IFA 2017’s biggest's announcements
The September time frame positions the Berlin show perfectly as a launch pad for holiday products. As such, some of tech’s biggest names, including Samsung, Sony, LG and Lenovo, use it to debut some of their biggest products of the year. It’s also proven a solid showcase for some of the wackier startups that have historically had a tough time getting noticed at larger shows. CES.
The event is also a great bellwether for some of the industry’s biggest names, nearly half a year ahead of CES. The show officially kicked off on Friday, but companies have been launching products for most of the week, and the trends have started to emerge. Unsurprisingly, smart assistants are everywhere, as more third-parties push to integrate Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Fitness-focused wearables, wireless earbuds and new smartphone camera tech have also made a splash at the event.
LG V30
A couple of years back, Samsung gave the Galaxy Note its own standalone press conference, leaving the title of IFA’s biggest launch wide open for the taking. This year, LG seems to have run away with the show. The company’s new flagship proves that it’s still capable of making a compelling phone, even without leaning too heavily on gimmicks. The phone’s got a beautiful quad HD OLED display and some extremely compelling camera features.
Moto X4
Of course, gimmicks aren’t always bad. The whole modular thing worked out pretty well for Motorola with the Moto Z, and now the company’s back with a new mid-range that offers up some compelling features. The phone is Motorola’s first to ship with Alexa on board, something the company promised to start doing back at MWC in February. Even more interesting is the addition of a Bluetooth feature that lets the Moto X4 stream to multiple devices (speakers, headphones) from different manufactures all at once, making it a sort of low-end take on Sonos.