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IFA 2022 is on, after two years of small scale fill-ins due to the pandemic
The Berlin trade show takes place in September 2022 in full capacity
After two long years of pandemic, things are looking up again. Mask mandates and further restrictions are falling left and right all over the world as health care systems are no longer completely overwhelmed, and tech trade shows are making a return. Following hot on the heels of CES 2022 and MWC 2022, IFA is bound to make a return this year, taking place as an in-person event from September 2 to 6, 2022.
At today's remote IFA festivities, Qualcomm has announced that it is bringing 5g to its entry-level 4 Series of chipsets. Specifically meant for phones in the $125-250 price range, this could finally mean the long-anticipated democratization of 5G as the feature truly trickles down to the mainstream.
Lenovo was one of the first companies to cooperate with Google on an Assistant Smart Display. It launched the unoriginally-named but much-loved Lenovo Smart Display in both 8" and 10" variants last year and essentially won the product category over its competitors. Both the JBL Link View and LG ThinQ View failed to impress us as much as it did, and even Google's Home Nest Hub wasn't a proper replacement due to its lack of a camera for video calls.
Today at IFA, Acer has unveiled four new Chromebooks with surprisingly inexpensive price tags. While they're equipped with cost-appropriate Intel Celeron CPUs, some hide optional high-end features like full HD displays and up to 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. The four models cover sizes ranging from 15" to 11" in both convertible and non-convertible form-factors, starting from $250-330.
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- More images of the Nokia 7.2 have surfaced courtesy of techmesto, this time showcasing the phone in a dark cyan color. Thanks, NokiaLover!
Out of all the Android phones HMD Global has released under its Nokia brand license in the past few years, the Nokia 7.1 seems to have made the best impression in certain western markets like the United States. We're now coming close to a year since its announcement and there's a swell of excitement for an update. Fortunately, we do have some tacit confirmation that the Nokia 7.2 is a thing, thanks to optics supplier ZEISS.
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- A pre-IFA leak suggests that LG may be about to introduce a handset dubbed the V50s. Even if we're not quite moving into V60 territory just yet, this still feels like the device the manufacturer may have been referring to with its latest dual-screen teaser.
A month ahead of the event, LG has just pushed out a teaser video, telling folks to "save the date" on Friday, September 6th during IFA. In the video, LG shows off what looks like a folding, dual-screen device, though it's probably another dual-screen case for an upcoming phone, similar to the one made for the V50 ThinQ 5G. Given the timing and the dual-screen connection, LG is probably going to show off the V60 (ThinQ?) at IFA.
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Clockwise from left: Citation One, 100, and 300.
Thanks to the IFA 2018 trade show in Berlin last week, we now have several new Chrome OS options available to us. Lenovo announced three different Chromebooks, including a higher-end model with a 4K screen that Ryan took a closer look at, and Acer unveiled a follow-up to its popular Chromebook 14, although I wasn’t overly impressed by the quality of the pre-production hardware I got my hands on.
IFA 2018 may be over, but there are still some interesting tidbits of news worth mentioning. One of the stands we visited briefly in Berlin last week was that of German Autolabs to see an interesting new product. It may resemble a Nest Thermostat, but Chris is actually a digital assistant for your car.
We've seen a few different Chromebooks announced at IFA 2018 in Berlin, including 3 models from Lenovo and a consumer-targeted, premium device from Dell. Not to be outdone, Acer unveiled a long-awaited refresh of its Chromebook 14, although the press release was suspiciously devoid of pertinent specifications such as the processor, storage, and RAM. Thankfully, we were able to check it out in the press area of the Acer stand here at IFA — keep on reading for our initial appraisal.
It's becoming more and more common for regular consumers to install mesh router systems in their homes, and Netgear's Orbi is a popular option. At CES earlier this year, the company introduced a robust outdoor satellite to its lineup, and another new router has been unveiled at IFA 2018 in Berlin.
As some of you may remember, Earin was first to market with a pair of bluetooth earbuds that didn't need a wire connecting them. The Earin M–1 was released following a successful Kickstarter campaign but didn't quite live up to the lofty ambitions. That was a first generation product, however. The Swedish company — that was acquired by Will.i.am's i.am+ at the start of the year — is back to give it another go.
At IFA, Huawei announced its new flagship system-on-chip, the Kirin 980. Following in the footsteps of its fantastic predecessor, the 980 is the first commerical 7nm SoC, meaning that Huawei beat Qualcomm to the punch. It uses a combination of modified Cortex-A76 and A55 cores, a new Mali-G76 GPU, and a dual Neural Processing Unit (NPU).
ZTE is now back in business, and today at IFA it revealed its latest Axon flagship phone — which won't be coming to the US. With no Axon 8, ZTE has jumped straight up to the Axon 9 (with a superfluous "Pro" suffix). In its short keynote, the company was adamant that it was striving "once again to improve the impressive sound of Axon," and apparently the best way to do that was by removing the Axon 7's high-end analog audio/headphone jack experience. Coupled with a strangely high €649 price tag, ZTE seems to have forgotten why people liked the Axon series in the first place.
Thanks to a lack of innovation, multiple models of seemingly the same phone, and some questionable marketing decisions, LG's Android star has lost some of its shine in the last couple of years. The G7 wasn't a bad phone, per se, but it did little to distinguish itself in a crowded notch-heavy field. LG is hoping that two new G series variants will fare better.
If you, like me, thought that the Google Home Max was a bit pricey, than Harman Kardon is here to make that speaker look inexpensive. The Citation 500 is set to be $600 with Assistant onboard and according to The Verge, Harman Kardon is planning to show it off at IFA later this week.
HTC's official Twitter account pushed out a teaser early this morning, telling all its followers that "something new for U" would be coming on August 30th. For those not watching their calendars, that's the day before doors open at the upcoming IFA consumer electronics show in Germany. Based on recent leaks, though, the announcement is probably for the U12 Life.
Chromebooks are mostly clustered toward the bottom of the market, and that often means the materials are unimpressive, features are lacking, and the build quality is mediocre. Acer has announced an updated version of its 15-inch Chromebook at IFA 2017 and it's none of that. This device has been slimmed down compared to the last Acer CB15, it has better battery life (up to 12 hours), and it's gained an aluminum frame. You're still not going to get the best hardware out there, but this Chromebook could be just what some people want.
Samsung is still steering well clear of Android Wear at IFA 2017 with both of its new wearables. The larger of the two is the Samsung Gear Sport, a follow-up to last year's Gear S3. It's not intended to replace that watch, but it's a smaller and you might say more fun wearable with an assortment of band options and many of the features that have made Samsung's wearables notable. The most important thing here; the Gear Sport fits wonderfully, and that makes me happy.
Samsung turned up at IFA in Berlin with some new things to show off, but not a phone—the Galaxy Note 8 was revealed last week. Samsung's IFA push is all about wearables. There's a new Gear smartwatch, a fitness band (thoroughly leaked), and a new version of the IconX wireless earbuds. Only the new Gear Fit has a price and release date, but the others will be in the not too distant future.