IFA 2014 kicks off in a little over a month, bringing with it a fresh batch of consumer tech-related announcements from some of the major players. You can bet that there'll be word on the next phase in TV, smartphone, and wearable technology, among other things.
The Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (translated as the International radio exhibition Berlin) is one of the biggest, oldest, and most prestigious electronics shows in the world - think CES but on European soil.
This year's show runs from September 5 to September 10 (although press days are earlier in the week), and should feature some major new tech releases. We're particularly looking forward to seeing the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 for the first time, as well as a whole bunch of brand new 4K TV sets and the next step in smart home technology.
Here's what we're expecting to see from five of the top tech exhibitors.
Samsung
As we've just mentioned, IFA 2014 should play host to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 launch. Samsung's oversized 'phablet' range traditionally gets an outing at the Berlin show, and this year won't be any different.
Rumour has it that Samsung will launch the Galaxy Note 4 in two flavours - one adopting the manufacturer's signature plastic design, and another pushing into premium Apple/HTC territory with a metallic finish. Yes, real metal.
Although the Note 4 might not be in line for a larger screen than its predecessor - shocking we know - visual quality looks set to be given a boost with a move to an LG G3 rivalling QHD panel.
Besides the Note 4, expect Samsung to unveil a new range of curved UHD (aka 4K) TVs at IFA 2014, and possibly even an OLED example.
We may also see Samsung launching its own virtual reality headset to head off Facebook's Oculus Rift and the Sony Project Morpheus. This project has been dubbed the Gear VR, and could involve slotting your Samsung smartphone into a head-mounted holster in Google Cardboard fashion.
Samsung will also likely expand upon its smart home vision, which looks set to move beyond home appliances and into areas such as home security and heating. Perhaps we'll see Samsung's answer to the Nest thermostat.
LG
Last year, LG used IFA to show off the first wall-mountable OLED TV set, known as the Gallery. Alongside Samsung, it's a bit of an expert on this advanced screen technology, which still hasn't really broken out beyond the smartphone form factor due to cost factors.
That be all about to change in Berlin, however, with retailers having teased the potential introduction of more affordable OLED units.
"We are expecting to see more competitively priced OLED TVs coming in the second half," Johnathan Marsh, Head of Buying for Electrics and Home Technology at John Lewis said speaking with TrustedReviews recently. "There is still a lot of excitement going on in the TV category."
Although no manufacturers have been named outright, if LG isn't leading this cheaper OLED push we would be extremely surprised.
Having already shown off its latest 4K OLED TV sets at CES 2014, and predicting a Q3 or Q4 European launch for them, expect the company to show up to IFA 2014 equipped with a bunch of eye-popping living room displays and a lot more to say about its new webOS TV platform.
Aside from the living room space, a number of new LG smartphones have been teased for an imminent launch. Given the company's past record, however, it does not appear likely that such devices will take a bow at IFA.
Sony
The Note 4 isn't the only high-profile smartphone expected to enter the realms of reality during IFA week. Based on recent leaks - and the company's twice annual handset update cycle - Sony looks set to launch two new high-end Android smartphones at IFA 2014: the Sony Xperia Z3 and its little brother, the conveniently named Sony Xperia Z3 Compact.
Sony's next flagship phone won't be following the QHD trend set out by LG and, soon enough, Samsung, though. In fact, from what we can tell it will very similar indeed to the Sony Xperia Z2 in both looks and specifications.
According to multiple leaks, the Z3 looks set to run the same 5.2-inch, 1080p Full HD display as the Z2, with its predecessor's 20.7-megapixel camera and 3GB of RAM also being pulled across.
The only true difference we can see in the leaked specs is the minor jump from a 2.3GHz to a 2.4GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor. Hopefully Sony has something special up its sleeve here which we're not currently aware of.
On the plus side, the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact should continue Sony's almost-unique habit of creating smaller flagship alternatives that don't skimp on power or features.
Panasonic
Panasonic is another company set to focus on smart home services at IFA 2014. It's already hinted at its agenda through a press conference invite that mentions "connected home entertainment" and "smart kitchen appliances," accompanied by illustrations of technology being used throughout the home.
As you might expect given Panasonic's continued photographic pedigree, we could also see some new cameras on display at IFA 2014. Given the aforementioned tone it's adopting in the lead-up to the show, we wouldn't be surprised if the emphasis here was on each camera's wireless connectivity and interoperability with your other smart devices.
Philips
Philips will be arriving at IFA 2014 with a new range of PC monitors.
One of these will be a "Panoramic Ultra Wide Screen" 21:9 3440 x 1440 effort, while another will be a 40-inch 4K monitor. Yes, that's a monitor, not a TV set - though the lines between the two appear to be blurring.
PC gamers will be interested to see Philips's new 144MHz gaming monitor, which will utilise NVIDIA's G-SYNC technology to match the screen refresh rate with your graphics card's output, reducing tearing and stuttering.
We're also expecting to see some all-in-one touch displays from Philips, which will essentially provide a super-sized Android experience.
Speaking of which, Philips should be on hand to show off the Philips 65PUS9809, which it claims will be the first European TV set to run on Android. It won't quite be Google's forthcoming custom Android TV platform, which is set to arrive on Philips's 2015 range (among others), but it should provide a better experience than most Smart TVs regardless.
Expected trends
It seems likely to us that IFA 2014's two biggest trends will be wearables and smart home technology.
On the wearable front, we wouldn't be surprised to see more new smartwatches utilising Google's Android Wear platform, and there'll probably be a fair few new fitness trackers to consider too.
It seems as if every major tech company is rushing to make a strong statement in the smart home field too. Expect plenty of companies to spend time at IFA 2014 talking about greater connectivity with and control of your home's various electrical appliances and installations.
We're also expecting the curved-screen TV experiements of previous years to manifest themselves throughout the lineups of some of the major manufacturers, alongside the continued adoption of the 4K resolution standard. IFA 2014 should show that bendy screens are more than the passing fad many thought them to be.
We will be updating this page regularly leading up to the start of IFA 2014 so bookmark it now to keep up to date with the latest.
