Tag Archives: IFA 2013

Dyson sues Samsung for copying vacuum design

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Dyson sues Samsung for ripping off vacuum design

If Samsung's patent infringement battle with Apple wasn't enough, the Korean company is in the spotlight again over claims that it intentionally copied the design of a patented Dyson vacuum. The British manufacturer has filed a lawsuit with the UK High Court accusing Samsung of duplicating the steering mechanism used in its DC cylinder models and embedding a similar component in the new Motion Sync vacuum cleaner (unveiled last week at IFA 2013). Unfortunately for Samsung, Dyson patented the mechanism back in 2009, which has led Sir James Dyson, the company's founder, to call it a "cynical rip-off." Considering Dyson successfully sued its rival for infringing on its "triple-cyclone" patent four years ago, Samsung's lawyers might just have to suck it up and make a settlement offer.

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Source: BBC News

The Engadget Interview: Daniel Sennheiser (video)

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The Engadget Interview Daniel Sennheiser video

"I've worked for Sennheiser since I was born," the company's co-CEO says with a laugh. Five years ago, Daniel Sennheiser and his brother took over the reigns of the eponymous audio company, the third generation of a legacy that began in 1945, weeks after the close of World War II, when their grandfather Fritz opened Laboratorium Wennebostel. Two decades later, the company would go on to to revolutionize personal audio with the introduction of the open headphone.

"One of our engineers discovered that you can take a microphone transducer and put it close to your head and suddenly there's a near-field effect that creates very good sound quality," explains Sennheiser. "And suddenly the open-ear headphone was born. That was the first hi-fi headphone in the world. That didn't exist at the time. We had 100-percent of the market." A quick glance around the floor of IFA will confirm that's certainly no longer the case anymore.

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Alcatel One Touch’s Pop C-series line of budget phones hands-on

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Alcatel One Touch's Pop line of budget phones handson

Alcatel One Touch (that's all part of the company's full name, incidentally) clearly intended on making a big splash at this year's IFA. The company announced a number of relatively high-end handsets in Berlin this week, including the flashy Idol Alpha and the massive Idol Hero. But let's face it, not everyone is able to shell out big bucks for handsets. Thankfully, the company also used the show to take the wraps off of four new budget Android 4.2 entries in its C-Series of handsets. The company had three on-hand at tonight's Pepcom event: the C1, C3 and C5. The biggest of the bunch, the five-inch C7 was here in spirit, making an appearance as a dummy unit. Thankfully, the company's got a bit more time to perfect that one, seeing as how the handset isn't due out until some time before the end of the year.

The C5, which is set to start shipping in November, was on-hand in all of its final production glory. All said, it's not a bad looking piece of hardware. Granted, it loses a bit of its luster placed up against the likes of the Alpha and Hero, but again, this is a budget device we're talking about here. The handset's got a 4.5-inch display and a white face that's at least somewhat reminiscent of Galaxy devices, with the usual trio of touch Android buttons on the bottom. The device we handled had a metallic red backing, with a prominent five-megapixel camera up top and a speaker grille along the bottom. Inside is a quad-core 1.3 GHz processor -- a step down from the C7's quad-core version.%Gallery-slideshow83371%

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Intelligent Headset delivers 3D audio for better zombie games, we go hands-on (video)

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Intelligent Headset DirectionAware headphones handson

Okay, so maybe the marketing material could be improved a bit. Personally, we wouldn't have gone with Intelligent Headset: The first Intelligent Headset, but the product should speak for itself -- assuming, of course, that you have a chance to actually try it on. The headphones are location-aware, thanks to a number of sensors that let it know which direction you're moving your head in. From there, the sound is tailored so you hear things differently, depending on where you're pointed. This could mean the same thing from different angles or entirely sounds depending on where you're facing.

In the below video, you'll see an example of a tourism app that shows the direction in an icon on a map. Turn your head and you hear different voices in different directions. Better still was the zombie game we played. Put the headphones on and you'll hear the undead approaching you from different sides. Face toward the invisible brain eater and press the button on the side of the ear to fire your shotgun. Easier said than done. %Gallery-slideshow83283%

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Archos 101 XS 2, ChefPad and ChildPad tablets hands-on (video)

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With Archos, when it rains, it pours. We popped by the company's booth at IFA this morning to take a peek at its customary deluge of devices. In addition to a number of handsets, Archos was showcasing a whole pile of tablets -- though we've opted to focus on some of the more interesting ones, namely the 101 XS, ChefPad and ChildPad. And we have to say, while the company hasn't always been known for sexy devices, all of the tablets we looked at had surprisingly nice builds. The company also gets some credit for seeking out some interesting niches within the tablet space.

The 101 XS 2 is certainly the most mainstream of the three. The Gen11 device is probably most notable for its included keyboard dock, which magnetically attaches to the front of the slate, protecting its screen when not in use. When you're ready to go, pull off the thin cover, unfold the stand on the dock and stick the tablet into its port, propping it up in landscape mode.%Gallery-slideshow83285%

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Lenovo / Vodafone’s Smart Tab III shows up in 10- and 7-inch versions at IFA (hands-on)

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There are always a few treats to be had at Vodafone's IFA booth. This year, the company was showing off the successor to the Smart Tab II -- a device we happened to first glimpse at last year's event. The Lenovo-designed Vodafone Smart Tab III comes in two flavors, a 1280 x 800 10-inch model and a 1024 x 600 seven-inch version. Both devices are running Android 4.2.2, with promised upgrades to Kit Kat when the time comes. The models we saw here in Berlin were also running Bild, a skin that aims to make app discovery easier from within the OS itself, thanks in part to its clustering together titles in categories like Social and Travel -- of course, that all makes things a bit tougher to find the first time you boot things up. We did manage to locate the settings panel eventually, though.

There's a 1.2GHz processor inside of both, along with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage, which is expandable via a microSD slot. Both slates also feature front and rear facing cameras, the latter of which clocks in at five megapixels. Both are pretty solidly designed, with fairly slim profiles. The seven-incher has a front-facing speaker grille and the 10-inch version has two on the top of its textured backing. Also, in spite of Lenovo's input, the company hasn't branded either device at all. Instead, there's a single Vodafone logo smack dab in the center of both tablets' backs. %Gallery-slideshow83279%

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Source: Vodafone (Translation)

Marshall shows off its mini Stanmore speakers at IFA (eyes-on)

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Marshall shows off its mini Stanmore speakers at IFA eyeson

Look familiar? Yeah, yeah, it's built in the classic Marshall amp style, but the new Stanmore speaker also has a lot in common with the already announced Hanwell. The big difference? Size. The newly announced speaker is a diminutive take on its older sibling -- though it's not tiny by any means. The speaker's got a number of inputs: 3.5-millimeter, RCA, Bluetooth and optical audio. It comes in black and cream colors and will run you €400 here in Europe. It's not cheap, certainly, but man it's a pretty speaker. %Gallery-slideshow81818%

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Source: Marshall Headphones

Logitech’s IFA 2013 lineup includes tablet cases, mice and more, we go eyes-on

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Logitech

We've seen most of Logitech's latest products by way of press shots, but the company was clearly waiting for IFA to trot out the real deals. We caught the peripheral maker as it was in the process of setting of its booth for the show and got a quick tour of what it's working on. First up, the company's giving a little folio love to Android tablet owners, releasing a keyboard case for the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 and protective cases for the 10.1, 8.0 and 7.0. We also got a chance to check out that beefy G602 wireless gaming mouse, which'll give you around 250 hours of gaming on a charge. Speaking of mice, the Ultrathin Touch Mouse is a pretty nice looking peripheral -- one that pairs pretty nicely with its TK820 keyboard. Images below and press info for all of the above after the break. %Gallery-slideshow79677%

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Haier’s new OLED TV is harder to push over than most

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Haier shows off an OLED TV with a builtin stand at IFA

Eye control is all well and good, but what Haier was really pumped about at this year's IFA was its new 55-inch OLED set. And, granted, the set is nice and thin at four millimeters, with a 1.5 millimeter bezel. What the company was really excited about, however, was the built-in stand. Yep, it's a four millimeter thick TV that can stand on its own, making it really difficult to push over in one direction, at least. We appreciate the sentiment, but we'll be more excited when we can start controlling the thing with our brains.

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Haier shows off its latest eye-controlled TV at IFA, we go eyes-on, naturally

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Haier shows off its latest eye-controlled TV at IFA, we go eyes-on, naturally

Let's face it, it wouldn't be a proper IFA if we didn't take some time out of our busy schedules to pop by Haier's booth for a little alternative TV action. In past years, we've seen gesture and mind control, transparent sets and, of course eye-control. The company's tweaked the latter a bit, hitting this year's show with the latest prototype. Asked if we'd actually see the set in our lifetimes, the Haier rep we spoke with assured us that the company would have something "soon," so take that as you will. So, what are the changes from last year? For starters, the set is slimmer. More importantly, it's got a new sensor from Tobii, which promises sharper eye detection.

We've got to say though, as ever, it takes some getting used to. After calibrating, you move you eyes to different parts of the screen to engage different functions -- like, say, top for menu and bottom for volume. When your eyes drift up there, a menu will pop up. In the case of volume, you move your gaze (and the cursor in turn) to volume up and blink to select. Why this is better than a good old fashioned remote, we're still not sure -- particularly when moving your head can throw the whole thing off. But we've lost our remotes enough times to seriously consider giving it a shot.%Gallery-slideshow79671%

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