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IFA
The eyes of the tech world will be on Berlin, Germany next week for IFA, the biggest European gadget show in existence. CNET will be there in force to cover all the cool new kit from Samsung, Sony, Nokia, Asus, Huawei, Acer and more.
This year, we’ll be writing about all the latest smart-home developments too, with our crack CNET appliances team flying in from Kentucky to assist.
What is IFA?
IFA is an eclectic mix of the old and the new. The Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA) can trace its history all the way back to 1924, when it was started to showcase the latest developments in radio (“Funkausstellung” literally means “radio show”).
Many important inventions have been demoed there over the years, from early cathode-ray-tube TVs to the very first cassette recorder from Philips in 1963. IFA’s Wikipedia entry features this chilling image of Joseph Goebbels attending in 1933 to look at a radio sponsored by the Nazis.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4, smartwatches and more due at IFA 2014 (pictures)
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One of the reasons the show has survived is because, unlike CES, it is first and foremost set up for the general public. 200,000 people are expected to visit, each paying about $20, £12 or AU$21 to look round 30 gargantuan halls filled with all kinds of products from every manufacturer that matters in Europe.
One of the show’s many oddities is its mascot. Miss IFA is a lady in a red wig and every year the organisers love to release pictures of her forcing a smile next to phones, washing machines and other gadgets.
CNET’s coverage
These days the major tech brands use the runup to the public days to announce their latest and greatest gizmos, and it’s this that we’ll be focusing on in our coverage. Here’s an idea of what to expect and when.
Wednesday 3 September
Acer, Bosch, Panasonic and Amazon will have press conferences, so expect news stories, photo galleries and hands-on videos aplenty of the new gear. We’ll be live blogging and live streaming Samsung’s Unpacked event, where the company is expected to announce the Galaxy Note 4 , and talk more about wearables.
We’ll also be live blogging and live streaming Sony’s IFA press conference, with lots of new mobiles, tablets, smartwatches, TVs, cameras, headphones and more expected to make an appearance.
- Follow Samsung’s Unpacked live blog at at 1.30pm UK time, 8.30am Eastern. (Convert to your time zone at this link.)
- Follow Sony’s IFA press conference live blog at 3pm UK time, 10am Eastern or 7am Pacific. (Convert to your time zone at this link.)
Thursday 4 September
Things really get going today, with Nokia, LG, HTC, Harman, Electrolux, Lenovo, Wacom, Huawei, Alcatel and Monster all expected to announce new products. We’ll be covering each press conference as they happen with our trademark tonne of stories, galleries and videos.
Friday 5 September and beyond
The show opens to the public today, so we’ll be running around finding all the cool gear that didn’t have an official press conference. We’ll also have coverage of the keynote speeches from Boo-Keun Yoon, President & CEO of Samsung Electronics, who will be talking about his vision of the home of the future, and Kirk Skaugen of Intel. On Saturday, Matt Rogers of Nest will make an appearance too.
Who to follow on Twitter at IFA
All our editors will be tweeting everything they see during the show: here’s who to follow to keep up with the latest.
Follow @CNET CNET – The best of everything at IFA. Follow @jenkojenkins Jason Jenkins, Director of Content Follow @rh_brown Rich Brown, Executive Editor Follow @seamus Seamus Byrne, Editor, Australia & Asia Follow @rich_trenholm Rich Trenholm, Senior Editor Follow @lukewestaway Luke Westaway, Senior Editor Follow @Batteryhq Andrew Hoyle, Senior Editor Follow @stshank Stephen Shankland, Senior Editor Follow @meganwollerton Megan Wollerton, Associate Editor Follow @MarcGanley Marc Ganley, Video Producer
Behind the scenes of Europe’s biggest tech show, IFA (pictures)
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