IFA Berlin always delivers exciting tech innovations. Here is our roundup of the coolest smart gadgets and connected devices from Europe's biggest tech show.
IFA Berlin — held annually in late August/early September — is Europe’s largest consumer electronics and home appliances show, attracting over 1,800 exhibitors and more than 200,000 visitors. While CES in January showcases what is coming, IFA often shows what is about to ship. The products on display at IFA typically reach retailers within weeks.
Here is a roundup of the standout smart gadgets and connected devices from IFA, and what they mean for the workplace.
AI at the Device Level: The Main Theme
The consistent thread across IFA is the embedding of AI directly into consumer and commercial devices. Unlike previous years when “AI-powered” was largely marketing language, the demonstrations at recent IFA shows have featured genuinely useful device-level AI that runs locally rather than requiring cloud connectivity.
AI Noise Cancellation in Everything
Audio hardware — headsets, earbuds, speakerphones, webcams — has reached a point where AI noise cancellation is standard rather than premium. The ability to hold a phone or video call from a café, construction site, or noisy open-plan office without the other party hearing ambient noise has practical business significance.
For businesses with hybrid workers, the latest generation of AI noise cancellation headsets means call quality is no longer dependent on a quiet room.
Business implication: The “I can’t take that call here” objection is increasingly irrelevant. Workers can take client calls from any environment without affecting call quality.
Cameras with On-Device Computer Vision
Webcams and conference room cameras demonstrated at IFA now feature on-device computer vision for:
- Auto-framing: The camera tracks and frames the speaker automatically as they move around a whiteboard
- Background replacement without a GPU: Running background blur or replacement entirely on the device
- Gesture recognition: Raising a hand in a Teams meeting detected automatically by the camera without pressing a button
For meeting room investment, this means the next generation of conference room cameras provides a significantly better remote participant experience without requiring a high-end PC to process the video.
Standout Smart Gadgets
Smart Monitors That Replace Docking Stations
Several manufacturers demonstrated monitors with integrated USB-C hubs providing 100W+ charging, gigabit ethernet, USB-A and USB-C data ports, and display connectivity in a single cable connection. While this category has existed for years, the power delivery and port selection has reached the point where dedicated docking stations are becoming redundant for many users.
Business implication: Desk setup simplification. A single USB-C cable from laptop to monitor handles display, charging, and all peripherals.
Portable Projectors with AI Content Enhancement
Compact laser projectors (fitting in a laptop bag) now incorporate AI-based image enhancement — adjusting for projection surface colour, ambient light, and keystone correction automatically. Meeting presentations in client offices, warehouses, or non-boardroom environments become significantly more professional without a full AV setup.
Fingerprint-Secured Hardware Wallets and Storage Devices
Biometric encryption on USB storage devices has become mainstream — encrypted drives that require fingerprint authentication before mounting. For businesses that transport sensitive data on USB devices (a practice generally discouraged but persistently common), biometrically secured drives address the data-at-rest exposure risk of standard USB drives.
Smart Home Meets Smart Office: The Convergence
IFA 2024 showed continued convergence between consumer smart home technology and commercial building management. The same smart lighting, climate control, and occupancy sensing technology used in high-end homes is appearing in commercial offerings aimed at SMB office environments.
Practical office applications becoming accessible at SMB price points:
- Occupancy-based climate control: HVAC adjusts based on which areas of the office are occupied, reducing energy cost
- Smart meeting room booking: Sensors detect when a meeting room is vacant despite a booking (freeing it automatically) or occupied without a booking
- Adaptive lighting: Automatically adjust light levels based on time of day and natural light availability
These are not new technologies — they have existed in enterprise building management systems for years. The IFA trend is these capabilities becoming available as standalone products at $500-2,000 per zone rather than $50,000+ enterprise BMS installations.
Wearables for Professional Use
Several IFA exhibitors showcased smartwatches and smart glasses with professional feature sets — real-time translation (hearing the other person in your own language via earbuds), hands-free information access for field workers, and biometric monitoring for occupational health applications.
The smart glasses category in particular showed maturation: devices that look like conventional glasses but provide heads-up display information for field service technicians, delivery workers, and warehouse staff have reached a quality threshold where enterprise pilots are practical.
What to Watch for Australian Businesses
Products demonstrated at IFA typically reach Australian retailers 3-6 months after the show. The categories most likely to have near-term business relevance:
- AI headsets and conference room cameras — available now, significant quality improvement over previous generation
- USB-C single-cable desk monitors — arriving in business channels, worth specifying in next monitor refresh
- Smart office occupancy and climate products — available from Philips Hue Business, Cisco Meraki MT sensors, and others
CX IT Services advises Melbourne businesses on technology investments through our Virtual CIO and technology roadmap service. Contact us to discuss how emerging technology trends affect your IT planning.
