BERLIN, Sept 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Europe’s biggest tech fair, Berlin’s IFA,
is showcasing a flood of product launches until Wednesday. Here are five
trends and gadgets making waves. – Fitness trainer for pets –
No time to walk or play with your pet puppy or kitten?
California start-up Varram showcased a Pet Fitness robot, which plays with
cats and dogs at home via smartphone instructions, even dropping treats as a
reward, while the owner is at work.
Sensors in the robot help it detect and stay away from furniture to not get
stuck, avoiding bored pets.
The robot can be timed to play with the family pet at different times and
keep track of how much activity the animal has had.
– AI at home –
As executive director Jens Heithecker told AFP, “three main trends at IFA
this year are 5G, voice control and AI (artificial intelligence)” with the
latter two combined in innovations for the home.
Siemens claimed two world firsts with an oven that opens on voice command
and separate washing machine and clothes drier that communicate via wifi to
predict how long garments will need to dry.
The Home Connect system links household appliances, suggests recipes and
even knows which ingredients are already at home, via cameras in the fridge.
Once the meal has been prepared, the oven door opens on voice command,
leaving the cook with both hands to slide in the dish.
Meanwhile, the system’s washing machine has built-in sensors to measure the
moisture in washed clothes, sending the information to the drier.
However, the sensor cannot detect whether a stray black sock is about to
ruin a load of white laundry. “That would be useful to know,” admitted a
Siemens spokeswoman with a smile.
– Christmas gifts –
Heithecker tips that of the thousands of items showcased at IFA, headsets
and wireless stereos will make popular Christmas gifts, as they are
“affordable, moveable, high quality and part of the digitally connected
world.”
“Headsets with noise cancelling are mostly used in homes now, to squeeze
out the surrounding noise – you go into your own world and won’t be disturbed
if you want to hear music,” he added.
However, some of these items do not come cheap. Panasonic’s high-tech
earphones are retailing for 1,200 euros ($1,326) while Samsung’s massive 219-
inch television, aptly called ‘The Wall’, is retailing to business customers
for around 500,000 euros.
– ‘All-in-one’ 5G chip –
Huawei created a buzz Friday by launching a new super-fast Kirin 990
processor, which has a version specially designed for the 5G era – the fifth
generation of cellular network technology.
According to Huawei’s claim, the “industry’s first and only all-in-one” 5G
chipset includes a modem with fast download speeds. The company also said
that by using a single chip, the Kirin will make phones more efficient
compared to their rivals, who use a separate processor and modem.
The new Kirin chip, no bigger than a fingernail, “can make phones much
smaller,” boasted Richard Yu, who is in charge of Huawei’s consumer business
group.
The Chinese firm is embroiled in US-China tensions with Washington advising
its allies against using Huawei’s technology to build 5G networks, due to
fears it could be used for spying by Beijing, an accusation the company
denies.
Yu took no questions in Berlin, as Huawei also showcased their sleek Mate
30 Series, due to be launched on September 19 in Munich.
Not to be outdone, Korean rivals Samsung also showed off their 5G Fold, a
phone which folds out into a single screen.
– High-tech relief –
High-tech relief for the incontinent is offered by D-Free, a sensor which
fits on the abdomen and detects changes in bladder size, calculating how full
it is and giving a prediction via a smartphone about when the user will need
to urinate.
The system is aimed at young children being toilet trained and the elderly
worried about being caught short.
It keeps track of the average time between bathroom visits and a version
for senior care homes tells staff which patients will soon need to visit the
toilet.