One of the busiest technology events of the year is in full swing, with Sony and Samsung among the firms unveiling new products at the IFA convention in Berlin.
Ahead of the floor opening to more than 1,800 exhibitors on Friday, the industry’s established names have been showcasing what they have coming up, from new televisions to speakers, smartphones and even a robotic dog.
These are the best bits from day one of IFA 2018.
Samsung and LG’s 8K TVs
Many people are only just getting used to the idea of 4K resolution TVs, but Samsung and LG used their IFA events to begin a fight for dominance in an 8K TV market.
Both tech giants unveiled new ultra-high resolution displays – which for context have sixteen times more pixels than traditional Full HD.
Samsung argued that demand for larger and larger screens is growing and so quality resolution needs to keep up.
Aibo
While Samsung pointed to demand, Sony was busy pulling at consumer heartstrings with the first European appearance of Aibo, it’s artificial intelligence-powered robot dog.
Unveiled at CES at the beginning of the year and now on sale in Japan and soon to be in the US, appearing at IFA is a teasing hint that the robot pet could soon reach Europe.
Sony haven’t confirmed a release yet, but judging by the crowds around the Aibo pen, maybe the demand is there after all.
Acer’s gaming “throne”
Video games are a very serious matter for some people – and those people now have the chair to play in thanks to Acer.
The suitably epically named Predator Thronos Gaming Chair not only vibrates along with the in-game action, but comes with an overhead rig that can support up to three monitors.
The cabin also has space for a gaming PC and can recline up to 140 degrees.
As Acer themselves say it’s “more than a gaming chair — it’s a gamer’s cave”.
Xperia XZ 3
IFA is not always a show dominated by smartphones, but Sony’s new Xperia XZ 3 is a new flagship device that deserves some attention.
The slim, six-inch screen device houses Sony’s award-winning Bravia TV technology for the first time, which means better contrast, colour reproduction and most other things you might expect from a TV screen compared to a phone.
It also has a fair amount of AI inside it too – the new Smart Launch feature, activated by tapping twice on the side of the phone, opens up a menu of a user’s most commonly used apps, but also takes into account time of day and location when offering up the software it thinks you’re looking for.
