News + Trends
IFA Berlin 2017 - Day 7: One last time...
by Dominik Bärlocher
The 3 best things we found at IFA (and work statistics)
7.9.2017
Translation: machine translated
Video: Stephanie Tresch, Dominik Bärlocher
All the hot news is out. All the hands-on videos have been shot. The editorial team in Berlin is winding down its work. Stephanie Tresch and Dominik Bärlocher look back on an adventurous week.
New products and sensations follow each other at the IFA in Berlin. New technology is shown, the tech world is shocked by the revelations of the big corporations or the small imitations from Shenzhen. But in the end, when all the emotions have been felt and all the news digested, people remain. People like digitec journalist Dominik Bärlocher and video producer Stephanie Tresch. Over the course of a week, we spent our days at the trade fair and our nights behind laptops to bring you the latest news and first impressions of the spectacular or simply funny.
We are tired, exhausted but happy. IFA is like a playground for the two of us. There's a mobile that you can touch. There's a camera that you can press buttons on. Somewhere in between, a lunch break and getting used to daylight again, because the dimly lit halls have become our living space. We've heard umpteen sales pitches that we wouldn't have wanted to hear, eaten junk food, walked a long way and slept very little.
What many don't realise: When the trade fair ends early in the evening for them, the day begins for us. Sure, we wandered through the halls of Messe Berlin with cameras and writing materials at the ready, but in the evening it's time to write texts and edit videos.
Some statistics
As an experiment, we have analysed some key data for you so that you can take a look behind the scenes and know how much work and time went into the articles and videos.
All values have been written without the article you are currently reading:
Time and motion
- Number of days: 7
- Time worked: 94:03 hours
- Time we walked: 14:28 hours
- Number of steps: 77,849
- Distance travelled (not including the journey home): 778.4 km
- Distance by aeroplane: 661 km
- Distance travelled on foot: 33 km
- Distance by public transport: 62.9 km
- Distance by car: 21.5 km
Text
- Written articles: 17
- Number of characters (spaces included): 121,855
Videos
- Number of videos: 26
- Total length: 58:54 minutes
Stephanie's highlights
Of course, video producer Stephanie Tresch has a great love for cameras and things that record and play back images and sound. This is reflected in her favourite discoveries at IFA
The Robotron massage collar
If you're lugging camera equipment around all day, you'll notice the strain on your shoulders at some point. This invention from Shenzhen, China, which looks ultra-trashy, provides a remedy. Six balls rotate on your neck and provide cosy relaxation.
Judgement: Relaxed moaning.
High DG-1 gimbal
As a small and petite camerawoman, Stephanie struggles with DJI's Ronin gimbal. Although the handles are adjustable, they are still too far apart for someone who is "not 1.90 metres tall" to hold it comfortably for any length of time. The gimbal from the young Chinese company Hohem is much narrower. It has 1.6kg less payload than the Ronin, but if the Ronin is too bulky and too heavy, even the highest payload is of no use to you. What's more, the gimbal can also be packed away very small and comes in a compact box.
Judgement: Compact, practical, good
Libratone Zipp
The small speakers first caught Stephanie's eye because of their appearance. The wireless speakers, which are built to be future-proof, now come in baby blue and pink. According to the video producer, they fit perfectly into her home.
Judgement: tztztz oooooh yeeeeah!
Dominik's highlights
Journalists are always looking for the next big story and material so they can write about it better. Dominik Bärlocher's highlights are characterised by futurism and the relaxing balance between the two.
PowerVision PowerRay
When a flying drone falls from the sky, there is a risk that it will break. Or worse: landing on a person. The PowerVision PowerRay is an underwater drone with inbuilt sonar and buzzes around peacefully underwater. If something goes wrong, it simply floats in front of you underwater and waits for further commands. And you can splash around on the surface with the high-altitude thruster.
Judgement: pure relaxation.
Panasonic Educational Partner
Few technologies have fascinated and repelled Dominik more. Although the Panasonic Educational Partner only exists as a prototype, it will one day take over the job of educating parents. Partly, at least. It will measure biometric data, take pictures and send this data and/or synchronise it with cloud services. The football also speaks with a child's voice and a slight speech impediment.
Judgement: the apocalypse is near.
Bloody keyboards
The manufacturer Bloody makes keyboards with LightStrike switches. Thanks to completely new technology, the time between keystroke and computer is only 0.2 milliseconds. The keyboards are also illuminated and compatible with all Cherry keycaps. Only the software is still rubbish at the time of going to press.
Judgement: clickety-clack!
This is the last time the night shift leaves Berlin. We are about to travel back to Switzerland. We would like to thank everyone who asked us questions, left comments and sent us messages. A special shout-out goes to Toby and Franco from the Food Art Company. Your pasta is great and you really helped us out.
Until next time from a corner of the world where technology is introduced to the world.
It was a pleasure.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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