On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

According to Aanandtech Intel is giving up on most of its 60GHz 802.11ad-- aka WiGig-- networking products, as it has plans to discontinue all current WiGig devices before focusing the technology on VR applications.

WiGig offers higher performance than 802.11ac, reaching up to 4.8 gigabits per second. However the use of the 60GHz band (as opposed to the 5 or 2.4GHz of regular wifi) limits the technology to a very short range. It also requires line of sight between device and base station, with essentially zero penetration through walls. As such, using WiGig as a wifi replacement requires putting a base station in every room of the house.

That said, despite such limitations WiGig makes for an excellent cable replacement-- such as in VR headsets, which is where Intel is going to use the technology. Back in May 2017 HTC showed off a Vive running on WiGig, the result of a collaboration with Chipzilla. Other companies are also interested in WiGig, including AMD (who acquired Nitero for millimeter wave radio technology) and the Facebook-owned Oculus.

Voice-controlled smart assistants were everywhere at IFA 2017, as multiple companies took a stab at putting such capabilities, be it through Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant or Microsoft Cortana, in a piece of hardware.

Surprisingly, while the show took place two assistant makers announced a partnership-- one allowing Alexa and Cortana to play nice with each other. Thus, Cortana users will be able to summon Alexa to shop on Amazon, while Alexa users get access to Cortana features such as calendar management and location-based reminders.

But back to the actual product offerings. On the Alexa side, Logiech UE Boom and Libratone Zipp wireless speakers get the Amazon assistant via update, as will the Bragi Dash earbuds. DTS also had a number of Alexa-enabled products, including the Phorus PS10 wireless speaker, Onkyo Smart Speaker P3 and Pioneer Elite Smart Speaker F4.

Elgato expands the HomeKit-enabled Eve product family with five accessories at IFA 2017-- the Eve Lock, Eve Window Guard, Eve Smoke, Eve Smoke and the second generation Eve Thermo.

The new generation Eve Thermo smart radiator valve features capacitive touch controls and an integrated temperature display, allowing customers to directly monitor and adjust target temperature. It works right out of the box, with no need for extra bridge device or starter pack, and retains all the Eurotronic control technology found in the previous version.

Meanwhile the Eve Lock automatically secures latches and bolts once the door is locked, ensuring the door is safe at all times. Control comes through either Siri, Home app or Eve companion app, and HomeKit allows remote control in case of visitors. As an smart smoke detector, the Eve Smoke not only sets off a loud, pulsating tone in case of fire, but also sends HomeKit notifications and sets off scenes.

IFA is traditionally the home of weird and wonderful gadgets, but the winner for the 2017 award for weirdest and most wonderful might be no other than German conglomerate Bosch and its prototype clothing stain analyser.

Dubbed the X-Spect, the handheld device looks like a TV remote and comes complete with a small screen and capacitive touch buttons. It essentially scans fabrics and stains before suggesting how to best wash the garment in question. An IFA demonstration even had the X-Spect paired via wifi with a Bosch washing machine, allowing it to send optimal washing instructions.

That said, the current model can only determine two component materials in a fabric, and is able to read four different types of stains, including chocolate and lipstick. However Bosch plains to increase the number to 16 to match with Bosch washing machine stain-cleaning presets.