MANILA, Philippines - The IFA 2015 consumer electronics show happens this week in Berlin. GadgetMatch is on the scene to cover all the big announcements. We’ll post daily videos on gadgetmatch.net and all our social media platforms, and will round up all the highlights on next Monday’s issue, but for now, here are four things you can expect from the annual tech show.
#1: Sony Xperia Z5
On Wednesday, Sony will unveil its next flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z5. The Z5 is rumoured to come in three variants – a 5.2-inch base model, a smaller 4.6-incher called the Z5 Compact, and a phablet sized device called the Z5 Premium with a 4K 5.5-inch display. All three phones are expected to sport upgraded 23 megapixel cameras which f/1.8 lenses, and will come with built-in fingerprint scanners.
#2: Asus Zenfone Zoom & Max
The Asus Zenfone Zoom & Max have already been announced so no surprises here, but IFA 2015 will be the first time the public will be able to see them in the flesh. On its flip side the Zenfone Zoom looks like a digital point and shoot, it comes with a 13 megapixel camera, a 3x optical zoom lens, and laser autofocus. While the Zenfone Max’s standout feature is its massive 5000mAh battery. Way to push boundaries Asus.
#3 Smarter smart watches
At the end of Samsung’s Note 5 event in New York last month, the Korean tech giant teased their new Gear 2 smartwatch. The new smartwatch will have a round clock face, and is expected to run an updated version of the Tizen operating system, not Google’s Android Wear. Also expect a slew of second generation Android Wear devices including the Moto 360 2 from Motorola, the LG Watch Urbane LTE 2, the Huawei Mate S, and the ZenWatch 2 from Asus.
#4 LG Tablet, and a few surprises?
LG quietly announced its next tablet, the GPad II 10.1 last week. While most Android tablets are switching to 4:3 from 16:9 or 16:10 formats, the new LG tablet will retain a widescreen aspect ratio. The new tablet will launch side by side with LG’s new innovative Rolly keyboard, which has also been announced, leaving room for a few surprises maybe. Some speculate LG could also be prepping its phablet offering, most probably the 6-inch LG G Pro 3.