While the tech press obsessed over Apple product speculation, actual gadget news was happening at the giant IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin.
Sensational sound: Wireless (WiFi-fed) sound systems that let you stream the same or different music to every room in your house are a booming, beautiful thing. Newcomers Monster, Harman Kardon, Polk, Definitive Technology and Panasonic demonstrated sweet systems at IFA.
Market leader Sonos showcased user enhancements and popped the news recently that it’s debuting the premium-sounding (true CD quality) Deezer Elite service in the U.S.
Fashionistas: Wearable tech is exploding. IFA featured lots of smart watches, with Sony notably joining the Google Wear family. Sennheiser (with "Urbanites") and Bose unveiled headphones as snazzy as they sound.
The latter’s QuietComfort 25 noise-reduction headphones will be available online in “nearly infinite” custom-design options — eight parts (per side) assembled in your choice of 50 colors and two finishes.
Phabulous phablets: Larger-screen (5.5 inches or larger) smartphones that double duty as "mini-tablets" should surpass portable PCs in sales this year, and next year will rule over tablets, too, predicts International Data Corp.
“Phablet” innovator Samsung threw down the gauntlet again at IFA, a week before the 5.5-inch HD screen iPhone 6 Plus debuted, with the 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 4 and 5.6-inch curved screen Galaxy Note Edge (akin to LG’s curved and slightly bendable G Flex.)
On paper, the Samsungs seem superior in screen and camera resolution to Apple’s latest.
Galaxy Note 4 includes a fingerprint scanner and boasts the first-ever UV sensor in a mobile device. Gamers and geeks, rejoice, Note 4 also can function as the screen for Samsung’s new Gear VR virtual-reality headset.
Ultra HD: Further enhancements are clearly in the cards for new-breed "4K" Ultra High definition TVs.
Take please, Dolby Vision, which increases the contrast and color range of UHD signals, enhancing shadowy details and making bright spots really pop.
Vizio will likely be first to introduce Dolby Vision TV-enhanced UHD TVs for the holiday selling season, while “over the top” streaming video services will be first to deliver Ultra HD movies encoded with a compatible 2-bit layer of Dolby Vision, said Roland Vlaicu, Dolby vice president, consumer imaging.
Netflix, YouTube and Vudu seem likely Dolby Vision adopters. Ditto a forthcoming Ultra-HD download and storage system “that will liberate high-quality content for consumers, allowing them to move it easily from device to device,” promised Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn.
Warner Home Entertainment, Samsung, LG Electronics, Comcast, SanDisk, Western Digital, Dolby Labs and DTS are also backing this project, collectively as the Secure Content Storage Association. The storage unit’s envisioned as a Blackberry-sized module that could easily slip in your pocket. Stay tuned.
