Europe’s biggest consumer technology trade show, IFA, is taking place once again in early September 2024. Companies from around the world will pack into Berlin’s massive Messe exhibition center to show off their wares. Last year’s IFA saw a host of announcements from audio, TV, wearable, and smartphone brands, but it was the smart home that made the biggest impact at the German trade show.
The Dreame Roboticmower A1, a new robot lawnmower, can tackle yards as large as half an acre, which is good news for us Americans with big yards.
These electric autonomous grass-cutting devices have struggled to take off in the US due to range issues, complexity, and high costs.
While Dreame’s bot may cost as much as $2,000 (pricing isn’t finalized) it uses lidar mapping so there’s no need for clunky beacons or fiddly guide wire.
“It has the potential to change the world,” said Samsung at the IFA event in Berlin, without any shame.
Now where have we heard this before? Prepare the HYPErdrive!
The sun’s shining, the IFA flags are fluttering, and the announcements are in full swing. We’ve got a packed day ahead of us in Berlin, but here are some highlights of the biggest stories so far:
JBL has announced new speakers that offer simultaneous access to Alexa and Google Assistant, Philips Hue has announced new smart lights and security cameras, and Sennheiser has a new soundbar.
We’re at Samsung’s IFA 2023 press conference in Berlin, where the tech giant isn’t launching a humongous new TV... but a new app.
Samsung Food is a souped-up recipe app powered by generative AI that integrates with SmartThings and Samsung’s appliances to try and fill the gap between the idea of the smart, connected kitchen and well, the way we actually cook.
We’ve got a deeper dive coming soon.
“The smallest true wireless earbud of any major headphone brand,” according to JLab, and comfortable enough to wear while sleeping. They feature Bluetooth multipoint for quick swaps between your computer and phone, with 5.5 hours of continuous playtime, or 20 hours after recharging from the case. They’re sweat-proof, and also offer a pass-through audio feature to better hear your surroundings. They only lack ANC.
The service agnostic company was first to market with a speaker featuring both Alexa and Google Assistant, but JBL is first to allow simultaneous use of the two most popular voice assistants. Sonos previously said it was Google’s fault for blocking “concurrency” — a feature Sonos had been working on since at least 2017 — presumably out of spite for losing that lawsuit. We’ve reached out to Sonos for a reaction and will hopefully have something to publish soon.
After JBL announced its new lineup of Authentics speakers at IFA 2023, we put the two built-in voice assistants that promise simultaneous usage to the test.
JBL announced a new wireless party speaker today as part of a host of new products, like new earbuds and new smart speakers, debuting at IFA.
The company says the PartyBox Ultimate self-tunes, has Wi-Fi 6 and LE Audio-ready Bluetooth connectivity and supports the company’s multi-speaker connection feature. Oh, and RGB lights. It has those too.
Three new JBL smart speakers from Harman will be the first to offer simultaneous voice assistants, so you can ask Alexa to start the music and then ask Google to stop it.
Smart home manufacturer Eve Systems may have a new Apple HomeKit-compatible camera up its sleeve. FCC docs discovered by German tech site Appgefahren indicate a second-gen model of the indoor Eve Cam security camera is close.
There are few details, other than a new square shape (the first-gen was circular) and the addition of 5 GHz Wi-Fi. Based on Eve’s other cameras, it’ll likely support Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video. But no Matter yet — the smart home standard still doesn’t work with cameras.
There’s nothing to hate but nothing to truly love about Honor’s latest midrange device
