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Another year, another IFA tech conference in Berlin touts it's wares. It was a bit of a tablet and 3D free-for-all this year, with most of the heavyweight tech firms throwing their clout behind those two growing technologies. But what were the picks of the bunch?
Here's Tech Digest's run-down of the Top Ten Best In Show gadgets on display at IFA 2010.
Click below to get started.
Audio specialists Klipsch were also on-hand at this year's IFA 2010 conference in Berlin. Though best known for their high-end audio gear (such as the recently reviewed Image X10i earphones), the company were on hand to show off some more budget friendly options this time around.
Ranging in price from £39 to £129.99, check out all the details and official pics of the Image S3, Image S5i Rugged and Image One headphones below.
Tech Digest got our Scorsese on out in Berlin at this week's IFA conference, shooting a whole load of video previews. For your convenience, here's the whole lot compiled into a single post. Just click through each video's headline to be brought to each individual story, which will give you further details on the device in question.
Samsung Galaxy Tab - all the details revealed
LG's lush 31 inch 3D OLED prototype is a tantalising taste of the future
ViewSonic ViewPad 7 tablet hands-on
Hannspree launch Apple TV too!
Sharp glasses-free 3D mobile phone prototype demoed
Spotify hitting Sonos multi-room music systems
Toshiba Folio 100 tablet revealed
World's first Android TV revealed by People of Lava Sweden
Elonex eTouch Android tablet gets nifty case/keyboard combo add-on
Surreal 3D meta-reality future glimpsed at Panasonic booth
While eReader's sit in a somewhat precarious position now that the tablet onslaught is in full swing, that hasn't stopped Elonex from marching ahead with their latest colour eBook reader, the 500EB.
Darren Smith from Elonex talks us through the device in the video above.
As well as extensive book file format support, the , the 500EB also featured MP3 playback whilst reading, as well as 720p video capabilities.
Robust and affordable at £99, our main concern lies with the 500EB's screen. It was pretty reflective for an eReader, and though it packs in TFT colour smarts, they appeared a little washed out during our brief time with the device.
Click here for more IFA 2010 related news
3D tech was all over the IFA 2010 conference this year, but perhaps the most unusual example of its usage was over at the Panasonic hall.
Now the actual technology demoed here, whilst impressive, isn't all that strange; Panasonic were showing off live 3D post-production techniques using their latest Viera 3D panels and professional stereoscopic 3D camera gear.
What was, quite frankly, disturbing however was the set up. A trapeze team were inside the arena, spinning around above our heads whilst being filmed by the 3D film crew. In front of the act were a line of 3D panels, and in front of them again were pole-mounted 3D active shutter glasses. The public could either watch the trapeze act naturally, or by walking over to the glasses and slipping them over their eyes, in essence choosing to watch a live show taking place directly in front of them in real-world 3D through a TV screen instead.
In my ten or so minutes at the stand, not one of the hundreds of passers by spent more than a few seconds watching the trapeze artists with their naked eyes, whilst many happily stood and watched for a few minutes on the 3D screens.
Now you can argue that, at a tech show, people are bound to be more interested in the TVs than a circus act. It's what they're there for after all. But the whole set-up just creeped me out a little bit, like a glimpse into some Philip K Dick style future where humanity will only ever see the outside world passively through high-tech TV screens.
Remember folks, real-life comes in three dimensions too.
E-Noa were on hand at the IFA 2010 conference in Berlin this week, displaying their InterPad Android tablet. First shown off back in July, it's still a little way off from release, though Tech Digest were still able to have a brief play about with the device.
Though it's running Android 2.2, E-Noa are looking to customise the UI somewhat to better suit the tablet's 10 inch 1024x600 display. This is still evidently a work in progress, with legacy icons such as the phone call shortcut still present, despite only cellular data being carried over the optional 3G/UMT connection.
1080p video playback runs smoothly off a Tegra 2 chipset, with a claimed 12 hour battery life more than enough to burn through an entire season of most shows. It's a bit heavy though, and that's likely thanks to the same 3,500mAh battery pack that's offering that impressive battery length.
With so many tablets on display at this year's IFA, it's difficult to judge just how successful a slate without the backing of a major brand name will be. The InterPad is looking like a very competitive option as it stands though, and if they can sort out the UI glitches and drop the pricing a little (you're looking at around 399 Euros) they may yet stand a chance.
Here's another Android tablet on display at IFA 2010, this time by UK based Elonex. The 10 inch Elonex eTouch 1000 ET tablet is running version 2.1 of Google's operating system and is notably more powerful than the ViewSonic Viewpad 7 thanks to a 1GHz LNX ARM processor.
The eTouch tablet also features 2GB of onboard storage (expandable via microSD), 256MB of memory, as well as a Wi-Fi connection. No 3G however, though Elonex have sensibly added a USB port that allows you to link it up to a clever case/keyboard hybrid. I'm surprised these things aren't already ten-a-penny for, but there haven't really been any hardware keysets for the other tablets on show. Elonex's keyboard add-on seems both functional, and at an expected price of around £40, affordable too.
Though in terms of design it owes a lot to the iPad, the eTouch is sporting a resistive rather than capacitive touchscreen. It's not ideal, but as it requires only 50 grams of pressure to respond, you shouldn't have too many problems navigating its apps.
If we had one complaint of the eTouch tablet during our quick look at the device, it was that its display was very reflective indeed. In all fairness the Elonex stand was in one of the brightest, most sunlit halls in the Messe convention centre, but you'd certainly have a hard time using it in direct daylight.
You'll be able to pick up the eTouch 1000 ET tablet up by the end of the month for 199 Euros, whilst a 7inch version with the same specs is also available for 150 Euros.
Whilst the official launch of Google TV may be just around the corner, People of Lava Sweden have jumped the gun at this year's IFA, claiming a world-first with their Scandinavia Android powered TV. Check it out in the video above.
Set for a worldwide launch before the year is out, you'll be able to pick up the full HD screen in 42, 47 and 55 inch sizes. 3 HDMI ports sit on the rear, plus composite and scart connections, with media playback also possible through USB ports.
From the off you have access to a fairly robust web browser, which supports zooming and multiple windows open simultaneously across the screen. Out of the box you'll also get apps for YouTube, Google Maps and a Calendar, with more available from the Android App store. Push and POP 3 email is also supported.
Though we were told by technical director Mathias Andolfsson that the OS can be upgraded over the web, according to the company's website it's only running Android 1.5, aka Cupcake out of the box, which may turn some people off.
It's all controlled by a palm-sized wireless keyboard-come-remote control, which features a full QWERTY set up, cursor keys, application shortcuts and Wii-like onscreen cursor control.
Though Samsung's Galaxy Tab may have been grabbing most of the limelight at this year's IFA conference, Toshiba too were making their first steps into the touchscreen tablet market with their Folio 100 device. Tech Digest got to have a brief look at the device, which you can see in the video above.
Running Android 2.2 off a Nvidia Tegra 2 chip, Toshiba have given the regular Android UI a bit of a tweak to make better use of the extra screen real estate the 10 inch screen allows for. Flash 10.1 is supported with Opera onboard for browsing the web, as well as the usual suspects of the Android marketplace. FBReader is the ebook app of choice, whilst you've also got Fring for video calling using the built in webcam.
Elsewhere, the device is also packing in HDMI and USB 2.0 ports, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and storage expansion with microSD cards.
Whilst our time with the device was shorter than we got with the Galaxy Tab, we noticed a few issues that caused our eyebrows to raise. The Folio 100 seemed to buckle under the pressure of Flash-heavy websites, causing at least two crashes in our few minutes of hands-on testing. And while the screen was very crisp with few reflection issues, we found it a bit sluggish when pinch-zooming and scrolling.
Still a little bit of time though for Toshiba to fine-tune their tablet yet though. They're not expecting to release it to the public until the end of the year.
Spotify and multi-room streaming sound-system specialists Sonos have announced at this year's IFA conference that they are to join forces. From the end of September, all Sonos systems will be upgraded to 3.3, which (when paired with an iPhone/iPad app and premium Spotify subscription) will allow wireless playback of Spotify tracks to any Sonos speaker in the house.
Tech Digest went hands-on with the app and connected S5 sound system, with Sonos product manager Craig Wisneski talking us through its features. Check it out in the video above.
"It's great that people will be able to listen to Spotify whenever they want, wherever they want in their home," said Daniel Ek, founder of Spotify. "We're excited to partner with Sonos to deliver the unique Spotify experience in the home, with the same quality and ease of use that our users already love."
"Spotify on Sonos has been the number one request from our European customers and we're thrilled to deliver it," adedd John MacFarlane, founder and CEO Sonos, Inc. "Our mission at Sonos is to play all the music on the planet, all over the house. By partnering with a leading music streaming service like Spotify, we can now offer more of our customers the ultimate jukebox experience at home."
Tech Digest came away very impressed by the app's implementation of Spotify. As intuitive as you could imagine, it featured drag and drop playlists, and simple controls for managing the service's catalogue of tracks in each separate room. With so many companies now offering music streaming across the home, nabbing Spotify will give Sonos a great edge over the competition.
It isn't just TVs getting 3D tech thrown into them these days. Next year looks set to see a whole host of mobile phones getting in on the action too, and glasses-free to boot.
Sharp had a prototype of one such device on show at IFA this year. Featuring the same lenticular lens technology as seen in the Nintendo 3DS, the 3.8 inch screen could quite capably give a sense of depth to images displayed on it. Sure, it wasn't a patch on a large 3D TV screen, but it was a nice little glimpse at what will be waiting just around the corner.
3D images could be captured on the prototype using a stereo camera on the rear, while 3D video could be outputted straight to a 3D-ready TV over a HDMI connection.
No word on specific devices that will use the lenticular 3D tech yet from Sharp, but a spokesperson at the event hinted at a launch before the end of the year.
Click here for more IFA 2010 related news
At Phones4u.co.uk they have a fantastic range of deals on both contract and pay as you go mobile phones
Looks like Steve Jobs and co won't be the only gang launching an Apple TV this year. Feast your eyes on the Hannspree 55 Apple TV!
With a similarly fruit-themed cartoon casing as seen in earlier Hannspree novelty sets, the screen size this time around is a monster 55 inches across. Full HD at a 1080p resolution, it's also packing in 4 HDMI ports, as well as scart and composite connections.
Don't expect any app smarts with this set, though it's a colourful and surprisingly sharp screen that'll take centre stage in any kiddies bedroom.
Check it out in the video above.
IFA 2010 could pretty easily have been renamed Tablet Land this year, with more slate-style devices around every corner than you could shake an iPad at. Picking up a fair bit of pre-show interest was ViewSonic's ViewPad 7. Tech Digest headed over to their stand to check it out, where ViewSonic's Derek Wright was more than happy to demo the device for us. Check it out in the video above.
Overall, the ViewPad 7 is looking pretty good. Though it's a plastic build, it's well put together, and likely keeps production costs low. Capacitive response on the 7 inch display was fine, and though the 600MHz Snapdragon processor may sound a little underpowered, it had no problems whizzing through all the Android 2.2 features on display.
It's a pity there's no built in memory, so you're going to have to grab a decent microSD card to make the most of the ViewPad 7. You've also got phone-smarts inside for calls and texts, though like the Dell Streak its size means you're going to need a Bluetooth headset for this function to make any practical sense.
It's slated for an October release, at somewhere around the £350 mark.
All the major TV manufacturers at this year's IFA were touting some form or other of web-connected screen, but the most interesting of the bunch were LG's Smart TVs.
With Wii-like Magic Motion pointer remote, they featured an intuitive dashboard and applications download feature, as well as wireless streaming of content to smartphones, tablets and PCs.
"With the introduction of our advanced SMART TV, LG is able to offer a 'Total Home
Entertainment Solution' enabling consumers to enjoy practically any digital content on
any smart device," said Simon Kang, President and CEO of LG Home Entertainment
Company. "For consumers who want full control over how and where they get their
entertainment with maximum ease and comfort, the LG SMART TV solution may be all
they need."
LG's George Mead takes us through the sets many features in the above video.
The LG Smart TV will launch in early 2011.
3D may still by the buzz word when it comes to TVs at the moment, but if LG's 31 inch prototype model is anything to go by, the future of flatscreen televisions really lies in OLED technology.
At 31 inches in size, it's the worlds biggest OLED screen, and, at 2.9mm thick, the slimmest too. Colour reproduction is stunning on the 31 inch display with no bleeding across tones, and as OLED pixels generate their own light, incredible black levels are also possible.
We were already sold on the panel's 2D skills, but add in its impressive 3D abilities too and LG seem to have pretty much every base covered.
LG's George Mead talks us through the screen in the video above. Start saving the pennies, as he reveals this one will be unleashed to the public in "the near future".
Sky TV and LG have further extended their 3D partnership in the run-up to the broadcaster's October 1st 3D channel launch.
LG will enter into a joint marketing program with Sky to promote the new service, which will soon include 3D TV deals for subscribers looking to delve into the third dimension. LG already work alongside Sky to bring passive 3D TV technology to pubs up and down the country
"Making 3D technology a genuine reality in people's homes relies on the pairing of great hardware and compelling content. Our partnership with Sky recognises just this", said Stephen Gater, Head of Marketing LG Home Entertainment Company. "Together we are committed to educating consumers about our full 3D TV range and demonstrating how they can best view the new content that will available to them in the home."
Hilary Perchard, Sky's Director of Product Management, was equally enthusiastic: "We're delighted to have entered into this partnership with LG. We believe in giving customers choice and as the only manufacturer so far committed to both active and passive TVs, we believe LG has the breadth of product to offer a 3D TV experience for all Sky customers. We will work alongside LG in helping raise interest and awareness of 3D as we build up to and beyond the launch of Sky 3D."
The partnership makes perfect sense for LG, tying thier brand directly to the country's only 3D TV channel. It's perhaps a little less certain what Sky look to gain however. Both companies need to expand their reach beyond the realm of early adopters, and if the deal makes the details of 3D tech more transparent and attractive for consumers that will be a boost to both parties, especially considering LG offer the slightly more affordable passive 3D options as well as active 3D TVs.
Though the focus of Samsung's IFA 2010 press conference may have fell largely on their Galaxy Tab slate device (as did their advertising campaigns - building sized Galaxy Tab adverts are dotted liberally around Berlin at the moment), perhaps the real star of the show was their LED C8000 3D TV screen.
At 65 inches in size it's a mammoth set, and sits proudly as the world's largest 3D LED TV.
As well as that lofty title, the C800 also boasts Wi-Fi connectivity, precision dimming technology for deeper black levels, web-connected TV apps and 800 CMR motion clarity processing, though we're not too sure wether or not that last spec is a bit of marketing fluff.
According to Samsung, it "provides superior picture quality with Samsung's proprietary 3D processor". With a price tag to match its size (5995 Euros), you'd be hoping for "superior" too.
Samsung executives have revealed that their hot new tablet, the Galaxy Tab, is just the first in a long line of slate devices the company have planned.
"Based on our market research, people have different desires, so we are definitely going to have different sizes of tablets", said D J Lee, head of global sales and marketing, Samsung Mobile HQ, "And there will be tablets at different price points too".
Samsung's JK Shin expanded further:"Next year, you will see a variety of different tablets from our company. There will be a Honeycomb tablet device; there will be an entire tablet device portfolio".
2011 looks set to be a big tablet year for old Sammy then. Not that they want to take the edge off of their newly revealed Tab of course - Samsung have stressed that getting it into the hands of happy customers is their foremost priority.
Samsung have finally officially lifted the lid on their Galaxy Tab tablet device, and, like the Viewsonic ViewPad 7, it turns out that it's also a really massive phone too.
The 7 inch touchscreen Android 2.2 Froyo device took pride of palce during Samsung's press conference earlier today, and we've finally got an official spec sheet to go along with months' worth of blurry spy shots.
Running at a 1024 x 600 resolution on a TFT-LCD screen, the Galaxy Tab has all the bells and whistles of a regular smartphone (calls, texts, MMS etc), except for the fact it isn't going to fit all that well in your trouser pockets.
It's a pretty snappy piece of kit on the specs side too. A Cortex A8 1GHz processor is running the show, with 512 MB of RAM, 3G HSDPA, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 as well as a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera and 3 megapixel regular snapper on the back. The tablet will be availble in two sizes, 16 and 32 GB, expandable by a further 32 GB with memory cards. You'll also be able to squeeze around 7 hours worth of life out of its 400mAh battery.
Elsewhere you'll find gyroscope, geo-magnetic, light and accelerometer sensors on board too.
Plenty of media file formats are supported (DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, H.264 and more) alongside Flash 10.1, as well as the inclusion of a host of new Samsung content portals for ebooks, music and movies.
Vodafone have also been announced as the first UK carrier for the device, saying:
"Vodafone's aim is to offer all customers new and attractive ways to enjoy mobile data, on the move, across a variety of devices", said Patrick Chomet, group director of terminals at Vodafone.
"Adding tablets as part of our device range is a natural next step that gives customers an alternative way to enjoy great content and internet services. The Galaxy Tab is another showcase for Samsung's innovation capabilities and we're pleased to be introducing this across a number of our markets".
No word on pricing yet, but expect a mid September launch.
It's not just super-slim OLED sets on LG's IFA agenda this year. The South Korean tech giants are also diving into the realm of connected TVs, and their newly-revealed Smart TV seems the most aptly named of the bunch.
The web-connected set features a dashboard-style UI that houses a number of apps. These include Facebook, Picasa and Youtube among others, all pretty standard fare for internet-savvy screens.
Things get interesting however when the Smart TVs Wii-style Magic Motion Remote Control gets involved. Poiting and clicking to control actions on screen rather than using a traditional television remote control scheme, it'll let you try your hand at Yoga and First Aid lessons onscreen, as well as mucking about with a colouring-book app, with more wand-friendly features on the way.
The set will also complete with LGs Media Link, syncing numerous devices to the screen. According to the LG press release, Media Link offers:
"Instant access to online videos and images; users can easily upload things they've created themselves. And with a smartphone, leaving the house doesn't mean missing one's favourite programme because content can be delivered wirelessly. Whether connecting to an iPad, PCs, personal media players or home theatre systems, LG is expanding the reach of entertainment to every part of people's lives".
More on the LG Smart TV when it launches early next year.
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