The latest trends at the IFA
Smart homes are a major talking point at the International Consumer Electronics Fair (IFA) in Berlin.
You know the feeling. It's been an exhausting day. You come home. You're in a tired mood. The coffee maker immediately switches itself on and prepares a café latte just the way you like it: hot, strong, with a crown of thick milk froth. Coffee machines that can tell from your facial expression that you need a strong coffee are not just wishful thinking. In the meantime, video-based sensors in a special camera can literally read the wishes of smart-home residents from their lips.
Electronics that make everyday life easier
The smart home is a major topic at the IFA, the world's largest trade fair for consumer and home electronics. Last year, more than 1,500 exhibitors and almost a quarter of a million visitors came to the exhibition halls under Berlin's Funkturm (radio tower). And a new record is expected this year. Many people just come to stare and marvel. According to the trade fair's advertising, the spectrum of new technologies on show ranges “from smart-home apps to digital trainers”. An I-Phone app was presented shortly before the IFA which tells the voice-controlled assistant Siri to automatically close the blinds and turn off the TV and the lights if it hears the phrase “I'm going to bed now”. All that remains for the partner to do is to warm up the bed.
If up to now you've been using a heart-rate monitor while out jogging, you might like to try a pair of smart trainers at the IFA to access very precise data about your training programme. So-called “wearables” measure and document everyday life, while a suitable app evaluates the data – also for medical purposes. For many IFA visitors, however, television is still the main focus of interest. It's not only getting ever bigger, but curved, and has long-since been internet-enabled; interactive links between the Web and the TV set is the next step. Now, DVB-T2, the next generation of terrestrial television, is supposed to deliver ultra-sharp pictures.
“For industry and retailers, the IFA is the number-one meeting place and marketplace worldwide for placing orders and seeing innovations. With an expected order volume of more than 4.25 billion euros, IFA 2015 will again be setting the pace for the markets,” says Hans-Joachim Kamp, supervisory-board chairman at Consumer & Home Electronics (gfu).
IFA from 4 to 9 September 2015 in Berlin
