For many of my early guitar learning years, I dreamt of being able to play along with Metallica; I would lie on my bed just wishing I could figure it out. After years of working at it, I was able to make that happen, but technology can help players learn the moves much faster. Now, there’s a Metallica x Yousician course.
When my brother outgrew his LEGO bricks back in the early 90s, my mom had the foresight to pack them away for future generations. It’s quite amusing to see my son build things out of the same LEGO his uncle used (and see him occasionally texting my brother to ask why he drew his initials in all the roof pieces). Everyone has that big LEGO bin from years of accumulated bricks, and Brickit thinks they’ve cracked the way to inspire you to see potential in every mismatched choice.
The arrival of spring means it’s time to once again enjoy the great outdoors; it also means enjoying more meals prepared on the grill. ThermoWorks has a range of great devices to help you become a grillmaster. Thanks to the ThermoWorks Cloud, you can even keep an eye on your streaks, fish, or hotdogs from your Apple Watch.
Roku is an incredible company in many ways. They’re not Amazon, Apple, or Google, yet they’re the heavyweight in the streaming world because they’re a neutral party. They don’t care what you watch, but they do care deeply that your experience finding and enjoying what you watch is the best one possible. And they want to keep that exacting standard with new OS updates and hardware for your fall viewing enjoyment!
There are times when you want to keep an eye on your food, but you’ve got a ton of other stuff going on. Maybe you’re cooking a side dish or playing with your kids. That’s where the Yummly Smart Thermometer comes into play; it takes all the guesswork out of cooking, and it retails for $129.99.
During the pandemic, I let myself go a little bit. With gyms closed, bikes on backorder, and a newborn, I found it very hard to do something as simple as exercise. But recently, I’ve been introduced to the WHOOP 3.0 Strap, and I feel like I’m finally getting this health thing right.
I’ve tried a few shopping apps, and I’ve had a friend that worked a grocery order-and-delivery service back around 2000. Now, there’s Robomart, a company with an app working to provide you a hail-to-purchase-to-delivery experience through an app and delivery service in record time.
A Strava subscription has been a great way to keep me motivated during my journey of getting back in shape. 2020 was rough; I was working out regularly but wasn’t eating well. Unfortunately, it’s true that you can’t outrun a terrible diet. So paired with a proper eating regimen, Strava’s been my go-to tracking app for getting to a better me.
Some weeks ago, Jabra did something amazing. When they released the Jabra Elite 85T, they also released a firmware update that brought ANC to the Jabra Elite 75T. It was a small touch that showed the company’s commitment to its consumers. Now they’ve done it again with a Jabra Elite 85T firmware update that delivers one-touch access to Alexa.
One of the things we strive for at Gear Diary is to make sure our readers are getting honest, accurate information. We do our best to be unbiased in our reviews, and we do our due diligence as best we can when new ideas get pitched to us. With all that in mind, we’re going to raise a major red flag about a pitch we received recently from a company called Qooore.
There are many reasons why you might want to have one or more cameras in certain rooms of your home, like entrances, common areas, or the nursery when you’ve got a baby. The Google Nest Cam IQ Indoor aims to not only help you keep a close eye on the people coming and going in those areas, but it also allows you to communicate with them.
Have you found a pair of true wireless earbuds that fit well in your ears yet? Many people like foam and silicon tips because they help cut out ambient noise and give a more secure seal, but some people hate the feeling of something being jammed into their ear canal. The Earin A-3 Earphones take a different approach; they have an open audio design which leaves them sitting in the user’s ears’ concha. The result is a surprisingly comfortable fit for just about everyone, but it’s also a slightly different experience from wearing and using many other earbuds.
Calm is the #1 sleep and meditation app in the App Store today. Not only does it allow you to listen to peaceful audio to match your mood, but they now have Calm Mindful Puzzles.
It seems more and more people have started a podcast during the pandemic, and with apps like Clubhouse, Stereo, and Zoom, it’s been made even easier to connect to your community. But how do you do it without spending a fortune on the setup? The answer is with the Shure MV7 Podcast Microphone and Shure AONIC 4 Sound Isolating Earphones.
2020 has given us a lot of time to reflect, complete goals, and even find new things to do with our time. One growing trend has creatives starting podcasts. September 30th is International Podcast Day, and there’s never been a better time to get started. No matter what platform you decide to publish your show on, all podcasts have to start with the proper equipment, and I think these are some that are worth checking out.
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.
For fans of classic PC role-playing games, few games evoke as much love and loyalty as the original Fallout 1 & 2 from the late 1990s. So in late 2017, when ATOM RPG arrived for the PC, it was met with much anticipation and excitement. In the last couple of years, the developers have been making improvements and filling out some gaps, and now the full game has arrived for iOS devices and will soon also be available for Android!
We’re all going through the pandemic together, yet in many ways, many of us have never felt more alone. Money worries, employment woes, health fears, cabin fever, and anger at this situation, in general, can result in irrational arguments with your partner or other quarantine-mates, angst, malaise, a general sense of depression, and anxiety attacks. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Rootd wants to help.
Neato’s robot vacuums seem to be a favorite in a lot of homes, mostly because they’re some of the few that have so many built-in smart integrations including the ability to work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. But starting today, Neato adds a voice function that makes it even easier to command your vac from your iPhone.
I’ve had a video doorbell for over three years. It’s great, but after three years it is on the way out. Thankfully, the August View Doorbell Cam arrived for review. And while I can’t install it quite yet (we are in the process of replacing our fence and will use it there), I set it up to test and am impressed.
The terrible truth is cleaning your house after working hard all week is dreadful. No one enjoys doing it, but it must be done. But if you want to clean effectively, leaving little to no doubt that you’ve completed the mission, Shark’s UpLight & the Shark IQ Robot vacuums are the way to go.
