Event Coverage

IFA Berlin, Germany 2006: Show Floor Highlights Part 2

By Terence Ang - 7 Sep 2006

Philips' booth at Hall 22

Philips' booth at Hall 22

Perhaps the most talked about booth at IFA 2006, Philips' booth is a plethora of sensory experience that combines ambient lighting, sound, moving images and 3-dimensional games that blend in with your living habitat. If you take this hall out and place it somewhere in any city center, just put a ticketing counter at the entrance and you'll still have droves of families queuing up just to get some 'Ambilight experience'.

The Philips 'Ambilight experience' design at their booth was a crowd puller.

Philips showed us a prototype world's first 100" LCD TV (note that Sharp has the record for largest commercialized LCD TV at 65 inches) with Ambilight and full surround sound.

Philips continues to tout its Pixel Plus 3 HD technology, where visitors can compare Pixel Plus 3 HD-enhanced TVs versus Standard Definition TVs. If you're a technical person, you will like this segment as you can compare motion judder, sharpness, motion blur and so on.

A close-up of the Philips Pixel Plus HD 3 module that powers up the company's range of digital TVs.

As part of its innovative market-ready concepts (under the Future Zone segment of its hall), Philips showed the Entertaible (or Entertainment Table) which is a new gaming experience designed for gaming in public locations like bars, hotels, resorts, restaurants and fast-food chains. The electronic game board combines the excitement of electronic gaming with the fun and interaction of traditional board games.

Of course, we cannot forget about Skype phones but this one's slightly different. Philips' VOIP841 is the world's first DECT phone for Skype that works without a PC and lets you make calls on Skype or classic landline calls. Featuring a wired USB PC connection, the VOIP841 comes with 65k full color screen and supports both Skype & SkypeOut. Expect it in major markets by Christmas 2006.

Besides its new Blu-ray players and writers for both the living room and computer, Philips showcased two new models in its Showline Media Center - the MCP9360i and MCP9480i. Based on the Intel Viiv Technology next-generation PC platform, the system comprises of an Intel Pentium D (dual core) CPU and Intel G965 chipset with 1024MB memory. Hybrid tuners also allow users to view both digital terrestrial (DVB-T) and analog TV broadcast. Internal applications include Blu-ray Disc functions, Digital Video capture, Blu-ray recording and wireless file streaming function or as a Universal Plug-and-Play client.

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.