September 2020

Oculus Quest 2 Lands, Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 for Power and Performance

If you’ve read the book “Ready Player One” you know it’s extremely uneven, but the main driver of the action is an immersive virtual reality experience. We’re not quite at the point of living a whole life in VR, but it is getting faster and more immersive, and with the new Oculus Quest 2 powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2, it’s a tiny bit closer to reality than it used to be!


Thanks to Seagate and LaCie, I Don’t Have to Purchase a New MacBook Pro

Back in 2016, when I purchased my MacBook, I thought that 1TB of storage would go far. At the time, I was using Dropbox to store larger files in an attempt to go all-in on cloud storage. Four years later, and I once again find value in having my crucial documents and files readily available without having to use a browser to get to them. And thanks to these LaCie and Seagate portable storage solutions, I’ve been able to do just that.


Takeaways from Apple’s Annual September Event

2020 has taken away a lot, but perhaps it has given us even more. And with brands like Apple, who tend to do the absolute most when it comes to their keynotes, yesterday was a welcome surprise. As the resident Apple Fanboy for GearDiary, it’s only right that I give my take on things.


Qualcomm Cloud AI Is Here To Juggle All Your AI Needs On The Go

It is incredible how many aspects of our lives are integrated with AI and connectivity. It’s in little ways, like how CarPlay helpfully gives me directions to the same places I go each week, and in significant ways like how AI is being used for contact tracing and tracking COVID-19. All this requires solid hardware to back up all that software, and Qualcomm Cloud AI 100 Development Kit is designed to keep everything running quickly and smoothly.


LG Brings an Interesting Twist to Phone Design with Their LG WING 5G

Remember when phones were more individual and fun? Some might slide or flip open to reveal a keyboard, while some were shaped like everything from a make-up compact to a 1960’s spy camera. These days we have slab phones and folding phones, and while the technology is light years ahead of where it was decades ago, the designs can be a bit too similar. LG is breaking from that mold, though; today they have introduced their new LG WING 5G, and it is something interesting and different.



Huawei MateBook Line Continues to Impress with the New MateBook X and MateBook 14

Huawei has just refreshed its popular MateBook line with the new MateBook X and MateBook 14. One of the things that sets these laptops apart from most of the others is that they have a document-friendly 3:2 aspect ratio, which is fab for reading documents, browsing the web, writing, and general productivity. Whether you need a new travel laptop or a laptop that can do it all, you’re going to want to take a look.


Leviton and Xfinity Team up to Make Your Lights and Home Smarter

Xfinity does a lot more than just provide internet and cable. They’re very integrated into the smart home, as proven by my parent’s Xfinity alarm system that led to some cloak and dagger email deletion. However, your Xfinity-powered home is about to get a lot smarter than just letting you know when someone has opened the front door, thanks to integration with Leviton’s Decora Zigbee smart light switches, dimmers, and modules.



Simplehuman’s Social Distancing Campaign Tells You Exactly How Much Space You Need

2020 would have been an interesting enough year on its own, but the global pandemic has made it into something most of us have never been alive to experience before. Everywhere you look, there are signs telling you to wear a mask or to keep your distance to help stop the spread of COVID-19; simplehuman is going the extra mile by amplifying the importance of physical distancing with their Making Space collection. 


OrCam Teams up with Lionel Messi to Bring New Technologies to Help the Visually Impaired

We take for granted that our senses are there to help us navigate the world. If you’re lucky, your hearing works well; you can taste when food goes bad or smell when the garbage has to go out, and you can see and read signs to navigate the world around you. People who are visually impaired don’t always have that ability. OrCam has a pretty amazing solution with the OrCam MyEye, and they’re teaming up with soccer star Lionel Messi to help promote it.


Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Smart Bulb Starter Kit Is an Intelligent Lighting Solution

When Jess and I started setting up our daughter Skyler’s nursery, we knew that we would eventually need more smart lightbulbs. Even though I’d previously bought the basic white Philips Hue smart bulbs before, I want to try their ambient smart bulbs to see how they would work in a nursery setting. The Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Smart Bulb Starter Kit that I received not only works with Alexa but with Google Home and Apple’s HomeKit as well.



Made In Announces Gorgeous New Tabletop Collection for the Home Chef

We here at Gear Diary are fans of Made In Cookware.  We loved their stainless steel pots and pans as a cost-effective way to outfit a kitchen with high-quality cookware.  Now, Made In is expanding its portfolio with a gorgeous collection of tableware for serving.  Not only can you purchase bundles, but you can also customize your own tabletop set.



VIZIO Launches One of the Best ‘Marvel Avengers’ Giveaways We’ve Yet Seen

What do you have going on every week until Christmas? Hopefully, whatever it is, you’ll have time to enter this huge giveaway from VIZIO each week because you’re not going to want to miss it. To celebrate their partnership with Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics for the Marvel’s Avengers video game, VIZIO is giving fans a chance to win a Quantum 4K HDR Smart TV, a V-Series 5.1 Home Theater Sound Bar, and a digital copy of Marvel’s Avengers in weekly giveaways!




MediaTek’s New 5G T750 5G Chipset Will Help Bring More Affordable Broadband Access

No matter where you live or work, 5G — and access to its super-fast connectivity — is only going to become more important. MediaTek has just announced its new T750 5G chipset that will power next-generation 5G wireless products — like fixed wireless access routers and mobile hotspots — to bring 5G speeds into homes, businesses, and anywhere else they might be needed.


Qualcomm’s New 5G Computer Platform Will Bring Work from Home to a New Level

It feels like we’ve been hearing about 5G forever, but it’s for-real happening, and we’re going to be getting all sorts of awesome devices zipping YouTube to us faster than ever. And, sure, we also need connectivity for remote work. But also TikTok. Anyway, Qualcomm is already on their 2nd generation of 5G PC chips, being rolled out this year with Acer!


Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Anniversary Edition Speakers Celebrate 25 Years of Audio Excellence and Value

I’ve been using Bowers & Wilkins headphones and portable Bluetooth speakers for some time, and I’ve enjoyed that right out of the box they are perfectly tuned to my listening preferences. B&W also makes high-end bookshelf and floor-standing speakers. For 25 years, their 600 Series has been a more accessible introduction to Bowers & Wilkins’s home-audio line. To celebrate its silver anniversary, B&W is launching the 600 Series Anniversary Edition.