Visitors attending the IFA consumer electronics show, which begins Friday in Berlin, will have a tough time finding anything analog. Digital technology will dominate nearly every gadget on display, from the latest generation of LCD (liquid crystal display) and plasma screens to new high-definition TV sets, mobile TV phones and super multiformat HD-DVD recorders.
Interest in the show — from exhibitors and visitors alike — has grown noticeably as the lines between consumer electronics and information technology continue to blur.
Among the big-name IT manufactures attending the six-day event, which takes place every two years, are Acer Inc., Intel Corp. and Siemens AG, as well as a long string of consumer electronic giants including Canon Inc., Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, LG Electronics Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (better known by its Panasonic brand), Sony Corp., and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
The number of exhibitors is up 15 percent to nearly 1,200 from 40 countries, with more than a third of them attending for the first time. Around 280,000 consumers are expected to come. It will be the biggest ever IFA show, according to the organizers.
The trade fair, the second oldest in Germany, began more than 80 years ago when Germany was emerging as a force in the relatively young consumer electronics industry. The first show was opened by resident scientist Albert Einstein, who will be honored with a special exhibition staged by the Max Planck Institute.
So what to expect at IFA? (The letters stand for Internationale Funkausstellung, although the full name is rarely used these days.)
One big theme will be HDTV (high definition television). Although this technology has been on the drawing board for nearly 20 years, the high cost of the various components required to build the sets has undermined its take-up. This is changing, with several vendors exhibiting lower-cost HDTV sets and a number of European broadcasters, including German pay-TV channel Premier, planning to offer HDTV service in November.
Another attraction will be mobile phones that can receive TV signals beamed over the airwaves. Both Siemens and Nokia Corp. plan to show their mobile TV phones based on the new DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld) standard. The Berlin-based Heinrich-Hertz-Institute and the Fraunhofer Institute for Information Technology, which have both contributed to the development of mobile TV systems, will be demonstrating the technology on various devices.
Among some of the other expected highlights: