IFA 2014 highlights - latest news and products

Best of IFA 2014 in pictures

Epson launches three new, affordable 3LCD projectors

Friday 5th September

4.35pm Wuaki.tv introduces new Smart TV app with fresh look and 4K content

3.25pm 4K Blu-ray discs to arrive 'by the end of 2015'

2.40pm TCL takes on OLED with 55in Quantum Dot 4K TV

2:10pm Philips to serve up 4K TV content from a little black box

12.05pm i-Box introduces new Slix portable Bluetooth speaker

11.40am Crystal Acoustics unveils Reference wireless speakers with WiSound technology

11.10am 4K and curved OLED sets among Haier's new range of TVs

8.30am Monster launches SoundStage wireless multi-room system with Bluetooth and WiFi

Thursday 4th September

7pm Loewe launches its first 4K TVs and curved Masterpiece flagship

5pm Sennheiser introduces new Momentum in-ears and Urbanite headphone range

3.35pm Pioneer launches HDJ-C70 DJ headphones

2.20pm Sony unveils 4K content promotion and pricing for S90 curved 4K TVs

2.20pm Amazon Fire TV gets UK release date

1.10pm Microsoft unveils new Lumia smartphones, wireless charger and software updates

1pm Sony launches latest high-resolution music products

11.40am Harman Kardon's first multiroom system has landed

11.32am ... and its latest TVs

11:30am Philips unveils its latest soundbars...

11.10am Philips overhauls its headphones line-up

11am All change for Philips' audio range

11am JBL unveils Cinema Base soundbase and SB350 soundbar

10am Flexson introduces Sonos-ready VinylPlay digital turntable

Wednesday 3rd September

7.30pm Sony Xperia Z3 hands-on review - first impressions of Sony's new flagship, high-res audio smartphone

6.30pm Panasonic confirms details of AX900 4K TVs and flagship X940

5.30pm Samsung unpacks Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge

5pm Technics is back! The brand returns with high-end hi-fi range

4pm Sony confirms flagship Z3 phone, Z3 Compact and Z3 Tablet Compact - complete with high-res audio support and clever PS4 connectivity

2.55pm Toshiba reveals Encore tablet and wireless speakers

2pm Audio Technica launches new headphones and a USB turntable

1.10pm Dolby Atmos coming to Onkyo AV receivers on September 29th, along with Spotify Connect and news of a new TV sound system

1pm Onkyo launches company's first high-res streaming CD player, plus two new Colbrino mini systems

11.30am Toshiba launches U Series 4K TVs

Tuesday 2nd September

LG and Swarovski create "star-studded" curved OLED TV

Sony teases Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact smartphones, and a new tablet

We'll be reporting live from all the big press conferences from the likes of Samsung, Sony and Philips, and getting a first look at all the new TVs, soundbars, smartphones and more. We're expecting plenty of new products - take a look below to see the news we already know and what else we expect to see from IFA 2014...

What is IFA?

IFA in Berlin has become the key tech show in Europe for big tech brands and specialist AV companies alike to showcase new products and technologies, and IFA 2014, which gets under way this week, promises to be no different.

The official IFA 2014 dates are September 5th to the 10th but we'll be on the ground from Wednesday 3rd in time for the first press events. Unsurprisingly, there's already plenty of news leaking out, with LG, Samsung, Sennheiser, Yamaha and more, already releasing IFA news.

Boo-Keun Yoon, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics, will deliver the opening IFA 2014 keynote, while Arcelik, a Turkish manufacturer, Intel and Nest Labs will all be giving keynotes. For a full list of IFA 2014 exhibitors, and for plenty more information, head over to the IFA website.

It looks like this year's headline-grabbing TVs will be curved or even bendable. We saw the first such televisions at CES at the start of the year, and Samsung recently put its bendable TV on sale in Korea (cheap, it ain't). Sony followed suit with its first curved range, the Bravia S90 Series announced earlier today, so we fully expect to hear more about TVs with a curve out in Berlin.

If high-res audio was the biggest AV story at IFA 2013, could Dolby Atmos make a similar noise this year? We've seen new AV receivers from Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer and Yamaha already - could Sony take its first step in to the Atmos arena? We should also get a first look (and listen) at the first-generation Atmos speakers on the market, so look out for our first impressions.

Wireless audio goes from strength to strength, so we're certain we'll see a wealth of wireless products at IFA 2014, from headphones to speakers, with plenty of them no doubt featuring aptX Bluetooth, too. Will NFC feature more heavily ahead of the launch of the iPhone 6, which is rumoured to feature NFC? It's something else to look out for, alongside wearable products, such as smartwatches, plus unifying smart home tech to will help all these products talk to each other in new ways and more intelligently.

Whatever the key IFA 2014 trends, you can be sure there will be a wealth of new accessories and headphones, with the likes of Harman-Kardon, JBL, Philips, Sennheiser and SoundMagic all likely to be launching new products in and around IFA.

LG at IFA 2013

Big brands have the biggest floorspace at these shows, so LG will again be one of the manufacturers making the most noise. Last year the company launched the world's first 77in curved 4K Ultra HD OLED TV alongside the 55in Gallery OLED that was designed for your living-room wall.

We expect more curves in the company's TV line-up to appear, while we may also get a first look at the 105in curved LG 5K TV, which is available to pre-order in Korea if you've got money to burn. We find it hard to believe there will be much more in the way of "5K" kit on display, however (Samsung excepted).

It also looks like we will see new smartphone from LG at IFA, with the G3 Prime heavily-rumoured to be announced and the G3 Stylus now confirmed for an IFA launch, meaning two new variations on the flagship LG G3 phone.

LG will also show off a new Bluetooth mini projector. The PW700 features a lamp with a 700 ANSI-Lumens brightness; 100,000:1 contrast ratio and 1280 x 800 WXGA resolution.

As a brand responsible for turning out pretty much every type of AV product on the market, we wouldn't be surprised to see plenty more by way of new products from LG. With multiroom audio a big buzz category, could LG follow the likes of Bluesound and great rival Samsung and join the wireless audio multiroom club?

Panasonic at IFA 2014

Panasonic has been a little off the pace in the world of TVs since the demise of the company's famous plasma TVs - and we weren't overly enamoured with the brand new AX802 Series - but we should get our first look at the company's new flagship TV at IFA 2014, the AX902, which was teased earlier in the year.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility to expect to see some completely new screens, too. Curved sets? Sounds like a long shot for Panasonic.

The company is still very much involved when it comes to the wider home cinema market, so safer bets would be on new speaker systems, soundbars, Blu-ray players and other AV essentials.

Philips at IFA 2014

Philips normally saves plenty of new products for IFA, with IFA 2013 the scene for the launch of the company's first 4K TVs, alongside Fidelio headphones, speakers and plenty more besides. We expect to be similarly well-endowed with new Philips products this year.

The Philips Fidelio X1 headphones and Fidelio E2 speakers went down a storm with us here at What Hi-Fi? so new products in a similar vein would be welcome.

We should get a good look at the new Philips Android TVs, too, while the flagship 9800 Series Ambilight TV (above) will also be on display.

Samsung at IFA 2014

Always a big presence at IFA - as it is at any consumer electronics show - Samsung has already announced its Unpacked 2014 Episode 2 event. Due to take place on September 3rd at 2pm BST, the event is expected to be the showcase for the Galaxy Note 4 tablet and Gear Solo smart watch. Also tipped to be revealed is the Samsung Galaxy Alpha smartphone, supposedly an upgraded version of the flagship Galaxy S5.

Samsung has also confirmed new apps and games for its Smart TV offering. Skype, Need for Speed Most Wanted and Real Football 2014 are some of the the new apps set to be added.

The company has also revealed Amazon's 4K streaming service will come to Samsung TVs in October, as the Korean giant aims to position itself as the go to TV brand for Ultra HD content.

Last year Samsung showed-off "the world's largest" 4K TV, a 110in Ultra HD monster, so we wouldn't be surprised to see another flag-in-the-sand TV launch to help the Korean company grab some headlines. How about a curved or bendable screen? Or maybe just that 5K Samsung TV? We shall see.

Accessories a-go-go are almost guaranteed, with Samsung turning out wireless speakers, headphones and even multiroom systems at the drop of a hat. The Samsung M5 speaker (above), part of the company's multiroom range, will certainly be on show. We'll be on hand to mop up whatever we see that's new and interesting...

Sony at IFA 2014

We fully expect Sony's first curved 4K TVs to be a big draw at the Berlin Messe exhibition hall - Sony has even tweeted as much. Sony is behind the curve (sorry) when it comes to curved screens but the S90 Series shows the Japanese giant must also see some future in convex displays.

Last year we saw a complete family of Sony high-resolution audio products, so we wouldn't be surprised to see some new additions to the family this time around. The NWZ-ZX1 Walkman was the company's first attempt at a portable high-res audio player, could we see the next in line?

A leaked invitation for Sony's press conference has been published by Xperia Blog (see above), which says the press conference will be Wednesday 3rd September and, if you want to second guess the relevance of the assorted images, suggests there could be new Sony smartphones, screens and cameras. This has since been all but confirmed by the Sony "#XperiaDetails" teaser video (above).

Elsewhere, we're yet to see any Sony Dolby Atmos AV receivers, could IFA be the place? We'd be a little surprised but you never know...

Yamaha at IFA 2014

Yamaha is set to reveal no less than 15 new products in Berlin. Headphones, soundbars, stereo amplifiers and desktop speakers all feature, with the new AS-301, A-S501 and A-S701 integrated amplifiers – due to hit shelves in late autumn - arguably the most eye-catching new products.

Yamaha will also be launching the YAS-203 soundbar to replace the YAS-201 (£400). It sports a wireless sub, Bluetooth connectivity,app control and a new look design.

MORE: Yamaha to launch new amps and more at IFA

IFA 2014: headphones, wireless speakers, projectors and more

They may make the most noise but IFA isn't all about the big brands, far from it. With 116 brands listed under 'headphones' on the IFA website, including Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, Jabra, Klipsch and Sennheiser, we expect to see plenty of action there.

We already know about the new Sennheiser CX range, with four new pairs of budget in-ear headphones set to be officially showcased for the first time in Berlin, while Scottish brand RHA has also revealed its new T10i in-ears ahead of the show.

Similarly wireless speakers and systems will no doubt be to the fore, with the likes of Harman-Kardon, Pioneer and Pure likely to get involved in this category.

The biggest hi-fi brands tend to favour the Munich High End Show for key launches but there should be plenty of new home cinema kit for us to get our teeth in to from the specialists.

Epson and JVC are both exhibiting, so we'd confidently predict some new projectors may surface, while companies such as Loewe, Onkyo, Toshiba and Yamaha should ensure there's plenty more for home cinema enthusiasts to get excited about.

Elsewhere, Spotify is celebrating the first anniversary of Spotify Connect by revealing a host of new brand partnerships which, again, will be officially revealed at IFA.

Look out for live coverage from Wednesday next week, when we'll be on the ground in Berlin scouring the show for the best products to keep our news channel busy...

MORE: Best of IFA 2013

Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is Content Director for T3 and What Hi-Fi?, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for more than 15 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).