iPod Fridge and iGorenje Home Appliance Control System in Action

We covered the Gorenje Made for iPod fridge and the iGorenje home appliance program at IFA last Sunday. I've spent some time with both and I like what I see, although I have some doubts about how practical this can be. More »

Amazing Magic Mirror Digitally Changes Fabrics On the Fly

The Fraunhofer Institute—the guys who invented MP3 and screwed the music labels as a result, which is why we like them so much—have a booth at IFA with their latest inventions. The best one is this stunning magic mirror, an augmented reality display that gets any piece of clothing and transforms its fabric in real time. Live, the effect was absolutely amazing, indistinguishable from a real mirror. More »

Gorenje Qube Foldable Hob Is the Laptop of Kitchens

This is the Gorenje Foldable Qube prototype, a hob and hood system that can be hung on the wall of a small kitchen to save some serious space. It's also a kitchen-to-go: "You can take it with you anywhere—just like a laptop," said the IFA booth laeedee. You know, for those very special times in which you need to cook anywhere else in the house but the kitchen: More »

LG X110 Feels Solid, Fast, Is Netbook with Capital N

I groped and used the LG X110 netbook for some time here at IFA. As Mark pointed out, this is the first netbook where "net" actually means something else: direct 3G network access without additions. More »

iRiver Spinn Media Player Has a Great 70s Retro Flair, Feels Oh-So-Good

I love the new analog controller in the iRiver Spinn as much as I love its simple brushed aluminum design, the old radio-inspired user interface, and the whole packaging. While I'm still partial to direct touch interfaces—which the Spinn has as well, although it's not multitouch—the Spinn rolling thingie feels great, giving it a heavenly 70s analog feeling. More »

Samsung Omnia Isn't Going to Kill iAnything

I got to play for quite a long time with the Samsung Omnia, the iPhone-Killer wannabe with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, here at IFA 2008. The verdict: it's not an iPhone killer, despite previous demos. In fact, it sucks. It has a poorly designed interface, lousy response time, buggy software, and it felt cheap and fat on my hand. I even thought that I was being even more thick than usual while trying it, but I got the Omnia expert lady to give it a marketdrone spin for me and her last sentence summarized it all: "Oh, naw it'z not verking at all. I think I haf too many tasks open. Sorry." More »

Toshiba Magic Gestures Convert You Into Hitchhiking Gandalf

To be honest, I was going to headline this article "Toshiba Magic Waving Handy-Spanky-Fingery Gestures Are Perfect for Harry Potter and Online Porn Users," but I decided against it at the last minute for obvious reasons, even when I had two powerful arguments in favor. You will understand them when you watch Helga—the Good Toshiba Witch of West Berlin—and myself in the video: More »

Samsung Ultraslim TV Looks Like Giant iPhone 3G

Scratch one more notch for Apple design influence, because next year's top-of-the-range Samsung Ultraslim LCD TV All-In-One 1 looks like an oversized iPhone 3G, down to the finish in black or white. The 52-inch TV—which is 1-inch at its thickest point—includes all the circuitry and ports in its ultra-slim body, with no breakout boxes or hunchbacks. The result is the slickest TV we have seen in the whole of IFA 2008, beating the Sony ZX1. And the best looking so far this year. More »

Video Hands-on: Samsung X360 is an Air Killer

I got my dirty paws all over the 2.79-pound Samsung X360 and I've got to say I'm impressed with everything except for the piano black finish. Its size and weight—very light and thin—is comparable to the MacBook Air, the 13.3-inch,1,200 x 800 pixel screen looks very good, and it comes with more ports and features than Apple's notebook: direct HDMI out, three USB ports, Express Card slot, 7-in-1 flash card reader, external optical unit included, and fingerprint reader for security. Definitely, the Samsung X360 bests the MacBook Air in features hands down... although yes, you guessed it, there's a big hairy but lurking around the corner. More »