Events

Wicked Audio Has Six New Audio Options

Wicked Audio is a favorite here at Gear Diary, but a well-known brand across the board. The lifestyle audio brand makes everything from headphones to Bluetooth speakers, so it should be no surprise that the company is taking to CES 2018 to unveil six new products that are sure to catch your eye.


Dell XPS 13 Goes on a Diet, and Gets Haute New White Color

Dell has reimagined their popular XPS 13 laptop and it’s more svelte than ever before. To that effect, Dell claims that it’s now the world’s smallest 13-inch laptop. It manages to do this by fitting a 13-inch InfinityEdge display inside an 11 inch frame. Weighing in at just 2.68 lbs, the new XPS 13 for 2018 is indeed smaller, 30% thinner, and lighter than its predecessor. For additional reference, its predecessor weighed about 2.93 lbs with a Quad HD touch display, so it’s shaved off nearly a quarter of a pound.



ConnectSense Is Gearing up for CES 2018 with a New HomeKit-Enabled Product

With CES 2018 literally days away, companies are already letting it be known that their products will shine bright in Las Vegas. One of those brands is ConnectSense, who is unveiling a product that should be in all homes this year. ConnectSense is attempting to take smart home technology to the next level at the Consumer Electronics Show this week by announcing their connected In-Wall Outlet, which is sure to be one of the bigger hits of the convention. After the success of their Smart Outlet at the 2017 show, ConnectSense is following up with a hard-wired version for your…


Botched Hair Dye Jobs Are About to Become a Thing of the Past

Say goodbye to botched dye jobs, because those are about to become a thing of the past. Designed to work within the confines of a professional salon, Henkel’s Schwarzkopf Professional SalonLab ecosystem scans your hair, analyzes it, and then its Customizer machine pops out the perfect bottle of shampoo or color — customized for your specific hair type and condition.


LG Unveils ThinQ TVs Boasting Artificial Intelligence

Ahead of CES next week, LG is introducing a new smart TV line up, and not only do these TVs come with an advanced image processor, but they come with artificial intelligence as well. The ThinQ artificial intelligence technology will be rolled out into LG’s 2018 OLED and SUPER UHD TVs.






Huawei: More Than Mobile Phones and Bigger Than China

I like to know how things are made, and I get a special thrill when I’m invited to take a behind-the-scenes look at a product — especially something that I regularly use — being made from start to finish. Recently, along with a small group of writers, I went to Shenzhen and Beijing, China for a behind-the-scenes look at Huawei.


Netatmo Integrates Homekit into Their Cameras

Apple is getting very serious about competing in the smart home business, and more and more companies are joining in with Homekit compatibility. Netatmo is making sure their cameras stay competitive with new firmware updates for their outdoor and indoor cameras. Homekit compatibility means that in between mangling dictated text message and giving you oddball links for simple questions, Siri can also give you a peak at parts of your home using your watch, iPhone or iPad. If you’re not familiar with Netatmo, they offer a number of devices, but their main security cameras are Presence and Welcome. Presence is…



JBL Boombox Makes Portable Sound Epic

If you love the idea of a portable speaker, but the little bottle-sized ones just aren’t giving you enough oomph, you’ll want to check out the new JBL Boombox. Available this fall for $449.95, it is practically begging to be the center of your next party.



LG V30: A Small-ish Phablet with Huge Features

There are so many interesting Android phones available now that choosing a new one can be daunting. Have you considered the new LG V30? It has a beautiful screen, an exceptional camera, and lovely thin bezels. But what more does the V30 have going for it?


Acer Unleashes a Huge Lineup at IFA 2017!

Acer has been very, very busy at IFA 2017. They announced quite the lineup of products, so if you use anything remotely electronic there’s probably something there for you. (And if you don’t use anything electronic, please let me know in the comments how and why you’re reading this!)




Dayton Hamvention 2017: New Tech, New Location, and Old Friends

The location change had to be on the minds of most Dayton Hamvention goers this year. When you were in a location as long as Hamvention was, a location change is big for everyone. I am happy to say that the Dayton Amateur Radio Association, the group responsible for the show, was successful beyond any imagination.


Amateur Radio Operators: Dayton Hamvention 2017 Preview

Not quite as exciting as an Apple or Google Keynote, the Dayton Hamvention is this week, and I’ll be making the trek to the show this year in its first new location since I started attending, the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio. Hamvention is like CES, but for Amateur Radio operators like myself, and it’s a lot of fun.