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Samsung Galaxy Fold launches in Europe on September 18th
After its first attempt at a launch fizzled out in the spring, the Samsung Galaxy Fold is ready to try again at making a first impression. As promised, it's ready for launch now and is available starting September 6th in South Korea. At IFA 2019 in Germany, Samsung also revealed that the device will hit France, Germany, the UK and Singapore on September 18th. In Korea, only the Galaxy Fold 5G 512GB model is available, with carriers like SK Telecom and LG U+ opening pre-sales today before devices are delivered Friday. For reasons yet unknown, the Fold will be 5G-ready only "in select markets," while others will only have an LTE-compatible version to snap open and closed. The price is 2,398,000 won, or about $2,000 US, and there's a Fold Advantage+ program that promises to cover 70 percent of display repair costs, once a year. In March there were rumors of a program to offer screen replacements if a visible seam forms across the display, and it appears that the Advantage+ program is what Samsung has decided to go with. An announcement for the US reveals we can expect the device "in the coming weeks" in two colors -- Cosmos Black and Space Silver -- but doesn't mention anything about 5G or screen replacements. What it does give additional info on, however, is the addition of a new Galaxy Fold Premier Service it's launching along with the phone. In a move that might help justify its nearly-$2,000 retail price, the Premiere Service adds 24/7 direct access to Samsung experts for "tailored guidance and support over the phone." They can even help you set it up for the first time with a one-on-one session designed to highlight its special capabilities.
Amazon's new Fire TV Cube is faster at understanding your voice commands
Amazon has announced a raft of new products today in Germany, although a leak revealed the bulk of them several hours before showtime. The highlight of the evening was the advent of a second-generation Fire TV Cube, the enthusiast-level unit in Amazon's Fire TV family. Amazon hasn't sought to change the outside of the box, or the number of ports that you can connect to it, but did make some substantial changes inside.
Watch Acer’s IFA 2019 event in just over 10 minutes
If you weren't up this morning to watch Acer's IFA 2019 keynote, we don't blame you: it started at a very early 5:30AM ET for those of us in North America. Thankfully, the Engadget crew was on the ground in Berlin to catch all the latest announcements from the Taiwanese manufacturer. And we've got 10 minutes of the presentation's highlights for you. Acer's press event had a bit of everything, including new laptops aimed at creative professionals, entry-level gaming machines and a new cooling material the company says will replace thermal paste. To top it all off, Acer showed off its new $14,000 Thronos Air Gaming Chair.
Acer’s $14,000 Predator Thronos Air is a chair fit for gaming royalty
What do you get the gamer in your life that has everything? And we mean absolutely everything. If you ask Acer, the answer is the company's new Predator Thronos Air Gaming Chair. Unveiled at this year's IFA, the Thronos Air is a more affordable version of the Thronos Gaming Chair Acer announced at the same show last year.
Watch ASUS' IFA 2019 event in under 10 minutes
ASUS hosted its IFA 2019 press event at 7AM ET this morning. We don't blame you if you were still sleeping, or on your way to work, and missed it. Lucky for you we were on the ground in Berlin and we've condensed the whole thing down to just under 10 minutes so you can catch up quickly. The company announced a new smart watch, expanded availability for its high-end ROG Phone II gaming phone, powerful new laptops for creative pros (including the first to harness NVIDIA's Quadro RTX 6000 graphics), displays and a whole lot more. Now it's time to get caught up while your boss is out for coffee.
The latest Fire TV devices include a revamped Cube and Anker soundbar
Amazon isn't quite swamping the market for Alexa devices like it did last year, but it still has plenty to show for late 2019. A since-deleted TechCrunch post (now official) has revealed that Amazon is introducing more than 20 Fire TV devices at its imminent IFA event, highlighted by an upgrade to the Fire TV Cube. The media hub and smart speaker hybrid now packs a six-core processor that's roughly twice as powerful as before, with support for 4K and Dolby Vision HDR content up to 60FPS. Also, some common voice controls are now hosted on-device, making it up to four times faster -- you shouldn't have to wait in agony while the Cube navigates to the home screen.
Plantronics' new headphone lineup includes three true wireless options
Plantronics may not be a name that immediately comes to mind when you're shopping for new headphones, but it should be one you consider. Even though the company rebranded as Poly after acquiring Polycom, products still bear the Plantronics name. And like it did last year, the company is debuting a full slate of new headphones in early September. That lineup includes true wireless and sport models that are all under $200.
The ASUS StudioBook One is the first laptop with NVIDIA's Quadro RTX 6000
Even with all of its might, the StudioBook Pro X that ASUS announced today isn't the most powerful StudioBook in terms of graphics. That accolade is reserved for the StudioBook One, with its Quadro RTX 6000 graphics. In fact, ASUS says this is the first (and currently only) laptop to harness the Quadro RTX 6000, and both it and NVIDIA say it's "the world's most graphically-powerful laptop." Well, at least it is for now.
ASUS' new gaming laptops push refresh rates to 300Hz
Never mind 240Hz displays in laptops -- ASUS wants to take things a step further. It's introducing updated gaming laptops with ultra-responsive 300Hz displays that cater to esports players and other ultra-competitive gamers. There's certainly a degree of bragging involved here, but ASUS contends that the faster panels are particularly good at reducing stuttering compared to rivals -- the 3.3ms time to draw a new frame at 300Hz is nearly as quick as the 3ms response time of the pixels themselves.
ASUS’ new fitness watch is more useful and better looking
ASUS may not make smartwatches anymore, but it has kept one foot in the wearables space with its line of fitness watches. A year and a bit after launching the VivoWatch BP, the company is back with a new health-tracking watch that, most importantly, looks a whole lot better than its predecessor.
ASUS’ StudioBook Pro X is a powerful laptop for creatives
ASUS is massively expanding its ProArt line here at IFA 2019, adding laptops, a desktop and a display to the series this week. Not all of it was on display ahead of the show, but the one laptop that caught our eye was the Studio Book Pro X. It's a massive machine, and the first NVIDIA Quadro-powered device to house the ASUS ScreenPad tech. If you're unfamiliar, that's the fancy touchscreen display that sits where the trackpad usually is. Now ASUS is on ScreenPad 2.0, a feature we first saw at Computex.
ASUS’ high-end gaming phone is coming to the west
ASUS' ROG Phone II has been available in Asia for some time, but it's taken a while for it to make it over this way. Thankfully, to make up for the wait, westerners will be able to buy not one, but two versions of the device, with even more ridiculous specs than the original.
Acer's Predator PowerGem could boost CPU performance by over 12 percent
Between some powerful updates to its creator-focused ConceptD PC series and new Predator gaming laptops, Acer wanted to show off its latest component innovations on stage. At the company's IFA press event, Acer boss Jason Chen brandished the Predator PowerGem, a new material intended to aid in the cooling of PC components. Details are extremely scant, but it's apparent that PowerGem is a type of thermal interface material (TIM). It's supposed to take the place of thermal paste, which sits between a chip and the cooler above it. While these pads are already found atop components like NVMe storage or GPU VRMs, CPUs are still typically cooled with thermal paste, or more exotic materials like liquid metal. PowerGem appears to have been developed specifically to cool CPUs.
Adidas' latest workout headphones have knitted bands and ear cushions
Adidas has unveiled its latest headphone models designed for those who like to work up a sweat. The $149 FWD-01 is a wireless in-ear set targeted towards runners. There are in-line controls on the knitted cord connecting the two earpieces and a "passive transparency" feature Adidas says will help you hear what's going on around you.
Acer’s Predator Triton 300 is its new entry-level gaming laptop
With waves of GPU upgrades and Intel processor refreshes keeping things interesting, gaming laptop competition has never been fiercer. In a bid to pick up gamers not quite willing to spend thousands of dollars on their rig, the Predator Triton 300 keeps the thin-and-light credentials of the series (this one is just 2.3kg), and ties together a 9th-gen Intel Core i7 with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1650 GPU. There's 16GB of DDR4 memory which is upgradeable, and a 15.6-inch HD IPS display with a 144Hz refresh rate. Yes, there are more powerful machines out there, but the spec sheet sounds suitably gamer-friendly -- just don't expect ray-tracing. It'll support up to two 1TB SSDs in RAID 0, and there's WiFi 6 alongside a mandatory ethernet port if you're playing online.
Acer adds RTX Quadro power to its high-end ConceptD laptops
Acer is chasing the creative professional with the pro-grade line of ConceptD laptops it launched in April. These powerful notebooks with rich, accurate displays come in eye-catching designs that help them stand out even as other laptops up their style games. When the series was first unveiled, there were just three products -- the 17.3-inch ConceptD 9, the 15-inch ConceptD 7 and ConceptD 5 (available in both sizes). Here at IFA 2019, Acer is expanding the lineup by adding a 15-inch ConceptD 3, as well as offering Pro editions of each model. The Pro versions come with NVIDIA's Quadro RTX graphics cards for those who require the extra muscle for extremely taxing tasks.
Parrot's latest drone includes an immersive cockpit headset
Parrot launched its 4K Anafi drone last year with the view to balancing a decent camera and plenty of features with a price tag that wasn't prohibitively expensive. Its latest model, the Anafi FPV, does the same, but with a heap more fun, focusing on total "flying immersion" via a cockpit glasses headset.
LG's 'proactive' AI predicts appliance problems before they happen
Earlier this year during its CES press conference, LG made the case for using AI-linked devices to change our lives. While not everyone was sold on the vision, it has continued with the ThinQ-branded push to connect and control everything, and ahead of the IFA 2019 event, LG has announced that the Proactive Customer Care service mentioned during CES will be available across several European countries this year, before extending to North America and Asia in 2020. Exactly how "AI" is present in the service is unclear, but to start, appliances like front-loading washing machines and refrigerators will feed into the service, which generates tips on how to use them better, and can apparently inform owners of potential problems before they occur. One specific instance cited is monitoring any fluctuations in temperature in a freezer with alerts that go out if it shifts beyond three degrees. We'll have to see it in action to know if the hints are worth anything, but the ThinQ AI experience will kick in as soon as units are installed with checks to make sure they're set up properly. Also unclear are the privacy and security implications. These devices will generate a ton of data about their users and even in the land of the GDPR, knowing where it's all going and who will have access is a priority before plugging one in and connecting it to a network, although LG has touted its ability to do secure AI processing even offline..
Sharp will show off the 'world's biggest' 8K LCD TV at IFA Berlin (updated)
If the 55-inch 4K TV in your den is starting to look too small, Sharp wants you to know something to the tune of 120 inches is coming. On Wednesday, the company announced it plans to showcase the world's largest 8K LCD TV at the upcoming IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany, which starts on September 6th. For those who are wondering, the world's biggest 8K TV is actually Samsung's 292-inch The Wall Luxury, but that's based on MicroLED instead of LCD.
Motorola's next One phone might have 5X 'hybrid' zoom
It looks like you won't have to spend $1,100 to get a phone with serious camera capabilities. Based on newly uploaded renders and a recent report from WinFuture's Roland Quandt, Motorola plans to release the Moto One Zoom, a smartphone with four cameras and a modest price tag.
