Large, international tradeshows can showcase the absolute bleeding edge of technology. Sometimes though, said tech was developed with the unknown help of another company, so obviously, this can come to a breaking point at these tradeshows. According to The Register, German Custom agents have been busy this year at IFA. 

A spokesman for German Customs told us: “We’ve raided 69 companies today. We have seized equipment including flat-screen TVs, CD players, set-top boxes and MP3 players.”

Above, these agents are investigating claims that MSI infringement from patent firm Sisvel. And, yes, pics show that these ladies and gents are in fact armed because we all know, us nerds can get a little territorial over our gadgets.

via Reg

From the standard fare of receivers to gaming headsets, Dolby has invaded IFA this year. Harman Kardon is going to launch the first receiver with Dolby’s touted Volume technology that ensures constant volume across all content media. Then there is the Plantronics GameCom 777 headset aimed at gamers with surround sound. PCs are getting a sound upgrade as well with Dolby Home Theater and Dolby Sound Round. Finally, thank goodness, Dolby is taking their experience on the go with Dolby Mobile. Apparently, they feel that they can make that tiny speaker sound so much better. 

Dolby has been around for a while and the label is on just about everything AV, but does it really sway your purchasing decision on outside devices. If product A has Dolby certs on the front bezel that product B doesn’t, which one are you more likely to buy? I totally buy Dolby supported receivers but I really don’t know if seeing their logo on my cell phone will move me to buy one verse another. 

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Indiana Jones or Superman prop; classy or just plain tacky? I can’t decide but I’ve to give the boys over at Harman Kardon for suck a clever name: GLA-55. ‘Cause it’s made out of glass. Get it? 

Anyway, getting down to the details. Only two to three thousand are going to be made and priced at £500. Within the crystal speakers lay a 56 watt per speaker digital amplifier, DSP equalization all traveling out to a 3.5mm output. So yes, sadly, these bookshelves will be found on your desk, tied down to your computer or iPod. H/K announced these speakers at IFA, so naturally, there isn’t any mention of a US launch just yet. What does it matter, you’re not going to get ‘em anyways ’cause they would clash with your drinking bird so badly. 

via ShinyShiny

Delta Electronics took the IFA global stage and announced the companies first LED-powered DLP projector. The initial specs sound good – expect one, keep reading – 1080p, large color gamut, and 20,000 hours on the LED unit. The company didn’t announce pricing yet, but it will be at CEDIA next week so I’ll hit ‘em up with some questions then.

Before I ask about price though, I want to know the brightness in terms of lumens. It curiously wasn’t announced and that one spec is the reason major projector players haven’t produced LED models yet. LED units tend to last longer than metal halide bulbs, but they also tend to not be as bright. Hear me right though, I’m not dogging the projector just yet, as I would love to see a demonstration and receive a full white paper on the unit before I do.

Delta via i4u

Blu-ray player launches are getting kind of commonplace. Really, the only spec I am looking for right now is BD-Live and yes, both the Panasonic DMP-BD35 and BD55 are equipped with it. Of course, both players also have HDMI, proprietary video processing, and a sleek, modern design. As far as pricing, European high-fi guys can pick up the BD35 for €399 and the BD55 for €499. Chances are that when these players launch next week at CEDIA though, we here in the States will see a similar figure just with a dollar sign in front. You just wait and see.

via Akihabaranews

Green is still a buzzword worth marketing and Toshiba is showing off its environment friendly products at this years IFA. The companies LCD power consumption is being slashed by 20% over ‘06 model levels and are more of the flat panel displays are LED backlit. By 2010, Toshiba will no longer be manufacturing incandescent lamps and thus cutting CO₂ emissions even more. The Portégé R500 series of notebook PCs even receive some ‘green’ upgrades too and are now producing 69g less CO₂ than the 2650 Dynabook model. Lastly, Toshiba’s amazing 90-recharged-in-less-than-five-minutes-SCiB battery rounds up the tree hugging coverage. 

 I am all for so-called Green technology as long as it doesn’t hinder other breakthroughs. Agreed?

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High-end HDTVs have featured internal upscalling tech for a while now, generally garnishing higher prices because of it, but now Toshiba is bringing the goods to the masses. The companies latest LCD lineup, called ZF, sports Tosbiba’s homegrown Cell processor and some proprietary picture enhancing tech labeled Resolution+. When the two of them combine forces, they should produce a sharper and clearer image.

Both the 40-inch (40ZF575D) and 45-inch (46ZF575D) models are destined for a European release shortly. They both spec out with 1080p screens, 30,000:1 contrast ratio, 6ms response, and four HDMI inputs. In good ‘ol IFA fashion today, no word on price just yet.

via PR & Engadget

It’s just a matter of time before Blu-ray all-in-one systems hit the street. Sony’s BDV-IT1000 seems like a killer system even though AV guys will scoff due to the all-in-one moniker. I believe the two HDMI inputs, wireless rear channels, 1080p24 along with Dolby Digital Plus, TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio support rounds out this system nicely. We all know the proprietary pitfalls that come with these systems, but they work out to be great deals for many consumers. No word on a US price or availability but you can bet your Target card that this system will find its way over here.

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IFA is quickly coming up and in standard trade show fashion, some gadgets leak out early. The iriver P20 first made headlines during CES ‘08 and that was only a prototype. We’re hoping for some real hands-on action once the PMP launches in Germany. Thankfully, iriver has kept the 4.1-inch touchscreen and is still capable of doing the whole music, DMB TV, Flash games, and video thing via the sexy Spinn OS. Pricing is of course absent but is sure to pop up within the coming days.

iriverFans via Engadget

If TomTom fills in the blanks later on – availability, U.S. cost, stuff like that — we’ll let you know.

HandTac via GPSLodge

During IFA, Daewoo, maker of all things cheap and imported, announced it would be dipping its feet into the waters of the Blu-ray market with its first player, the DBP-1000. Sleek blue looks aside, the player is slim and supports full BD-R specifications. It can access live content, output in 1080p via HDMI, upscale DVDs and photos to full-rez, and can playback DivX files.

The DBP-1000 can also playback any burned CD or DVD, as well as burned BD-R and BD-RE discs in case you have friends with a lot of data (or burned movies). All inputs you’d expect are available, including digital sound, and a USB port is included on the front for flash drives. Sounds like an awesome player. As much as I’d love to get my hands on it, Daewoo failed to mention anything about price or availability.

Daewoo demos ‘Blu-ray Disc 2.0′ player [Reg Hardware]

We’ve seen our share of wearable technology, but the Lumalive from Philips is a first. This new technology integrates the LEDs directly into the material. The new process leaves no visible trace of the LEDs, but the design performs exactly the same as it would with traditional LEDs.

Aside from all the obvious fanciful applications of the Lumalive, I can see this as actually being useful for a lot of practical applications. It could foreseeably be integrated into runner and cyclist vests to alert drivers to their presence, amongst other things. A production ready model will be demonstrated at IFA 2006.

Philips illuminates IFA 2006 with production-ready Lumalive textile garments [via Popgadget]