Event Coverage

IFA 2008: The Full Coverage

By Vincent Chang & Terence Ang - 3 Sep 2008

Interesting Stuff Spotted

Interesting Stuff Spotted

So we've seen the living room and we've seen the kitchen. Let's see what other interesting sights and sound that caught our roving eye while we're on the showfloor at IFA 2008.

 There was a PC modding competition winner showcase at IFA 2008 and this one sure caught our eye. Being number 2 may do it no good as we all know just how resilient and patient Wall*E is in achieving his goal. Definitely a head-turner at the show.

 You can't put a good blockbuster down and so it is the same with a great movie star like this DeLorean here. Spotted at the ClipInc booth (an audio/video service portal), we thought it was only the exterior that looked authentic...

 ...when lo and behold, even the in-seat dashboard is exactly like the Dr. Emmett Brown's! Who knows, maybe it does go into the future.

 Tucked away at a secluded corner in one of the halls is a booth that has one of the greater burners in town - an 8x single-layer Blu-ray Disc burner for the internal PC drive. Buffalo is the first to create one and we had the picture here to prove it (not that there is enough evidence though). We do know that there is an external drive version as well but you can only achieve 8x if you use a SATA connection. Both drives come bundled with CyberLink PowerDVD 7. Already selling in Japan, expect it to be priced around US$380 (internal) to US$435 (external).

 UGOBE's Pleo is a dino-robot that can trash all pre- and post-AIBO wannabes to the ground. Found at the Science and Technology Forum area at IFA 2008, the Pleo is a designer life-form created to simulate the basic organic movements and traits of a one-week old baby dinosaur.

 With 40 sensors and upgradeable firmware via an SD card slot, the robot has 14 servo joints and 38 touch, sound and accelerometer sensors alongside 8 toe sensors. What's interesting is that it has a music beat detection (so it'll dance to loud music) and displays emotions like boredom, anger, playfulness and fatigue.

 Here's a view of the bottom of the Pleo. It uses a rechargeable battery and would get interactively communal if you put two of them together. Early reviews of the Pleo have been extremely positive, especially with kids because they would see the Pleo more as an animal rather than a robot-toy. For example, if you yell at the Pleo for sniffing your food, it would cuddle away in shame. If you pet it and sing to it, it would react positively. Cost-wise, it is priced around US$350 so save up for Christmas.

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.