Tag: IFA

I just got back from Berlin, Germany where I attended Showstoppers, a companion event to IFA which is Europe’s version of CES. And just like CES I produced a dispatch from the event!

Check it out here!

Lenovo sponsored my trip again this year, covering travel but not influencing what I covered, and I was able to see a wide mix of concept ideas, shipping products, and quirky tech that you don’t always come across in the U.S.

At Lenovo’s press event I saw a few different concepts and new products. One that stood out was a concept laptop with a pivoting hinge that gives the display extra vertical space, potentially useful for editing, coding, or browsing. Lenovo’s new Legion Go 2 handheld is about to ship with detachable controllers, an OLED display, and robust ports, while their Legion Pro OLED gaming monitors push into high refresh rates and slim designs. Other Lenovo highlights included affordable Idea Tab Plus tablets, higher-end Yoga Tabs, a new aluminum-clad ThinkPad X9 line, and even some concept gear like a Smart Motion dock that physically tracks your face and keeps the laptop pointed at you.

Over at Showstoppers, I came across a number of smaller companies showing interesting devices. DigiEra had a chunky handheld tablet PC called the HoloMax with 3D display capabilities and powerful specs. BlackView showed off a rugged smartphone with built-in VHF and UHF radios, essentially combining a walkie-talkie and phone into one device. Momax introduced inexpensive Find My-compatible trackers with some extra safety features like a loud siren. Ugreen displayed a six-bay NAS powered by Intel’s Core Ultra processors and outfitted with Thunderbolt. Anker had a massive $5,000 portable projector and sound system called the Nebula X1 Pro, clearly aimed at outdoor movie nights.

There were also plenty of niche gadgets and fun experiments: a waterproof point-and-shoot camera for kids from Agfa Photo, keyboards from Epomaker with detachable screens and unusual switches, a SwitchBot robot that plays tennis with you, and the Hover Air camera that autonomously follows you around with no need for a remote control. Belkin had some new budget-friendly earbuds, car chargers, and magnetic wireless chargers, while Charge showed an SSD with integrated cooling and hub functionality.

This event is much more fun to watch than read. Check out the video and see all of my previous dispatches here!

I’ll have a mini-dispatch coming up in late October from a Pepcom event. Stay tuned!

I spent this past week in Germany attending some events ahead of the IFA consumer electronics trade show. IFA is the European equivalent to CES here in the United States. Lenovo sponsored this trip, covering my travel expenses. No additional compensation was received.

See my latest dispatch video from the show here!

My report consists of things I found of interest at two press events – one sponsored by Showstoppers that showcased products from 80 different companies, and a press event Lenovo held at a very cool industrial venue called Kraftwerks.

Showstoppers had a few cool gadgets on display, including some neat mechanical keyboards from Epomaker, a monstrous looking modular yard maintenance device called the “Yarbo,” and a bunch of other cool gadgets.

Pre-pandemic, IFA was always Lenovo’s huge showcase event. This year was the first time since the pandemic that Lenovo pulled out all the stops for a major IFA presentation. You can see just how extensive the presentation was in my dispatch video.

Lenovo’s presentation did not have any groundbreaking new product announcements, with the exception of a concept PC featuring a lid that automatically opens and tracks the user’s movements. But they did show off some nice PCs including a number of sub $1,000 ARM windows machines running with Snapdragon X Plus processors.

What was interesting was the fact that Intel is no longer the dominant chip platform for PCs – there was equal billing given to AMD and Qualcomm both in the keynote presentation and in product announcements. All three chipmakers now have PCs compatible with the Microsoft Co-Pilot+ AI specification that allows for on-device AI processing.

I was unable to stay for the rest of the IFA show due to the costs I would incur for full coverage. But hopefully this dispatch gives you a taste of what tech companies will be marketing to European users in the months ahead.

If you liked the style of this video I have hours more of it! See my dispatches playlist for coverage of CES, other regional product showcases and more! If you’re curious about what I use to cover these events I’m now using just my iPhone with a Sennheiser AVX microphone attached. You can see my set up in this video.

My next dispatch will likely be at the end of October for Pepcom’s holiday preview show in New York City. Stay tuned!