Home » IFA 2015: A guide on how to see all the best stuff in 2 hours!

IFA 2015: A guide on how to see all the best stuff in 2 hours!

IFA is as big as it gets when it comes to technology this side of the ocean. The venue is big, and the show is very time consuming. As I have spent a couple of days running around IFA this year, I bring you the three stalls you should visit.

If you plan your journey as I did, you may stumble upon many other things on the way too.

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Huawei – Hall 25

How to get there? Enter from the South Entrance, go upstairs and turn left till you end up at Hall 25. Find the Huawei stand by listening to the ‘touch’ song.

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What’s there to see? Force Touch – the first phone to actually feature that in front of the public. While it is a well known secret that the next Apple phone will probably have this, and we have it on the watch too, but Huawei have come out and shown what a forceful touch can do. You can use this to zoom into photos, press hard on the screen to open certain apps, or just weigh things on your phone screen. Pressure sensitive screens are here!

Sadly this feature is only available on the luxury 128GB model of the phone, and we have no data on the availability.

More information at the following link:

http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/worldwide/mateS/

Samsung Stand – CityCube

How to get there? The CityCube signs are everywhere, but you basically go backwards, and past the south entrance. If it feels a bit tricky, don’t worry, it is. Ask someone if it helps. It is probably the biggest stand though, and you will see lots of Samsung flags when you get near Messe Berlin. This is the City Cube.

What to see? The Galaxy Note 5 and the Gear S2

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Why should you see the Note 5? To be honest, it isn’t revolutionary, and we already are aware of the concept. Heck, we even know that if you put the stylus in the wrong way, you will probably break the sensor. However, Europe hasn’t got it, and this is probably your best chance to go and have a play with it. The best thing about this was that the stylus provides a great feedback when you write on the screen. It is extremely accurate and is probably the closest I have seen to simulating the pen on paper feeling. It is pressure sensitive, and there is just a tiny bit of friction added to help you feel at ease.

More information: http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxy-note5/

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The Gear S2 is the new and latest from Samsung. In a world which is quickly becoming saturated with wearables and smart watches, Samsung are trying to add something new with the Gear S2. It features a circular dial which can be rotated to go through options. This opens up a whole new way to interact with things, not to mention the fact that you also have Home and Back buttons on the side. The new UX has a lot of potential, and it will be great to see how it develops, and whether other manufacturers adapt something similar. It does run on Tizen though, not Android Wear, so this wouldn’t just start to appear on all the other watches.

The thing that really impressed me though, was the fact that this watch was really light. Properly light. As light as most other watches are. There is no metal around, and the strap is not heavy either. I loved that.

More information: http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/gear-s2/

Sony – Hall 20

How to get there? This is where it gets exciting. Hall 20 is almost the exact opposite corner of City Cube. If you start walking through the show, you can see many other things on the way, and still get to it in reasonable time.

What to see? The Xperia Z Premium with its 4K screen. Another world first.

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The screen is amazing, and no matter how hard you stare, you just can’t see any pixels. Keep trying!

Bonus – Sphero’s BB8

Where? This is Hall 4.2, and really, you should go to this straight after the Huawei stand. We actually went there hoping for some play time with the HTC Vive, but instead had some fun with this instead.

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I would suggest you buy one soon, because this will probably go out of stock as soon as the film comes out. It has already been labelled as the Christmas gift this year, for kids and Star Wars geeks alike!

Here is a little video I recorded on my Instagram feed:

 

A video posted by Smacula (@smacula1) on

More information: http://store.sphero.com/products/bb-8-by-sphero

What next?

After the Sony stand, I suggest you follow your way back around, completing the circle, going to other things, back to the South Entrance. Remember that there are ‘floors’, so you may have covered all the area laterally, but there may be awesome things above or below you.

And when you get too tired, go hang out in Berlin! It is an awesome city!

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