Life & Technology – 2GB 6th September, 2015

I've spent most of this week at IFA – Berlin's biggest technology expo – learning about the latest and greatest gadgets coming our way.

 

One of Samsung's key messages from IFA is that its doubling down on the smart home, with its Smart Things ecosystem. The goal is products that communicate with every other product in the house. One of Samsung's innovative new products – SleepSense – a is sleep tracker that slips under its mattress. In addition to measuring your quality of sleep, the SleepSense can also control your appliances. If you've been asleep for say, over 30 minutes, it can turn off any lights you've got on. Pretty cool!

 

LG is also doing its part to push smart appliances forward with a brand new washing machine that you'll be able to upgrade over the internet. While software updates might not seem too exciting, LG will be letting you download new washing presets as you need them. So while you might not a children's clothes preset when you first buy your washing machine, but you might need one down the line. 

 

Windows 10 has only been available for one month, but it has already been installed on 75 million devices around the world. That’s massive! For comparison, it took Microsoft six months to sell 100 million copies of Windows 8.

 

Obviously the fact Windows 10 is free for most doesn’t hurt these numbers, but the fact Microsoft’s new operating system already has a high adoption rate is a good sign. The more people are using Windows 10, the more attractive it is for developers, which will hopefully also help with Windows Phone’s app shortage.

 

Lenovo's IFA showing including a new line of Y-series gaming notebooks, a new Moto 360 smartwatch, and a new line of tablets. The Yoga Tab 3 Pro is easily the most interesting of the new tablets, featuring a built in pico projector, allowing users to beam a 70-inch image on their walls!

 

Optus this week announced a suite of new prepaid mobile broadband plans designed for dongles, portable modems and SIM-enabled tablets. Notably, Optus My Prepaid Mobile Broadband customers are now able to rollover any unused data when they recharge before it expires. Customers can pool a maximum of 50GB.

 

It’s that time of year again – the time when Apple announces a new iPhone. Apple will be unveiling the new iPhones – presumably the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus – on September 10 at 3am, and we’ll have all the news for you next weekend’s show! Here's what we think we know.