Advertisement
Technology
LifestyleGadgets

5G, Amazon TVs, folding phones, oh and 8K: IFA 2019 round-up

  • This year’s IFA tech show saw the arrival of Huawei’s 5G chipset, Samsung’s relaunched Galaxy Fold and one of the best sets of desktop speakers ever
  • Amazon also announced its new line of Alexa-connected 4K smart TVs, which is sure to worry established TV brands

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Visitors watching a large 8K screen by TCL at IFA 2019, an international consumer electronics fair in Berlin, Germany. Photo: EPA-EFE
Jamie Carter

If you want to know what phones, TVs, cameras, headphones, laptops, wearables and appliances you’ll be buying over the next year or two, there was only one place to be this month.

The world’s biggest electronics brands (minus Apple) once again gathered in Berlin for the annual Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) technology fair, this year featuring almost 2,000 exhibitors – including over 700 Chinese firms – all jostling for the attention of over 245,000 visitors.

There’s always a whimsical edge to the IFA, and some of the products launched even by the top brands were puzzling.

For example, take Samsung’s Air Dresser, a dry-cleaning wardrobe that jet-steams and dries clothes, then deodorises them. Or how about its Bot Chef robot, a proof-of-concept giant pair of mechanical arms that pass you the salt and pepper?

Samsung used IFA to relaunch its Galaxy Fold smartphone. Photo: Reuters
Samsung used IFA to relaunch its Galaxy Fold smartphone. Photo: Reuters
Samsung also used IFA to relaunch its Galaxy Fold smartphone. The device, which features a 4.6-inch external screen and a 7.3-inch folding main display, had to be withdrawn before launch earlier this year after complaints about malfunctioning screens from early users. The new version is 5G-ready, naturally.
Not to be outdone, LG revealed the latest version of what it thinks the next generation of phones should look like with its dual-screen, 6.4-inch G8X ThinQ. Huawei, meanwhile, confirmed that its own folding phone, the Mate X, will come out before the end of 2019.
Advertisement