Apple's September event lands Wednesday, September 9, and Marc Aflalo and Mitchell Whitfield break down what to expect: the first foldable iPhone, a rumored home hub with a square display, and the big question hanging over both. Can Siri keep up with hardware that depends on voice control?

Two brand new devices are expected. The foldable iPhone enters a category Samsung already owns, and the hosts compare notes on how the existing folding form factors feel in hand, what the rounded corners on the renders might mean for the design, and whether losing a telephoto camera matters. The home hub is the wild card: a display and speaker combo that reportedly recognizes each member of the household and pulls up their own calendar and contacts.

That's where Siri becomes the problem. Marc explains why he still reaches for his Amazon Echo for basic tasks, even after running iOS 27 betas for months. Mitchell argues that Apple's wait-and-see approach on AI is no longer a harmless quirk. When an entire ecosystem is built to be controlled by voice, a weak assistant hurts the case for buying the hardware.

Price rounds out the conversation. Memory and storage costs are pushing everything higher, and the hosts expect the foldable to land around $2,500 US before tax, with Pro models likely starting higher than last year. Would you pay gaming-PC money for a phone? Marc and Mitchell land on different answers.

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The ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X puts an Xbox in your hands. Mitchell Whitfield spent weeks with the handheld and breaks down the controls, the 7-inch 120Hz display, real battery life, and whether the $599 base model is the smarter buy.

Both the ROG Xbox Ally and the Ally X run Windows 11 underneath, but ASUS layers its own software on top so you log in and see your games, not a desktop. Steam, EA, Activision and Xbox titles show up in one library regardless of where they came from. PC-based Xbox games install and play natively; the rest of your Xbox library streams through Xbox Play Anywhere, Remote Play or the cloud. Mitchell tested Call of Duty and Diablo 4 on a non-fiber home connection and reported no latency problems.

The hardware is the story. The grips and controls feel like an Xbox controller split in half with a screen between them, and Mitchell says that tactile match is what makes the device work. You also get programmable back buttons, assignable LEDs, an M.2 storage slot for easy upgrades, and a weight that feels solid rather than cheap.

On specs and price: the base Ally is around $599 with 16GB of RAM, a Z2 processor and 512GB of storage. The Ally X is $999 with 24GB of RAM, the Z2 Extreme, 1TB of storage and a larger battery. Expect roughly one and a half to two hours in top performance mode, or five to six hours in lower power modes. Mitchell's take: unless you play first-person shooters, the base model will serve you well, and ASUS deserves credit for holding launch pricing while competitors raised theirs.

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Gaming in 2025 looks nothing like it did a decade ago. Today's gamers stream on Twitch, edit content for YouTube, chat on Discord, and learn new skills — often all at the same time, on the same machine. Intel Gamer Days was built around that reality: a campaign designed to help Canadians find a gaming PC that handles everything they throw at it, not just high frame rates.

Asma walks through what makes the Intel Core Ultra processor a centerpiece of this campaign: performance for smooth, uninterrupted gameplay; built-in AI acceleration through an NPU for AI-powered applications and creative software; and efficiency gains that mean quieter systems and longer battery life on gaming laptops. Retail partners Best Buy, Costco, Canada Computers, and Memory Express are key to the campaign, giving shoppers a chance to compare systems hands-on and speak with knowledgeable staff before committing. Software bundles — including titles like Star Wars Galactic Racer and Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis — add extra value for buyers who upgrade during the campaign window.

If you've been thinking about upgrading your gaming PC, head to a participating retailer before September 13 to see these systems in person. Find full details and deals at game.intel.com/gamerdays. Like and subscribe to stay updated on exclusive opportunities we'll be sharing throughout the campaign.

Intel Gamer Days: https://game.intel.com/gamerdays
Best Buy Canada: https://www.bestbuy.ca
Canada Computers: https://www.canadacomputers.com
Memory Express: https://www.memoryexpress.com

#IntelGamerDays #IntelCoreUltra #GamingPC

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Michael Cioni built four startups, and each one taught him something the last one couldn't. What he learned at Frame.io and Adobe was that the cloud, despite its flexibility, was too expensive and the internet too slow for the workflows creative professionals actually live in. That insight became Strada: a peer-to-peer network that lets you share files directly off your own local storage — OWC drives included — without uploading them to a cloud service first.

Larry O'Connor saw it in motion at IBC and recognized immediately what Strada represented: a practical, powerful use case for OWC hardware that cloud infrastructure simply can't replicate. He describes a generation of professionals who have been told cloud is the answer for everything, sometimes at the expense of understanding what on-premise storage can actually do. OWC has consistently pushed back against that narrative, and the partnership with Strada is the clearest expression of that position yet.

The conversation covers how Strada evolved — starting with AI-assisted media tagging, shifting to peer-to-peer file access after direct customer feedback, and planning to bring AI enrichment back in 2027, this time running locally on your own hardware. Michael explains why building the company in public, with weekly live streams and open beta testing, wasn't just a marketing strategy — it was a financial necessity for a startup that can't afford to build the wrong thing. Larry echoes this, noting that customer-first thinking has always driven OWC's product decisions.

They also discuss storage pricing volatility, the real-world limits of internet bandwidth for high-resolution formats like 8K RED RAW, and what it means to give creative professionals access to that footage remotely in seconds — without requiring a full upload first.

👉 If this conversation sparked something, subscribe so you don't miss what's next. Drop a comment — are you still paying for cloud storage you wish you could replace? Larry and Michael would probably love to hear it.

Strada: https://strata.tech

OWC: https://www.owc.com

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Schlage has been in the lock business for over 100 years, and that heritage is very much alive in how the company approaches smart home security. Tim Eskew walks through the evolution of Schlage's connected products — from their first electronic lock in 2007 to Bluetooth integration in the early 2010s, Wi-Fi with the Encode line in 2019, and now the Sense Pro, which combines Ultra-Wideband, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, and Matter over Thread in a single device.

The centerpiece of the conversation is Schlage Converge, the proprietary technology built into the Sense Pro that enables hands-free, approach-based unlocking. Using Ultra-Wideband, the lock detects the angle and speed of your approach, then unlocks at exactly the right moment — no fumbling for keys, no tapping a phone. Tim explains that the use case that drove its development was deceptively simple: coming home with your hands full.

Beyond Converge, the conversation covers the Sense Pro's keyless-and-keypadless design, how Schlage handles battery life and low-power failsafes (including a USB-C jumpstart port), ecosystem compatibility across Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home, and Matter, and how firmware updates have allowed Schlage to keep older locks relevant and valuable over time.

Marc and Tim also dig into how consumers discover features they didn't know they had — scheduled access codes, remote unlocking from hundreds of miles away, and vacation rental integrations — and how the smart home ecosystem has genuinely reinvigorated product development at Schlage from the inside out.

👉 Subscribe to Your Tech Report for hands-on smart home coverage every week. Leave a comment below — would you trust a lock with no keypad and no physical key?

Relevant Links:

Schlage official website: https://www.schlage.com
Allegion (parent company): https://www.allegion.com

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Tim Ketchum walks Marc Aflalo through the origin story of Composer: a startup born from frustration with composting and a recognition that garbage disposals, despite being in 60% of American homes, handle only 15% of food waste. The engineering challenge wasn't grinding — every disposal does that — it was rethinking every other aspect of the experience.

The centerpiece of Composer's design is a patented drain iris: a one-touch lever mechanism that opens and closes the drain opening with one hand, eliminating loose covers and reducing the risk of drops or accidental contact. The iris also deadens sound significantly — something Ketchum notes has more to do with directing noise away from the grinding chamber than with insulation panels.

The second major differentiator is an enzyme system inspired by dishwasher detergent. Twice daily, Composer automatically injects enzymes into the chamber to break down food residue, prevent odors, and reduce the risk of pipe buildup — while a built-in water injection system ensures proper flushing without needing a running tap.

Marc highlights the accessibility angle directly: the iris design removes the fine motor challenges of traditional twist-lock covers and reduces safety anxiety for users with children or limited hand strength.

Composer is available to reserve at composer.me, with early-bird enzyme subscriptions at $4.99/month. First shipments are targeted for October (subject to production timelines — verify current status directly with the company).

Relevant Links

Composer (reserve yours): https://composer.me

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J.D. Power surveyed over 5,000 Canadian digital bank users to evaluate mobile app and website experiences across four pillars: digital design and usability, system performance, security, and support. The findings show that the banks leading in satisfaction aren't winning on features — they're winning on fundamentals. Fast load times, clear account information, intuitive navigation, and reliable money movement are the real differentiators.

AI-powered virtual assistants are gaining ground, but unevenly. When users see their bank's assistant as truly capable and comprehensive, satisfaction scores jump by 160 points. The catch: that sense of capability falls apart fast when tasks get complex. Reporting fraud, resolving disputes, or navigating anything high-stakes often leaves users trapped in loops or met with generic responses — the opposite of reassuring.

White argues the next frontier isn't more automation. It's better handoffs — clear, prescriptive guidance that moves a customer to the right human at the right moment. According to the research, that's actually one of the top four things Canadians want AI to do for them.

TD ranked highest among banking apps. CIBC led for website experience. Tangerine topped the credit card mobile app category with a score of 737, compared to American Express at 717 in second place.

Relevant Links
J.D. Power Canada Banking Study: https://www.jdpower.com

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