Gifted high-tech takes spotlight at Berlins IFA fair
AFP
AFP, BERLIN: The gadgets on display at Berlins mega consumer electronics fair this week may not look radically different, but they are smarter than ever before and designed to meet our every needoften before weve even thought of it ourselves.
As smartphones and other electronic devices make greater use of artificial intelligence (AI), the digital assistants already pervasive in our lives are set to become more intuitive and play a bigger role in our homes, observers said.
The humble television, overshadowed in recent years as viewers streamed their favourite shows on tablets and phones, is also poised for a comeback with better-than-ever screen quality and online applications.
AI (is going) to make our daily life easier, Klaus Boehm of consultancy Deloitte said ahead of the annual six-day trade show which kicks off Friday.
Boehm pointed to Amazons and Googles voice-controlled speakers that can answer questions, turn off the lights and do our online shopping as prime examples of the smart home trend.
And in the race to be the smartest, developers are focussing not on hardware, but on more intelligent software to woo consumers.
Such is the emphasis on AI this year that Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei, the worlds third largest, will use the IFA stage not to present a new model but to unveil its first personal assistant, hoping to rival the dominance of Amazons Alexa, Apples Siri and Samsungs Bixby.
From offering restaurant recommendations before youve realised youre hungry to asking if youd like your usual coffee after your alarm goes off, life without smart aides will fast become unthinkable, observers predict.
As the long-promised revolution of the internet of things is slowly making itself felt, IFA exhibitors are also set to showcase rubbish bins that know which items to recycle and fridges that can help you stick to your diet.
Smart TVs that respond to voice commands and allow for easy on-demand viewing are expected to help reclaim the tellys place at the heart of the home as viewers are lured back with super-high-definition screens.
And of course, bigger is better.
TV is not dead, said Roland Stehle of Germanys gfu federation for electronics firms, a co-organiser of the IFA trade show. People are buying bigger TV sets, so the picture sizes are increasing and its necessary to have a high resolution.
IFA organisers are predicting a bumper year for television makers, as the latest OLED and Ultra-High Definition (UHD/4K) technologies become more affordable.
Gfu estimates that the average buyer is now willing to fork out between 800 and 900 euros ($950-1,100) for a new television. More geared towards the general public than its Las Vegas rival, the Consumer Electronics Show, IFA is known for lifting the veil on the must-have gadgets most likely to end up under our Christmas trees.
The demand for consumer electronics and household appliances is quite high, its a good sign for IFA, said gfu president Hans-Joachim Kamp.
