The week-long Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin officially kicks off on Sept. 1, but like most technology shows, the majority of the high-profile announcements at IFA took place before the show itself.

Here’s a look at some of the announcements, including wearables, earbuds, smart home speakers and more, made at IFA so far:

Wearables

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has announced its Gear Sport smartwatch (pictured), which comes with a 1.2-inch Super AMOLED, always-on color display. The Gear Sport has a GHz dual-core processor, 4GB of storage and 768MB of RAM.

The Gear Sport is a slimmed down version of the Gear S3 and comes with the typical sensors, including an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, barometer, gyroscope and an improved heart rate monitor. There are two optical LED sensors on the back and the smartwatch is also water-resistant up to 5 ATM or 164 feet.

Using Samsung Connect, the device works with compatible Samsung Internet of Things devices. You can use it as a remote control with a Gear VR headset and it includes a near-field communication chip for contactless payments. The company also said the watch would be able to recognize various situations, for example, if you are driving it will remain silent or if you’re on a plane it will provide you with reminders to stretch and move around.

Samsung also upgraded its Gear Fit2 at IFA. Like the Gear Sport, the Gear Fit2 Pro, which was leaked online earlier this month, is now water-resistant up to 5 ATM and includes the same sensors, except the ambient light sensor.

Users can track their swimming workouts on both devices with the Speedo app. Samsung has also partnered with Under Armour Inc.’s range of fitness apps and offers offline Spotify support.

Earbuds

Samsung has also unveiled an updated version of its Gear IconX earbuds. The new earbuds keep the same design and features as its predecessor, including standalone fitness tracking and music-streaming.

The main update for the earbuds is improved battery life, which now provides five hours for streaming and six hours for standalone music playback. The Gear IconX 2018 earbuds come in black, gray and pink.

TicHome Mini – voice-activated speaker with Google Assistant

Smart home speakers

Panasonic Corp. has unveiled its GA10, a smart home speaker with Google Assistant built-in. The GA-10 is just one of the three voice-controlled speakers with Google Assistant announced at IFA. The other voice-enabled speakers include the Zolo Mojo from Anker Technology Co. Ltd. and the TicHome Mini from Mobvoi Inc.

Google Inc. recently opened up its Assistant to developers and the GA-10, Zolo Mojo and TicHome Mini are the first voice-activated speakers to take advantage of the software developer kit. The new speakers will supposedly work like the company’s own Google Home, responding to voice commands and acting as a personal assistant and smart home controller.

All three speakers are expected to be out by the end of the year.

Windows Mixed-Reality headsets

Microsoft Corp. teased the development of more affordable virtual reality headsets nearly a year ago and we are finally getting a look at some of these from manufacturers including Dell Inc. and AsusTek Computer Inc.

To deliver a 360-degree immersive picture, the Dell Visor has dual 1,440 x 1,440-resolution LCDs and uses cameras for inside-out tracking so there’s is no need for wall- or desk-mounted sensors like other headsets. The Dell Visor will be available in October for $349 or you can get a bundle that includes the controllers for $449.

The Asus Windows Mixed Reality Headset also includes inside-out tracking like the Visor and offers a 3K resolution at 90Hz. The simple setup of the headset means you can be up and running in 10 minutes, according to the company. The Asus headset does come with a higher price tag compared to the Visor and will cost approximately $535. There will also be controllers available, but the company hasn’t released pricing.

2-in-1 laptops

In addition to updating many of its existing models to Intel Corp.’s eighth-generation Core i-series processors, Asus also unveiled the ZenBook Flip 14, the world’s thinnest 2-in-1 laptop, measuring just 0.55 inches thick and weighing just 3.1 pounds. It has an eighth-generation Core i7 quad-core CPU, 16GB of memory, Nvidia GeForce MX150 graphics and a 512GB PCIe x4 solid-state drive. The Flip 14 comes with a full HD touchscreen.

Asus ZenBook Flip 14

The larger ZenBook Flip 15 extends on that performance and offers a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics processing unit and up to a 2TB HDD and 512GB SSD. The Flip 15 comes with a choice of full HD or 4K UHD resolutions. Pricing and availability for both models were not released.

Acer Inc. unveiled the Switch 7, which the company says is the world’s first fanless two-in-one hybrid. The Switch 7 will use Acer’s Dual Liquid Loop fanless cooling technology. The 13.5-inch Switch 7 has an 8th-generation Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce MX150 GPU and Windows Hello-compatible fingerprint sensor. It comes with a battery-free Wacom stylus, which has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. The Acer Switch 7 will be available in December and will retail for $1,699.  

Images: Samsung; Mobvoi; Microsoft; Asus