With IFA in full swing the world's technology companies are clambering for attention and with literally hundreds of new piece of tech it can be hard to make an impact. We've scoured the Berlin Messe to give you roundup of what we think have been the most intriguing products, from tablets to all-in-one computers, here's what has caught our eye.
Dell is gearing up for the launch of Windows 8 in a couple of months time and their new all-in-one Windows 8 computer is aimed squarely at early adopters. While Dell actually launched its 27-inch all-in-one XPS early this year their latest version comes with a few new party pieces; a touchscreen and a new tilt stand meaning it can be used at varying angles from upright to almost flat.
Dell has gone to great lengths to make sure their new all-in-one is a powerhouse. It features an as yet unspecified Intel i7 processor, 2TB of storage, Nvidia GeForce GT 640M and 8GB of RAM.
As well as a killer specs list the new XPS all-in-one comes with an impressive screen boasting 2560 x 1,4440 resolution – while it's still a way off Apple's latest Retina displays, it is on par with its main rival the iMac. The screen comes with touch capabilities and is able to recognise 10 individual fingers.
The Dell XPS One 27 Touch UK and US release date is set for late October to coincide with the launch of Windows 8.
Windows 8 has been designed to be a touchy, feely operating system - so over the next 6 months you should expect to see a shed load of new laptops which combine touchscreens with Windows 8.
Well, that's exactly what HP has planned with it's bizarrely named SprectreXT Touchsmart Ultrabook, which combines a multi-touch display, massive processing power, and a suite of software to keep you busy.
The SpectreXT comes with a 15.6-inch touch screen housed in a smooth, all metal design which sees the screen go edge-to-edge with a sloping design on the bottom of the chasis. The lower chassis has a tapered design, reminiscent of a MacBook Air. At its thinnest it measures 17.9 mm, with the entire laptop weighing in at just 4.77 pounds.
The SpectreXT is HP's first Ultrabook that comes with Intel's Thunderbolt port, it can be used for super-fast file transfers and can even be used to connect a second monitor. Elsewhere you’ll get a Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 and HDMI ports and the processor is a 3rd-generation Intel i5 Core.
To sweaten the deal, HP is a throwing in a raft of essential pieces of software and support packages. You'll get a full version of Adboe Photoshop, Premiere Elements 10 and a year of Absolute Data Protect. There’s a years worth of Norton Internet Security and the HP SpectreXT TouchSmart Ultrabook also includes 90 days of complimentary HP SmartFriend Setup Service to help you get setup.
The HP SpectreXT TouchSmart Ultrabook is set to ship this December, with models starting at $1,399.
HTC has had a quiet time at IFA with their main announcement a new HTC Desire X, it’s aimed at users who couldn’t forgive HTC’s decision to dump the removalable cover and lack of SD card support.
Specs-wise its fairly middle of the road with a dual-core 1GHz S4 processor, a Super LCD screen measuring 4-inches and Beats audio. The chassis is similar to the One X, but this time they’ve dumped the uni-body design for a more traditional removable rear cover which hides the SD card slot and normal-sized SIM.
The handset comes with Android Ice Cream Sandwich, a 5 megapixel rear facing camera and the usual headphone jack and on/off button on the top.
It’s might not be the most exciting handset ever – but it’s sure to attract users who are looking for a relatively inexpensive smartphone that has the capability to upgrade its storage capabilities.
Asus has unveiled its first hybrid laptop/tablet for Windows 8 the Asus Vivo Tablet. Following on from the Asus Transformer Pad, the newly named Vivo tablet uses the same design as the transformer whereby the screen docks into the keyboard base-station to become netbook-sized laptop.
Running a Intel Atom Clover Trail processor rather than a low-powered ARM-based chip this means the tablet will be able run both Windows Store apps aswell as more traditional boxed apps like Photoshop or Office.
While Atom in the past was once a by-word for slow, Intel has gone to great lengths to improve the chips architecture. The next generation Atom chip that runs on 32nm technology making it power efficient, yet will still be able to power Windows 8.
Being x86 compatible you'll get the flexibility of an Intel core chip, but without the downside of its power consumption and cost. The tablet comes with 2 GB of RAM and 64 GB of built-in storage. Measuring just 8.7mm thick, the tablet weighs 675grams without the docking station. The screen is less than impressive and has a 1366 x 768 resolution, which is a meagre 720p.
Apart from the touchscreen you can control the tablet using the keyboard dock trackpad, and there's even a stylus pen that uses Wacom technology for greater fidelity.
One complaint levelled its predecessor was the weighting of the tablet whilst docked, the tablet obviously has the majority of the weight and would make it susceptible to falling over. From early impression they’ve remedied this, but it’s still not quite as balanced as a traditional laptop.
No price or details of release were given but Asus said it would available around the launch of Window 8, so late October or early November.
