IFA 2018

​A whopping 89 percent of owners of robot vacuum cleaners would recommend them to friends and family, according to an independent survey commissioned by Neato Robotics. Several figures have been released which suggest that there's potential for growth in the market.

In the spare moments between near back-to-back press events we managed to grab a few snaps from the floor at IFA this year. Here's a photo round-up of the show, from the heavy hitters who most impressed like Sony and Acer to specialist tech firms and a few unknown outsiders.

​Back in June, Segway-Ninebot announced some e-Skates called the Drift W1, which made use of Segway's self-balancing know-how to put a single chunky wheel in each skate. The company brought some to IFA 2018 in Berlin, so naturally we had to try them out.​

​While most parents don't want their kids spending too much time on their smartphones or tablets, it can be difficult to monitor how long they've been using such a device, and to keep it out of temptation's way when it's not in use. Well, that's why the TechDen was created.

​Active noise cancellation headphones are great for focusing on the music and not what's going on around you. Sony impressed us at IFA 2016 with its MDR-1000X cabled over-ears, and now the consumer tech giant has done it again with the wireless WH-1000XM3 headphones.​

​The personal robot Temi put in an appearance at IFA today, alongside the news that it will go on sale worldwide October 1 for the confirmed price of US$1,500. Its makers call it the first truly-useful personal robot.

Sony traditionally loves to put on a show at the IFA expo in Berlin, and IFA 2018 is no different – the company just unveiled the Sony Xperia XZ3 flagship phone to challenge the top-end handsets from Apple, Google, and Samsung, and New Atlas has been getting some hands-on time with the device.

Samsung has entered the 8K arena with the Q900FN/R. Built around Samsung's quantum dot LCD technology that is designed to compete with OLED, the TVs pack over 30 million pixels and feature AI-powered 8K upscaling – which is just as well given the distinct lack of native 8K content currently.

Dell has pulled the wraps off a shiny new monitor at IFA in Berlin this week. The 27-in display is designed to be crisp and bright, with an ultra-thin profile. Dell calls it the “world’s brightest in its class,” but there’s a few caveats to that claim.

The product launches are coming thick and fast at the IFA 2018 tech showcase in Berlin this week, and Dell has taken the opportunity to take the wrappers off its most high-end Chromebook yet: the 2-in-1 Inspiron 14. Is this a competitor worthy enough to take on the mighty Google Pixelbook?

​While there may indeed be a retro appeal to analog instant cameras, digital cameras do certainly make some things easier. Polaroid has decided to combine the two – sort of – in the form of the smartphone-controlled OneStep+.

Before virtual and augmented reality become widespread in our homes, it might gain traction in public spaces like museums and hotels, and Acer's new OJO 500 headset has been built with sharing in mind – it's semi-modular design allows the straps and lenses to be removed and cleaned separately.