At the beginning of the year Philips consolidated their Consumer Electronics and Domestic Appliances & Personal Care divisions into a single unified Consumer Lifestyles group, with a focus on “enabling [consumers] to enjoy a healthier and more rewarding lifestyle”. (source) The Philips HomeLab I visited is one example of how Philips investigates what products are best suited for… → Read More
Grundig is pitching their Audiorama 900 spherical speaker system at IFA 2008, for all your retro music needs. These speakers create 360° sound projection and can be either floor mounted or hung from the ceiling. Available in black or white for swank bachelor pads everywhere. → Read More
http://www.viddler.com/player/d3527997/ Several companies — large and small — were demonstrating alternative input technologies at IFA today. Most, like the Pong video above, were exploring how to use motion tracking to control various on-screen elements. More video after the jump. → Read More
If you don’t like the idea of shooting your alarm clock, the new version of the Philips Wake-up Light might be for you. Like any other alarm clock, you set the time at which you want to be woken up. 30 minutes before that time arrives, however, the Wake-up Light starts to gently glow. As the minutes pass, the light gets brighter, simulating the rising sun, so that when the designated time… → Read More
At IFA today many companies are showing off their attempts at 3D TV. Most of the displays being shown are not yet designed for home use, and instead are being positioned as business applications: in-store signage and advertising, architecture and CAD displays, and prototype user interfaces. Most of the televisions require no glasses, and produce a reasonable 3D display. In the displays I’ve… → Read More
IFA 2008 offers the curious spectator an awful lot to look at. There are hundreds of televisions, computers, projectors, stereos, navigation systems, MP3 players, and all other manner of gadget covered by CrunchGear, from all the brand names you know and love. But this year’s IFA introduced a new set of products to the show: so-called “white goods”. Things like… → Read More
The Sony Sountina is another 360° single speaker system. This one uses a vibrating organic cylinder. Insert obligatory double-entendre here. The Sountina also has colorful LEDs to breathe “blue, amber and purple light into the space.” → Read More
2008 is the first year that the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin has included so-called “white goods” in addition to the traditional media and entertainment products on display. Particularly interesting to me were a collection of high-end wine coolers like those pictured above, and the Philips Perfect Draft beer fridge. Stick a pony keg inside the Perfect Draft and you can… → Read More
http://www.viddler.com/player/adffa1f0/ In the Home Appliances section of IFA 2008 are dozens of brands of coffee makers, most doling out freshly brewed joe to bleary-eyed conventioneers. The video above demonstrates one of the larger of such displays. A small pad on the bottom of the coffee cup contains an icon, which a camera under the table identifies and tracks as it slides around the… → Read More
I used to think that my local Best Buy had a lot of televisions on display. Then I attended IFA. Each vendor’s stand has dozens — sometimes hundreds — of TVs up and running. It’s enough to make the eyes glaze over. Samsung had the largest display of TVs, pictured above. More Samsung and others after the jump. → Read More
Epson’s EC-01 inkjet printer is the flagship product in their new Environmental Vision 2050 initiative: it’s shipped in an unpainted recycled cardboard box, the manual is printed on recycled paper, and the included driver CD is stored within an envelope made of recycled paper. But what really sets this printer apart is that you don’t replace the ink: when the cartridge runs… → Read More
The Loewe stand at IFA caught my eye for two reasons. The image above struck my funny bone, and the image below filled me with deep techno-lust. At a show filled with televisions that all looked very much alike, Loewe had on display a number of sleek, stylish televisions that really stood out from the crowd. Like many other companies at IFA, Loewe was touting their own whole-house networked… → Read More
Salacious photos after the jump. Finlux unveiled several new televisions and set-top boxes at IFA. The video they selected to demonstrate the sets at the front of their stand was the most salacious of the whole show (though I never did get to the Penthouse stand), while the rest of the sets on display were showing much more business like sequences. → Read More
Oh man, who thought this was a good idea? Pretty much all the big companies were handing out goodie bags, so to speak, at IFA. Inside is the usual assortment of swag you’d find at any trade show: pens, buttons, maybe an extraordinarily cheap pair of headphones, etc. Not Sharp, though. They went above and beyond the call of duty. They were handing out these giant inflatable, I don’t… → Read More
T-Mobile has a rather large booth at IFA this year, and it’s no surprise that the iPhone is front-and-center. It goes even further, though, as the German carrier has a huge touchscreen installed, there for everyone to screw around with. At one point—that video up there—T-Mo turned down the lights, and Mac OS X-esque intro music started playing. → Read More
First off, Photosynth only works on Windows machines. That includes creating them and merely viewing them. I made this one using Boot Camp on my MacBook. That out of that way, this is a quick little Photosynth of Samsung’s booth at IFA 2008. Theirs was probably the most visually impressive at the show. More stuff on the way, as I just found out that the video I took with my cellphone is… → Read More
Large, international tradeshows can showcase the absolute bleeding edge of technology. Sometimes though, said tech was developed with the unknown help of another company, so obviously, this can come to a breaking point at these tradeshows. According to The Register, German Custom agents have been busy this year at IFA. A spokesman for German Customs told us: “We’ve raided 69… → Read More
From the standard fare of receivers to gaming headsets, Dolby has invaded IFA this year. Harman Kardon is going to launch the first receiver with Dolby’s touted Volume technology that ensures constant volume across all content media. Then there is the Plantronics GameCom 777 headset aimed at gamers with surround sound. PCs are getting a sound upgrade as well with Dolby Home Theater and Dolby… → Read More
Indiana Jones or Superman prop; classy or just plain tacky? I can’t decide but I’ve to give the boys over at Harman Kardon for suck a clever name: GLA-55. ‘Cause it’s made out of glass. Get it? Anyway, getting down to the details. Only two to three thousand are going to be made and priced at £500. Within the crystal speakers lay a 56 watt per speaker… → Read More
So what’s “Enhanced MPAII”? It’s a technology that was developed to reduce ghosting effects and reduced the MPRT from 27ms to 9ms (although, the spec sheet says 5ms, but they could be two different things). That applies to both the SyncMaster 2233HZ and SyncMaster 2243HZ, which both have resolutions of 1680×1050. Specs after the jump. → Read More
Delta Electronics took the IFA global stage and announced the companies first LED-powered DLP projector. The initial specs sound good – expect one, keep reading – 1080p, large color gamut, and 20,000 hours on the LED unit. The company didn’t announce pricing yet, but it will be at CEDIA next week so I’ll hit ‘em up with some questions then. Before I ask about price… → Read More
Blu-ray player launches are getting kind of commonplace. Really, the only spec I am looking for right now is BD-Live and yes, both the Panasonic DMP-BD35 and BD55 are equipped with it. Of course, both players also have HDMI, proprietary video processing, and a sleek, modern design. As far as pricing, European high-fi guys can pick up the BD35 for €399 and the BD55 for €499. Chances are… → Read More
Green is still a buzzword worth marketing and Toshiba is showing off its environment friendly products at this years IFA. The companies LCD power consumption is being slashed by 20% over ’06 model levels and are more of the flat panel displays are LED backlit. By 2010, Toshiba will no longer be manufacturing incandescent lamps and thus cutting CO2 emissions even more. The Portégé R500… → Read More
Rumors and leaks about Sony’s latest SXRD projector has been floating around AV forums for some time now so this unit might be old news to some. Even still, Sony brought the VPL-HW10 out at IFA for the whole world to see. For those not aware, this guy’s calling card is based around x.v.Colour performance for a low, but yet unannounced, price. Sony claims that there isn’t a… → Read More
Philips has expanded its Active Crystals product line with a few new items. Above you see Naughty Raymond and Happy Laura, two cute accessories for your digital life. Simply pull off their heads to reveal the 2 GB USB key buried within. → Read More
High-end HDTVs have featured internal upscalling tech for a while now, generally garnishing higher prices because of it, but now Toshiba is bringing the goods to the masses. The companies latest LCD lineup, called ZF, sports Tosbiba’s homegrown Cell processor and some proprietary picture enhancing tech labeled Resolution+. When the two of them combine forces, they should produce a sharper… → Read More
I’m here at IFA in Berlin, a stone’s throw away from my temporary base of operations in Barcelona. The show itself—think CES, just run by a bunch of well-dressed Europeans—starts this weekend, but a few companies are having hip-hip hooray press conferences a bit early, announcing new products then quickly putting them back behind a curtain, saying how great they are, etc. → Read More
And the IFA 2008 news keeps rolling along with an ultra-thin LCD from Sharp that’s 2.3cm thick. The 100Hz AQUOS XS1 will be available in 52- and 65-inch sets and features 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and 6ms response time. The latest AQUOS display is full HD and comes equipped with a detachable 2.1-channel speaker system. → Read More
The Philips Essence is a television that is only 38 millimeters thick. It has a 100Hz display that provides a 2 millisecond response time. At only 36 pounds, it is ideal for wall mounting and even includes a self-leveling mounting kit so you won’t need to venture into Home Depot. → Read More
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