3D, tablets, smart captures IFA fair

By Kim Yoo-chul

BERLIN ― This year’s IFA, one of the world’s longest-running consumer electronics exhibitions, has highlighted “three dimensional (3D),” tablet” and “smart” as its key words.

Technology majors at this year’s IFA, held in Berlin, Germany, from Sept. 2 to Sept. 7 are keen to stress their latest products, including 3D and Internet-connected TVs, as major developments in a changing market.

Tablets are also big news at the fair, with Sony displaying its new series, while Samsung, Toshiba, Lenovo and others are also offering peeks at their latest devices.

``The onslaught of tablets, 3D TVs and so-called smart products, sees Internet connectivity in everything from the latest range of 3D TVs to long-term evolution (LTE) smartphones and fridges and hold the main spotlight at this year’s exhibition,’’ said a spokesman for the exhibition organizer in an interview, Monday (KST).

The spokesman added technological advances are making general consumers want to be ``future-proof,” resulting in this year’s trade fair seeing such devices.

Last year’s notable IFA announcements included Samsung Electronics’ first tablet, the 7-inch Galaxy Tab, and the world’s slimmest 3D TV with light-emitting diode (LED) backlights and the ViewSonic Viewpad 100, the world’s first dual-boot tablet.

3D everywhere at IFA

It’s no exaggeration to say that 3D is everything at this year’s fair. Thanks to improving technology, there is no doubt that 3D is here to stay.

In the world of 3D, the whole industry is currently at the same stage when high-definition (HD) was introduced.

Confusion existed among consumers about why they should buy a TV with HD-level picture quality, and thus the market was slow to widen.

And the same thing is happening with 3D.

``That’s because 3D technology is the future, just like HD was the future, or color was the future,’’ said the spokesman.

Having seen Avatar in theaters, a lot of people are at the very least buying bigger screens and home cinemas and in turn, that’s feeding into the 3D business.

``Good 3D content will be coming on board. 3D is going to be everywhere,’’ said Jim Chabin, president of the International 3D Society, adding 3D is an intelligent manner in keeping with the true wants and needs of consumers.

GfK, the world’s fourth-largest market organization, expects more than 50 million 3D sets will be sold throughout next year from an estimated 20 million this year, enough that 20 percent of the global flat-screen market will be 3D TVs.

Still, the lack of 3D-customized content is an issue, however GfK believes people will be able to benefit much more from 3D next year because they now realize what 3D means.

Asian television majors, such as Samsung, LG Electronics and Sony, as well as leading Chinese such makers from TCL to Hisense, have filled their booths with 3D features.

``I think 3D televisions are being driven as much by consumer desire as by the major TV manufacturers and the market should be the `it’ one that they should not lose. It’s good to see that 3D is getting familiar,’’ said Matt Dickenson, a visitor to the IFA from the United States.

And GfK believes LG Electronics-developed film-based 3D technology will lead the way because it is much simpler and cheaper than the Samsung-backed battery-powered 3D technology.

``We expect that in the future film-based 3D technology will have a much stronger share than the active version,’’ said Juergen Boyny, global director consumer electronics at GfK retail and technology, during a press conference at the IFA.

``Because the glasses are cheaper, there is a much lower investment by the consumer. What we are seeing is that 3D at home is a communal thing with people tending to watch the film or the show in a family group or inviting friends round and that’s why polarized 3D becomes a very attractive proposition.’’

He said the underlying reality is that 3D really has to be demonstrated for people to understand the benefits and added watching 3D with active-shutter glasses ― the Samsung-developed technology ― could cause problems because the glasses are heavy, expensive and there’s a safety aspect too.

``Although we are definitely waiting for glasses-free 3D TV, that’s not going to happen in the next three or four years due to higher manufacturing costs and lower marketability,’’ said an executive from Samsung Electronics.

Toshiba of Japan has exhibited the world’s first glasses-free 3D TV.

Tablets, smart devices

The market for tablets has already taken off, with Apple still leading the way followed by Samsung Electronics.

Samsung’s strategic 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab and the newest 7.7-inch release were not at Samsung booth because Apple won a court injuction to ban the Korean firm’s tablet sales in several nations in Europe, claiming that the Tabs violate Apple patents relating to the iPad 2.

But Samsung has displayed the Galaxy Note, which dimmed the bounce lines of smartphone and tablets, as part of its strategy in pushing business for tablets with various sizes, from 7- to 10-inch versions.

Sony, one of Samsung’s corporate friends, is also using this year’s IFA to show its ``tablet appetites.’’

Its two Android tablet models ― S and P ― are integrated with Sony’s music, video and e-book services, similar to Apple products and their iTunes stores.

``We want to prove it’s not who makes it first that counts, but who makes it better,’’ Sony chief executive Howard Stringer said during its global press conference.

Toshiba, Lenovo, ViewSonic and others have vowed to jump into the sector by releasing their own software-upgraded models, strengthening views that tablets will see a rapid boom this year.

``The Sony tablet is chic and sexy. Because the content-rich Sony is shifting its business focus on content from hardware, it will be interesting to see whether it puts more affordable content onto its tablets to compete with the existing leaders such as Apple and Samsung,’’ said a visitor spotted at the Sony booth, asking not to be identified.

On the back of technological advances, Internet-connected consumer electronics are noticeable.

There were more cloud-based solutions promoted at the IFA and even home appliances were featured with greater and more advanced Internet-connectivity.

Comfort, lifestyle and smart design are the trends in Berlin this year.

While those qualities are attractive, more consumers are looking at sustainability and energy efficiency ― two focus points of smart devices.

Samsung Electronics is presenting ``A Smarter Life, a Smarter World’’ as the main theme in describing its new generation of consumer electronics for the connected home.

``We are in a fascinating period of transition as we evolve from our history as a provider of world class hardware products to becoming a leader in software and services,’’ said Yoon Boo-keun, the head of Samsung Electronics’ television division in its press conference.

Samsung plans to expand its ``Smart Blu-ray Players’’ and ``Home Theatre Systems’’ to provide consumers with a broader range of products to start living the ``Smarter Life.’’