The biggest news this week has been coming out of IFA 2008, with SlashGear’s roving reporter there, Milena Glimbovski, sending back all the details of the hottest new hardware. The netbook train shows no sign of slowing, with LG’s X110 and Fujitsu’s AMILO Mini Ui 3620 finally stepping out of the shadows and getting full announcements. There’s too much good stuff to mention it all individually, so check out the IFA 2008 tag for SlashGear’s full coverage.
Responding to the constant criticisms of power-greedy standby modes on modern electronics, Grundig announced its Vision 6 ECO LCD TVs. Not only has standby draw been shaved down to less than 0.1W, operating draw is much reduced too, at around 76W. That’s up to 48-percent less than comparable normal LCD TVs.
Grundig took the wraps off of its GDP 8800 BD Blu-ray player at IFA 2008, complete with BD profile 1.1, HDMI 1.3 for 1080/24p images and analog 7.1 audio output. In addition, the GDP 8800 BD will support the latest Dolby and DTS digital sound, via the HDMI port.
Seemingly taking a leaf out of B&O’s design book, Grundig’s Audion 8 hifi server is the company’s first networked media hub. Combining a CD recorder, internet radio, 250GB hard-drive and UPnP server, the Audion 8 connects to your network via either WiFi or wired ethernet and can serve up and manage your digital media collection.
Grundig had a new flagship HDTV to show off at IFA, complete with a 1080p-capable LCD panel and a surround sound speakerbar. The Vision 9 has a 24p “Movie Mode” together with Motion Picture Improvement Technology that claims to reduce blur, with a maximum refresh rate of 100Hz.
Samsung took the wraps off their new YP-Q1 PMP at IFA 2008, and we stopped by to have a play. With a 2.4-inch QVGA LCD, a choice of 4, 8 and 16GB capacities and touch-sensitive controls, the Q1 really should be a home run for Samsung; unfortunately, from our brief hands-on at least, we’d wager it’s not.
Samsung have set themselves a big task with the X360, taking on the MacBook Air, Lenovo’s X-series and numerous other models in the competitive ultraportable segment. It tips the scales lighter than the Air (by a scant 3oz) thanks in no small part to its plastic rather than metal casing, but in our brief hands-on at IFA 2008 we found it to be sturdy enough.
If iRiver nailed the interface of the SPINN, they seem to have come undone with that of the P20. The hard-drive based player is big, blunt-edged and the controls manage to make it look rather like an analog FM radio. Dual scroll-wheels – one horizontal, one vertical – coupled with a separate ‘OK’ button and a touchscreen that’s inset slightly too far for comfort make it a tricky PMP to navigate.
iRiver’s SPINN PMP keeps pulling in the kudos, and our hands-on at IFA 2008 didn’t do anything to make us doubt it. Even a strange leather flip-case that looked like it was held on with medical tape couldn’t disguise a casing that, arguably, is more attractive than that of the iPod touch. It’s the interface, though, which makes the SPINN such a joy, and a lot of that is down to the incredibly tactile scroll wheel.
Olympus brought their latest compact digital camera, the µ 1040, to IFA this year, complete with a full metal body and some questionable color options. Seen here in “Melon Yellow” (with “Starry Silver”, “Midnight Black” and “Magma Red” your less blaring choices), the 10-megapixel camera squeezes a 3x (38-114mm equivalent) zoom into a body just 16.5mm at its thinnest.
SlashGear Japan
