the refreshed MatePad Air which, for the first time, features Huawei’s PaperMatte display technology. It uses a “nano-level anti-glare etching technology” to combat reflections and glare in the name of reducing eye strain.

Prepare your laps (and desks)

The laptop receiving attention this trip is the Matebook D 16. As you might surmise from the name, it’s a 16-incher from the Matebook D range — which falls somewhere between the budget-focused Matebook E and the upper-mid non-lettered Matebook. Huawei haven’t taken any risks with the design so if you’ve seen an earlier Matebook D you’ll know what to expect.

Apart from the slightly larger 16in 16:10 display, the excitement here is the promise of serious power. We’ll have to wait until January 2024 to explore the other technical details in depth but we do know that it’ll come packing an Intel Core i9-13900H processor. We’ll also learn how much it’ll cost and when you can get your hands on one next month.

It’s difficult to deny that Sonos is one of the best out there when it comes to audio. It’s certainly one of Stuff’s favourites, but it does little for the headphone-loving audiophiles of the world. Sonos has long been expected to enter the headphone space, with rumours dating back as far as February 2021. It’s kept those ambitions quiet since then, though according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, that might be about to change.

When Gurman speaks, you listen. According to unnamed sources close to Sonos, the company is expected to release a high-end pair of headphones as early as April, with a price point that’ll match that of Sony’s XM5s and Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra headset. That means upwards of $400 or R8,000 if you haven’t been keeping up with Stuff.

If you’re pointing to Sonos’ past patent filings to get an idea of what to expect, don’t. Bloomberg reckons the speaker and soundbar company has been working on the pair since at least 2019, burning through multiple iterations in the process. What we’re likely going to see is something entirely new that’ll compete with Sony and Bose’s ANC (active noise cancelling) and tech that’s built around the Sonos ecosystem.

Gurman’s report notes that the company is branching out even further, with plans in place to release a TV box that could rival Apple’s own before the end of 2024 is over. That could run your wallet as high as $150 or $200. Those will stand alongside the usual slew of products, with higher-end soundbars, a new subwoofer, an update to the Roam speaker, and an Era 100 speaker but for businesses.

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Don’t blame Firefox – this is all YouTube

Users of Mozilla’s Firefox browser might be living without ads on YouTube (for now), but the Google-owned streamer isn’t giving up on its YouTube Premium push quite so easily. Users across Reddit have noted a five-second delay before a video will load – an issue attributed to Firefox. That’s… not the case.

YouTube has specifically told The Verge that a five-second delay was an intentional decision, made to push more users towards paying for Premium or turning off their ad-blockers entirely. “In the past week, users using ad blockers may have experienced suboptimal viewing, which included delays in loading, regardless of the browser they are using,” YouTube communications manager Christopher Lawton wrote to The Verge.

He continued, adding that users may still notice a delay until after they have refreshed their browsers. And, as YouTube’s ad-blocking detection tech continues to improve, this may become the new norm for users everywhere. What was initially reported as an issue for Firefox users only, Chrome and Edge users have begun to come forward, claiming that the delay is affecting them too.

Here’s hoping that YouTube’s scourge on the ad-blocking industry could disappear quietly after a European privacy expert filed a formal complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), claiming that YouTube’s ad-blocking detection methods were “spyware”.

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It’s not just you who thinks PlayStation’s prices are absurd

After being a thorn in Microsoft’s side for the better part of a year and a half, Sony has been accused of abusing its dominant position in the gaming space, leading to the company overcharging customers for digital games on the PS Store. It’s now facing the consequences of its own actions – and will face a massive lawsuit worth up to £6.3 billion (or $7.9 billion), a London tribunal ruled in court on Tuesday.

The lawsuit was initially filed back in August 2022 by Alex Neill – a consumer advocate – on behalf of 9 million customers in the UK. Her lawyer estimates that the damages of the case are equal to £6.3 billion, though the original case was valued at £5 billion. Specifically, Neill claims Sony enforces strict Ts and Cs on its developers and publishers, with terms that allow the company to dictate the prices of their digital content, simultaneously charging a 30% commission on it.

Obviously, Sony took issue with the claim that would see them lose billions. Its lawyers argued that the case was “flawed from start to finish,” before stating that it should be thrown out. In a statement after the London tribunal’s decision, Neill said the case was “the first step in ensuring consumers get back what they’re owed.”

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Cyberpunk 2077 is going Ultimate

CD Projekt Red has confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 is getting an Ultimate Edition, and it’ll be released on 5 December 2023. We get it. You’ve blocked Cyberpunk 2077’s troubled release from your memory entirely, meaning you probably missed the fact that the game never saw a current-gen release, despite the public’s opinion doing a complete 180.

That’s what the Ultimate Edition will be fixing. Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition will include the base game plus the Phantom Liberty DLC and all previous updates, hitting shelves under the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC banners. It’ll be skipping out on a last-gen release, seeing as how the Phantom Liberty DLC skipped those consoles entirely, digital included.

The game’s global community director Marcin Momot announced the physical edition release in a post on X.com, before clarifying that the Xbox version would have the Phantom Liberty DLC included on the disc. In contrast, the PS5 and PC versions would only see the base game appear on disc and would still require the download code included in the box.

A CD Projekt Red spokesperson clarified any confusion while speaking with IGN, confirming that the Xbox release would see three discs (containing the base game and DLC) and that the PS5 would only get one disc and a separate DLC code. PC gamers will have to deal with GOG (Good Old Games) for both sides of the game.

“The reason for the difference in how the Phantom Liberty is included in the Ultimate Edition is due to technical requirements specific to each platform.”

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Sure, those are the first PlayStation-branded wireless earbuds that you’ll surely be able to use for gaming, but gaming wasn’t the focus so they don’t count. The features and specs of the Pulse Explore buds are still a mystery so they may well differ from the new Inzone Buds, but that chance looks rather small.

Sony’s Inzone Buds will get you in the… sorry

The real “first gaming-focused buds” from the Japanese company come with a $200 (R3,800) price tag and boast up to 12 hours of battery life on a single charge with another 12 hours in the case. They might not have planar magnetic drivers like the Pulse Elite and Explore but Sony’s used the same “Dynamic Driver X” driver unit last seen in the WF-1000XM5 so their audio quality shouldn’t disappoint.

These new buds support connections with the PS5, PCs, and smartphones. For the first two, you’ll need to plug in the USB-C dongle found wedged between the buds in their case. If you’re not fond of dongles, they also support Bluetooth LE Audio. Active noise cancellation is present but no mention was made of the HD Noise Canceling Processor QN2e, so just regular ANC.

Sony is putting extra emphasis on these buds’ spatial audio chops but that’ll require a bit of leg work on your end, like taking pictures of your outer ear and setting up what Sony calls ‘sound field optimisation’ and ‘sound tone personalisation’.

The former will “create a personalised hearing profile by taking photos of your ears using the 360 Spatial Sound Personaliser smartphone app,” while the latter will “play test sounds from driver units and use feedback microphones to measure how the sound fills your ear canal. Based on the acoustic analysis, the sound is then personalised using the INZONE Hub PC application.”

Alongside the Inzone Buds, Sony expanded the over-ear Inzone headphone family with the Inzone H5. If the numbers are anything to go by, these will be slightly better than the Inzone H3 but not as good as the Inzone H7.

The Inzone Buds and Inzone H5 headphones are both expected to be available in December 2023 but there’s no word yet on local pricing.

What’s most remarkable about the announcement is the lack of fanfare. Samsung typically makes some sort of noise but this reveal was confined to a press release published on its own website and a brief YouTube overview of the Galaxy FE versions of the S23, Tab 9, and the new Buds FE.

Explore the Galaxy FE

Even product images for the three new devices are thin on the ground, but we do know exactly what goes into all of Samsung’s Fan Edition products for 2023. Most of the rumoured details for the Galaxy S23 FE were accurate, with a 6.4in OLED panel, Exynos 2200 (the States is getting the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1), 8GB of RAM, 128GB/256GB of storage, and a 4,500mAh battery are in the offing. A 10MP camera lives up front, while the rear camera lineup is a 50MP/12MP (ultrawide)/8MP (telephoto) effort that you’ll also find on the full Galaxy S23.

There are two models of the Galaxy Tab S9 FE coming — a stock and a Plus edition. The Tab S9 FE features a 10.9in LCD display, an 8,000mAh battery, either 6GB/128GB or 8GB/256GB of RAM/storage, and 8MP rear and 12MP front cameras. The Tab S9 FE Plus features the same camera loadout but scales up to a 12.4in LCD display, 10,090mAh battery, and 8GB/128GB  and 12GP/256GB RAM/storage options.

Then, the Galaxy FE version of Samsung’s popular Buds have arrived. Based on American pricing ($100) these should land here at about R2,000 but that’s still a guess at this point. The buds themselves will offer up to six hours on a charge, with up to 21 hours via the 479mAh charging case, but this number can be extended by turning off active noise cancellation. What seems to be missing from these Galaxy FE buds is any kind of IP rating, making them candidates for ignoring the folks in the office rather than blocking out noisy gym bros.

The only thing we don’t know is local pricing and availability but we’re waiting on that information now. Stuff was given vague hints about the Galaxy Buds FE turning up but pricing and availability were kept a secret at the time. Given how understated Samsung is being, don’t be surprised if you enter a retail store one day and they’re just… there.

It’s also perhaps not all that surprising. Samsung has made Fan Edition (or FE) versions of its headline devices for some time now. These tend to be more affordable takes on the more premium products on the block, with smartphones and tablets both being previously represented. The earbuds, though? Those are new.

Fan Edition buds

The leak via Samsung in Argentina was little more than the image above, which also identified the products in the images as the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE, and then the Galaxy Buds FE. None of these products has been officially announced yet, so when the above image was dropped online, it may have moved up announcement timelines. Just a bit.

Actual device details are still murky, though some speculation suggests that the S23 FE will feature a 6.4in display, a 4,500mAh battery, and a 50MP main camera sensor. An Exynos 2200 chipset would be in the device for South Africa (and everywhere outside of the States) and users can also expect 8GB of RAM and an IP68 rating. Otherwise, we’ve just got the photograph to go on for specific information regarding the other devices.

The same goes for a launch announcement. It’s possible that Samsung has a reveal planned for next week, on 4 October, but that’s based on a date seen on one of the leaked images of the S23 FE handset. Hardly scientific. And since, unlike its headline devices and the Unpacked timetable, Samsung’s Fan Edition gear tends to be announced when it’s announced, it’s almost impossible to make an educated guess as to when these products will become official.

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If you’re a subscriber to X Premium, previously known as Twitter Blue, the platform has introduced yet another change – giving those users the ability to hide their likes tab from the public. X confirmed the new ‘feature’ through a post on… X.

Turning on the feature will make an X Premium user’s like tab disappear completely from the public eye. To do so, head to the Premium tab, hit ‘preferences’ and then ‘early access’. The feature hadn’t yet gone live on Stuff’s X profile – either on desktop or mobile. Be patient – X’s announcement didn’t mention when the feature would be going live for everyone, though the change can’t be far off.

The move comes soon after X’s most recent scandal wherein Musk’s long-standing beef with the New York Times ended up with the platform seemingly suppressing posts linking to the outlet’s articles on X. In other words, censorship – something Musk was proudly against at the time of his $44 billion purchase of the platform. Just… don’t be surprised if the service’s next big update involves joining X Premium to gain access to all links posted to the site.

Bose refreshes QuietComfort range with new headphones and earbuds

Bose, makers of extremely fine headphones, just dropped three new products. Those include the $300 QuietComfort Ultra earbuds, $350 QuietComfort headphones and the crème de la crème – the QuietComfort Ultra headphones that’ll set your wallet back a hefty $430.

The three headsets are replacing their predecessors, which in the case of the year-old QuietComfort 2 buds, is quite surprising. According to Bose CEO, Lila Snyder, and Chief Product Officer, Raza Haider, that’s by design – with the company feeling that it had valuable contributions to the line-up, and just couldn’t wait. The other reason being – we’re just spitballing here – money.

We’re more interested in the best of the bunch: the QuietComfort Ultra. They are supposedly replacing the NCH 700 which launched in 2019. You’ll be able to pick these up in early October in the US, with local pricing and availability still to be determined. Bose claims these are running off a “completely re-engineered system” with a reinvigorated chipset, upgrades to the microphones and “proprietary signal processing.” That all means improved noise cancelling, call clarity, and better understanding from supported virtual assistants.

Stick it in Immersive Audio Mode and you’ll get 18 hours of battery life on a single charge. Keep it off, however, and that’ll extend up to 24 hours. On the outside, Bose has included a new volume slider, sitting alongside the Bluetooth and power buttons. It’s kept the 2.5mm jack Bose seems so keen on, since you won’t be getting any wired USB-C audio support here.

You can check out the other new additions to the line-up on Bose’s website.

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Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered is a thing and we want it. Now.

During a Nintendo Direct last night, Nintendo announced that a Tomb Raider 1 – 3 Remastered trilogy is on the way, and it’ll be available on the Switch, PS5 and PS4 from 14 February 2024. Sorry, Xbox. But hey, at least you’ve still got Starfield.

Each game in the Remastered collection will feature updated visuals and come with every expansion out of the box – The Lost Artifact, The Gold Mask and The Unfinished Business, as well as any secret levels that you definitely didn’t need a step-by-step guide to discover as a kid during the 90s.

The announcement came with a trailer. It gave us a look at the original game standing alongside the remaster, and just how refreshed the visuals are. Don’t go in expecting a remaster along the lines of the Metal Gear Solid Collection, or you’ll be disappointed. Crystal Dynamics and Aspyr have opted to keep the vibe of the original intact, though Nintendo did say that players could toggle between the new visuals and the original graphics at any time throughout the playthrough.

PlayStation announced the game on its blog soon after, confirming that the game was available for pre-order. If you’re going the Nintendo route, you can pre-order it here. It’ll cost you R540 on both platforms, though Nintendo is running a 10% discount that’ll stick around ’til the game’s February launch.

Google’s Chromecast gains new abilities

Hey, would you look at that? It turns out PlayStation’s Portal console was a waste of money after all. We knew that already, but after PlayStation’s latest update, it’s rendering the $200 excuse for a handheld even more useless. Why? Because you can now cast your games to Google’s operating system, according to a new blog post (via androidpolice).

Specifically, Sony’s senior vice president of Platform Experience, Hideaki Nishino, said that PS Remote Play is now compatible with the Chromecast with Google TV (4K) and the Sony Bravia XR A95L TV. It may not be limited to those products, with the update theoretically supporting streaming on any device running Android TV OS or up. Nishino didn’t say that exactly but did mention that Remote Play would be making its way to more Android TV OS devices in the future. Fine, we’ll wait.

Stuff hasn’t had the opportunity to test out the Chromecast’s new functionality yet, though according to The Verge, the process isn’t quite as seamless as it should be. Still, it beats buying a glorified display that’s not even OLED, right?

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Now, it’s Jabra‘s turn in the spotlight with the newly announced Elite 10 and Elite 8 Active earbuds. The Danish audio outlet’s Elite 10 marks the company’s most sophisticated buds to date, while the Elite 8 Active is the latest Jabra offering for runners who don’t want to compromise on quality.

For the stay-at-homes

The Elite 10 is the company’s follow-up to the Elite 7 Pro, mingling those buds’ best features with Jabra’s next best thing; the Elite 85t. Specifically, Jabra claims it’s retained the “all-day” comfort found in the 85t, combining it with something new, ComfortFit, offering the “most natural, airy fit and less occlusion, due to its semi-open design.” Essentially, there’s more silicon for a softer feel in-ear.

Taking that further, Jabra’s gone and installed some larger drivers than both of its predecessors, 10mm in size. Driver size isn’t everything – at least that’s what our partner keeps telling us –but Jabra’s promising a more powerful sound and a frequency response of 20Hz – 20,000Hz. These buds also join the Dolby Atmos bandwagon, offering support for Dolby head-tracking spatial audio. Although these don’t support LDAC or aptX HD high-fidelity codecs, we’re told they’ll get support for the LC3plus codec in a future firmware update, which technically counts as HD.

Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) hasn’t been forgotten, although Jabra calls it Adaptive Hybrid ANC owing to its ability to adapt to the environment around you. It’s doing so by using infrasonic (yeah, that’s a word) waves that’ll, apparently, measure your ear canal. From there it’s able to detect ear leakage (of audio) or even a change in wind direction. Oh, and it’ll block out twice as much noise as Jabra’s standard ANC, according to the company.

“Crystal-clear calls” are Jabra’s next big promise, making use of the Elite 10’s six built-in microphones and ‘voice clarity algorithms’. There’s also Bluetooth Multipoint functionality and six hours of battery life, make that a combined 27 hours if you’ve got the case handy. While these might not have the ‘active’ tag, they still come with an IP57 rating so they should fare well in a workout.

All that costs, though. South Africa is still awaiting an official price drop, which will likely be higher than the $250 (R4,700) in the US.

For the grass-touchers

Jabra’s other set of new buds, the Elite 8 Active, won’t set your pockets quite as far back as the Elite 10. That doesn’t mean Jabra’s sacrificed quality for price (or at least, not that much). The company is going as far as calling the Elite 8 Active “the world’s toughest earbuds.”

Jabra has put these through the rigorous Standard for Ruggedized Electronics (810H) test used by the US military. The Elite 8 Active passed the required tests which include high temperature, humidity, rain, and altitude. Unsurprisingly, they also come with an IP68 rating, for consumer peace of mind, we guess.

The 6mm dynamic drivers might not be as big as the others but the Elite 8 Active will also receive LC3plus codec support in a future update. It’s got a similar adaptive ANC like its more-prolific brother, meaning it’ll still adapt to your surroundings, but loses the “advanced” aspect found in the Elite 10. That all amounts to longer battery life with Jabra claiming up to eight hours on a single charge and 24 more from the case.

These must’ve been first off the ship as Jabra’s confirmed their R3,500 local price. Expect to find them at Circuit City or one of these stores before too long.

Not the Portal we wanted, but the Portal we’re getting

We’ve known about the handheld for some time now, having been teased back in May as ‘Project Q’. Now, Sony has officially christened the handheld ‘PlayStation Portal’ and dished out more details on this latest venture which… didn’t exactly fill us with confidence.

For starters, the Portal can’t even call itself a console like the Vita or PSP that came before. It’s officially called a “Remote Play dedicated device” for good reason. It’s not doing any on-board processing like a Switch or Steam Deck. Instead, it’s streaming PS5 games over Wi-Fi to the device’s 8in LCD display that’s running at 1080p and 60Hz. On either end of the underwhelming display are two halves of a DualSense 5 controller, complete with haptics, and adaptive triggers – the whole shebang.

“PlayStation Portal will connect remotely to your PS5 over Wi-Fi, so you’ll be able to swiftly jump from playing on your PS5 to your PlayStation Portal,” says Hideaki Nishino, senior vice president of platform experience at Sony Interactive Entertainment. “PlayStation Portal can play supported games that are installed on your PS5 console and use the Dualsense controller.”

Read More: How to set up parental controls for Sony’s PlayStation 4 and 5

Sony hasn’t yet confirmed the Portal’s battery life, though judging by CNET’s hands-on with the device, it appears to be targeting around seven to eight hours of battery. Good or bad, the Portal’s battery life isn’t a major factor, considering it’ll hardly leave its owner’s home – needing both a stable Wi-Fi connection and a nearby PS5 to function.

To worsen the situation, the Portal doesn’t support Bluetooth. That means you won’t be hooking up any wireless headsets that aren’t Sony’s Pulse Elite or Pulse Explore headphones and buds (we’ll get to those). Even Sony’s Pulse 3D headset didn’t make the cut. The only saving grace is the 3.5mm audio jack that Sony’s been kind enough to include.

The worst part? Sony will charge $200 (roughly R3,700) for this thing when it launches “later this year.” We shudder to think how much it’ll cost if it ever arrives in SA. That’s $200 on top of the PS5 (which recently saw a price hike) and half-decent internet connection you need to have beforehand (Sony recommends at least 15 Mbps for a “better play experience).

Still, we might be getting ahead of ourselves here. We’ll have to test it out for ourselves before we tarnish the Portal’s memory before it’s even hit the shelves.

Not for the faint of wallet

The PlayStation Portal wasn’t the only new piece of hardware Sony has in the works. We got a peek at two new sets of headphones – the Pulse Elite – a direct upgrade to the Pulse 3D headset that’ll cost $150 and the Pulse Explore – in-ear buds that’ll cost as much as the Portal itself. No, seriously.

Those price tags are a product of Sony’s inability to relate to the layman. It might also have to do with the fact that both feature “custom-designed planar magnetic drivers for an audiophile-level listening experience normally found in premium headphones for professional sound engineers.” That might sound like a load of mumbo jumbo if you’re not an audiophile or professional sound engineer. But anyone familiar with Sony’s audio efforts – like the WF-1000XM5, will know that they’re in good hands here. We just wish it didn’t have to cost so much.

Sony’s big swing here is the introduction of “PlayStation Link”, a new wireless audio technology that’s available on both headsets. That means low latency, lossless audio and the ability to quickly hop between devices. For now, that means the PS5 and Portal – with the PS5 connecting to the headsets through a USB dongle. We reckon that the PS5 Slim we’ve heard so much about will have the PlayStation Link tech built-in, and set a standard for all of PlayStation’s future audio efforts.

Not much else is yet known about the Pulse line-up. We know the Explore comes with a charging case, while the Elite will get all its power wirelessly from the cool-looking headphone stand. Charge times, battery life, and additional features are still unknown, with more info to come. Sony has yet to announce an official release for these – though it reiterated that it’d be landing sometime in 2023.