IFA 2019: all the news from Europe’s biggest tech showcase – The Verge

Roku TV is coming to the UK with Hisense’s upcoming sets

2019-09-07T04:30:00-04:00

Roku is bringing its TV operating system outside of North America for the first time, the company announced at IFA today. Hisense UK will release its first TVs powered by Roku in the fourth quarter of this year. Previously, Roku's television operating system has only been available in North America where it's been featured in TVs from TCL, Sharp, and Hisense's US arm.

We've always liked Roku's TV operating system, so it's great to see it launch outside of North America. When we reviewed last year's TCL 6-Series television, for example, we found that Roku's software was simple and easy to use. It also, crucially, has pretty much every stream …

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Braun speakers make a return with Airplay 2 and Google Assistant

2019-09-06T13:43:40-04:00

Legendary design brand Braun is back in the speaker business with its first new products since the original Dieter Rams-designed LE line 28 years ago, launching a trio of modern takes on the classic speakers at IFA 2019: the LE01, LE02, and LE03, via 9to5Mac.

Or, sort of: the speakers aren't technically being produced by Braun itself, but rather by Pure Audio, which licensed the Braun Audio branding from Procter & Gamble earlier this year. That said, the three new speakers are clearly inspired by Rams' original design, albeit with some modern innovations added in, like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. That also means the new speakers support things lik …

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Qualcomm’s 5G modem is coming to midrange phones next year

2019-09-06T09:24:04-04:00

Qualcomm will integrate 5G connectivity into its 6- and 7-series chipsets starting next year alongside its flagship 8-series processors, the company announced at IFA today. Qualcomm says that these chips will support a full range of 5G technologies, including being able to connect to sub-6Ghz and mmWave spectrums.

Today's announcement means that it won't just be flagship phones that will get an integrated 5G modem; it will also come to the kinds of processors that are used in more midrange and budget devices. Starting next year, we should start to see 5G move beyond expensive flagship devices like the OnePlus 7 Pro and Samsung Galaxy Note 1 …

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Huawei’s latest AirPods imitators add noise cancellation

2019-09-06T05:34:18-04:00

Huawei is adding noise cancellation to the third-generation of the FreeBuds, its true wireless earbuds that look almost identical to Apple's AirPods. The FreeBuds 3, which the company announced onstage today at IFA 2019, include four hours of battery life in the earbuds themselves, and come with a circular puck-shaped charging case that expands their total listening time to 20 hours. The earbuds are available in either black or white.

Huawei claims that the FreeBuds 3 are the world's first noise-cancelling headphones with an open-fit design. What this means is that the earbuds don't create a sealed physical barrier between your ear canal an …

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The Motorola One Zoom offers four cameras at an affordable $450 price

2019-09-05T15:03:46-04:00

Motorola has a second new phone for its One series, which it announced at IFA 2019: the Motorola One Zoom. It offers four rear cameras (including a 3x zoom lens that gives the phone its name), while still hitting a fairly affordable $449.99 price point.

The standout feature here is obviously the camera system, which, as mentioned, has a total of four lenses: a main camera with a 48-megapixel sensor (which shoots quad-pixel 12-megapixel stills and offers OIS), an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and OIS, a 16-megapixel ultra wide with a 117-degree field of view, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor for portrait mode shots. That's in …

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Lenovo embraces Google Assistant with new Smart Display 7 and convertible tablets

2019-09-05T14:30:00-04:00

Lenovo was one of the first companies to build a Google Assistant-powered smart display, and at IFA 2019 it's introducing a few new Google Assistant display options: a smaller Smart Display 7 and a pair of Smart Tab tablets that run Android, but offer enhanced Assistant integration thanks to a new Ambient Mode feature.

First up is the Smart Display 7, which joins Lenovo's larger Smart Display 8 and Smart Display 10 models. As the name implies, it offers a seven-inch screen, instead of the eight- and 10-inch options on its larger siblings, as well as a new design that puts the speaker below the display, instead of on the side. Otherwise, it …

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New Nokia 6.2 and 7.2 phones revamp HMD’s midrange lineup

2019-09-05T10:30:00-04:00

Nokia 7.2 | Photo by Alix Diaconis / The Verge

One of HMD's biggest strengths for its Nokia line of phones has been that it has devices at nearly every price and spec level. At IFA 2019, the company announced the newest updates for its middle-of-the-road phones: the new Nokia 6.2 and the Nokia 7.2.

Visually speaking, the two phones share a lot in common due to a shared chassis and design. Both offer a refreshed design that combines an aluminum chassis with a die-cast polymer on top, which is sandwiched between glass on the front and back of the device.

The front of the phone sees the biggest major update for both the 6.2 and the 7.2: a new 6.3-inch FHD+ panel with a teardrop notch that …

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Nokia’s iconic 2720 flip phone is the latest model to be resurrected by HMD

2019-09-05T10:30:00-04:00

HMD has been resurrecting classic Nokia phones in modernized forms for the last few years - first with the iconic Nokia 3310 and then the Nokia 8110 (the "banana phone" from The Matrix). At IFA 2019, it announced its latest nostalgic throwback: a modern version of the Nokia 2720 flip phone.

Like the revamped 3310 and 8110, the new 2720 is part of what HMD calls its "Nokia Originals" line, which offers modernized spins on classic Nokia designs. In this case, that's the flip phone, which is getting a sleeker design, a larger 2.8-inch internal display, and some new features.

Software-wise, it runs KaiOS, a feature-filled feature phone operati …

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As the world embraces true wireless, Sony isn’t leaving neckband headphones behind

2019-09-05T10:00:50-04:00

While over-ear headphones prioritize comfort over bulkiness and in-ear headphones offer an extremely lightweight experience, neckband headphones supposedly offer a best-of-both-worlds form factor that Sony isn't going to leave behind anytime soon. It announced its new WI-1000X M2 earbuds today at IFA, and I got a chance to try them out on the show floor.

The headphones use a hybrid-drive system that combines a main 9mm driver with a balanced armature driver, and there's a 3.5mm port and USB-C plug for making a wired connection and charging the headphones, respectively. But the thing that should make you sit up and take notice is the inclusi …

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Sony goes super colorful for its latest truly wireless earbuds

2019-09-05T09:32:45-04:00

Truly wireless earbuds are better than ever in 2019, but one thing's been missing from a lot of them: some nice, vivid color. Coming off strong reviews for its WF-1000X M3 noise-canceling earbuds, Sony is announcing a new set: the WF-H800 Hear.In 3 that come in several colors that really stand out from the black and light gray of the M3s. The red / black combo is my favorite, but there are also green, blue, black, and coral choices.

Like the M3s, these earbuds each connect to your phone simultaneously. Sony says they can get a total of 16 hours of battery life. That's eight hours of continuous playback from the earbuds themselves and an add …

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