Berlin -- Engadget

Engadget is live from IFA 2009 in Berlin, Engadget German tapped as official blog of the show!

by Paul Miller posted Sep 2nd 2009 at 9:48AM

Interesting fact about Berlin: all the buildings here look like spaceships! Also, the city plays host to the IFA tradeshow each year, a sprawling landscape of gadget treasure, and we're here to pick up where we left off last year. Today we've got a Sony press conference to look forward to, and tomorrow we'll be hit by a tidal wave of announcements from the rest of the industry -- or at least that's the plan. We'll also be hitting up the show floor soon enough with our pals from Engadget Spanish and Engadget German, the latter of which has been dubbed the official blog of the show! Engadget German will also be hosting a reader meetup on Saturday at the convention center, so stand by for more information on that. Naturally, all of this will take place within massive buildings that look like spaceships.

Fraunhofer Institute's fruit checker device tracks optimum ripeness so you can stop sniffing those melons

by Laura June posted Aug 4th 2009 at 10:31PM

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a small device that can be used to check the freshness of fruit, telling the interested parties whether it's ripe or not. Based on previous technologies which measure -- for example -- car emissions, the device measures the volatile gases emitted by the fruit and analyzes its makeup to determine the state of freshness. The team already has a working prototype, and sees the device, which would cost somewhere in the thousands of dollars range, as having widespread application for businesses that supply food to grocery stores. So far the device has only successfully been used to test the freshness of fruit, but researchers see possible future applications in testing meat as well.

IFA Berlin: yeah, we're here

by Thomas Ricker posted Aug 27th 2008 at 2:45PM

Come now, you didn't think we'd let something like IFA pass by without shipping a few editors off to Berlin did you? We're on the ground and taking names in the best ninja gear we could sew with $5 worth of felt and tin foil. But hey, it's not the costume that keeps you coming back, it's the content. So stay tuned.

Enormous digital clock spotted at Hamburger Bahnhof Museum

by Darren Murph posted Dec 13th 2007 at 3:43PM

We've no idea if this here is actually the "world's largest" clock, but it's quite sizable, indeed. Recently spotted at the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum in Berlin, Germany, this art installation reportedly does an outstanding job of telling time, running on pneumatics and breaking the silence every minute with an eerie hiss. If we didn't know any better, we'd say Coldplay got ahold of this thing when it toured in 2005, but then again, we know better.

Steve Jobs in Berlin tomorrow, France on Thursday?

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 18th 2007 at 6:35PM

Now, we know how hot-under-the collar you guys get when we note El-Jobso's movements in Europe, but news is news, people. Just as speculated yesterday, it appears that the Apple honcho is working his way across Europe, moving nation-to-nation to spread the good word of iPhone wherever his New Balance touch ground. Not content with just launching the device in London for the O2 network, the company is taking this show on the road, traveling to Berlin on Wednesday where Jobs and his turtleneck will supposedly announce a partnership for the iPhone with T-Mobile. Expect EDGE, lots of screen touching, and Steve saying, "OH-, eine weitere Sache." Then, as we hear, it's off to France for some sightseeing. Just kidding... about the sightseeing.

[Thanks, Floris]

Berlin's Tesla gallery hosts ghostly techno-art

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 18th 2007 at 7:28AM

Do you like art? Do you like mystery? Do you like technology? We get the impression that at least some of you are either nodding in agreement, or mouthing the words, "Yes I do," over and over. If you're one of those lucky few, here's some information you might enjoy. Two artists at the Tesla gallery in Berlin have created fairly interesting works which also happen to have connections with technology and our perception of technology. The first is called Digit, wherein a writer sits at a table and runs his hand over a blank piece of paper; as his hand moves down the page, words appears as if by magic, though no mechanism for writing is visible to an observer. In the second piece, artist Martin Riches has created a random number generator, a complex system of wood and string which allows a steel ball to propel through the machine, eventually playing one of three instruments when its journey comes to an end. Interesting stuff, surely... but can it play Doom?

Philips announces new TiVo-like DVRs at IFA

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 4th 2007 at 7:50PM

Word on the street is that Philips has decided to dip its collective toes into the DVR world with a new line of products that appear, at least ostensibly, to compete with TiVo. Like the "TiVo Suggestions" feature that the recorder-company offers, Philips' new devices tout user preference tracking, which will "learn" different user's likes and dislikes, and create custom sets of programming geared towards those tastes. The new line will also be able to access and download YouTube and other internet video, as well as podcast content. Advertising on the new boxes will also follow user's watching habits, thus ensuring a steady flow of laser-targeted ads beamed directly at your face. Apparently the new products will begin their lifecycle as software for PCs, but will eventually become set-top boxes for the living room. What's really interesting here is that Philips used to manufacture TiVo hardware, which increases the chances of cross-pollination (and lawsuits) oh... about tenfold.

Hands-on with the Navigon 2100 at IFA

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 2nd 2007 at 3:13AM

Engadget hit the GPS section of IFA in a major way today, scoring some serious face time with Navigon's new bargain-basement 2100 GPS. Our thoughts? For the price, this is a pretty tight little package. While the screen isn't quite as big as some of the competition, the interface and build quality put this in a class that you would think would break slightly more bank... but no. Check the gallery for a vast and varied selection of photos.

Gallery: Hands-on with the Navigon 2100 at IFA

Hands-on with the TomTom GO 920

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 1st 2007 at 8:04PM

If you've used a TomTom device recently, these photos will look shockingly familiar to you. Like a crime scene in a 1980's Charles Bronson flick, there's nothing to see here, folks. You're looking at the TomTom GO 920, sure, but there are pretty much no differences between this and the GO 720, save for a feature which the company refers to as "Enhanced Positioning Technology" (which uses an accelerometer to maintain your course, even out of satellite range). Regardless, we snapped some pics of the little dude, and we'd be hurt if you didn't at least take a peak.

Gallery: Hands-on with the TomTom GO 920

Hands-on with Panasonic's Strada CN-GP50N

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 1st 2007 at 5:23PM

We finally wrangled some Panasonic reps around midday, then promptly convinced them to let us take the Strada CN-GP50N GPS navigator for a spin... in our hands. At a glance, the device comes off vaguely like a TomTom high-end model, or similarly-classed device, though we take a little issue with the kinda-sorta fugly UI, which produced violent 1997 flashbacks in the staff. Also, the interface seemed a bit slower than it should, with brief but noticeable pauses every now and again. Our word to Panasonic? Fix it up! Check out the gallery to see what we're lamentin'.

Gallery: Hands-on with Panasonic's Strada CN-GP50N

Philips's IFA booth tour

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 1st 2007 at 4:48PM

The word was white for Philips' showing at IFA. White, white, and more white. They also managed to throw just a few Aurea televisions up on the walls (to give it that colorful accent). Here's our walk-through of all the money-dripping action (including the off-limits-to-the-public press and dealer section, replete with sit-down cafe). Be sure to note the super-gigantic television, and the odd, colored block game that the company had people playing. Oh, and check out those swinging interpretive dancers showing you what the Philips product line feels like. Hit the gallery and take yourself on a magical journey.

Gallery: Philips' IFA booth tour

Hands-on with the JVC GZ-HD3 camcorder

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 1st 2007 at 4:24PM

We've gotten our hands all over the new JVC GZ-HD3 1080i camcorder, and we thought we'd share the good fortune with you. If you'll recall, the new GZ-HD7 kid-brother rocks a 60GB internal hard drive, allowing for something like five hours of 1440 x 1080, 30Mbps recordings. The camera is light and small for the feature set it packs (although it gets some stiff, stiff competition from the new Sanyo HD-1000), and the design is pretty much the plain-jane basics you've come to expect from JVC. Check the gallery and see for yourself.

Gallery: Hands-on with the JVC GZ-HD3 camcorder

Hands-on with the Philips SHD9100 wireless headphones

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 1st 2007 at 2:36PM

You can't really do too much hands-on'ing with headphones, since it defies the whole point of the things in the first place, though we've done our best with Philips' new SHD9100 wireless headphones. As you can see, they look just like regular headphones... but without a wire. The full-ear pair also has a handsome charging / transmitting base, which would probably class-up any music fan's domicile. Take a look at the stunning / breathtaking photos and see for yourself.

Gallery: Hands-on with the Philips SHD9100 wireless headphones

Hands-on with the Philips PVD1075 portable DVB-T player

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 1st 2007 at 1:42PM

If you're in Europe or Asia (or anywhere that has DVB broadcasts, for that matter), and in the market for a portable DVB-T solution, we suppose you could do a lot worse than the Philips PVD1075; a sleek, skinny package which does a whole bunch of media playing. At a glance, the little guy doesn't seem like too much of a heavy hitter, and honestly, the screen didn't blow us away, but if this fits your lifestyle (and we're not sure what that lifestyle is), then perhaps you should take a much, much closer look -- like in our gallery, for instance.

Gallery: Hands-on with the Philips PVD1075 portable DVB-T player

Philips' Power4Life wall adapters spotted at IFA

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 1st 2007 at 11:34AM

While Philips didn't have a working model of its new Power4Life modular energy system (including Power2Go and Power2Charge), we did come across this base unit, wall units, and adapters splayed lovingly on a pedestal somewhere deep within the plush company booth. It's not much to see, but supposedly (i.e., according to Philips' press releases) these things are going to change our lives. Take a look at the brief gallery for a taste of things to come.