IFA roundup

IFA 2013 is underway and there has been plenty of press launches, including conferences hosted by Asus, Samsung and Sony.

So far this year, the focus has been on mobile devices smartphones, tablets and hybrid Windows 8 devices.

We take a look at the hottest launches and see what they will bring for business.

Sony

Sony's event kicked off IFA 2013 with its most hyped device of 2013 the Sony Xperia Z1, previously known as the Sony Honami.

The Sony Xperia Z1 is, like the Sony Xperia Z and Xperia Z Ultra, a waterproof device with a five inch Triluminous display, running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 processor, clocked at 2.2GHz.

The Xperia Z1 is focused on multimedia, bringing Sony's Cybershot legacy to the present day. The camera is a 20.7-megapixel number with Sony's G Lens tech, as seen on the manufacturer's standalone cameras.

The smartphone will come with a suite of camera apps to support its photographic abilities such as Social Live, allowing you to share and broadcast media to your social networks. That's in addition to Info-eye, a visual search tool and Timeshift Burst that takes 61 images in two seconds so you can pick the best shot taken in a moment.

Aside from the camera, the Sony Xperia Z1 features Sony's Walkman music system and introduces its TrackID service to the TV function, allowing you to "search, share and explore information from broadcasted TV shows such as cast and crew, biographies, filmography or show related Tweets," according to the press release.

The Sony Xperia Z1 is very much a multimedia consumer device that will suit those who want to use one device for personal and business use. With Android 4.3 onboard, it includes new features including restricted user profiles so you can have one account for business and one for pleasure.

Sony also announced a number of Vaio Fit Multi-Flip laptops that can be used as a laptop or a tablet. Available with a 13.3-inch, 14-inch and 15.5-inch screen size (Fit 13A, Fit 14A, Fit 15A respectively), all three feature a full-sized keyboard that can be twisted or flipped round the back to make a touch screen tablet.

The range uses Triluminous displays and runs on Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro with a 1TB hard drive or 512GB SSD and a processor up to Intel Core i7-4500U.

Like Asus' range of hybrid devices, Sony's Vaio Fit Multi-Flip laptops suit those who need a tablet for on-the-go functions, coupled with a full keyboard for typing and using Windows 8 gestures.

Asus

Asus wins the award for the most launches at IFA, announcing a total of 10 devices, covering smartphones, phablets, tablets, laptops and hybrid devices.

First up, Asus launched its new Ultrabooks. The Zenbook UX301 and UX302 were both previewed at Computex and feature a lid protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass 3.

Both Ultrabooks feature a 10-point touch screen measuring 13.3-inches with a 2560x1440 pixel WQHD resolution.

Running on Windows 8, both Ultrabooks feature fourth generation Intel Core processors with either Intel Iris graphics, or NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M graphics.