BERLIN — Headphones and chargers of all sorts seemed to occupy every other booth at Showstoppers, the mini-event where smaller tech players show journalists their wares, at IFA Berlin this week.
Sennheiser used the occasion to launch a couple of new colors for its Momentum range of headphones. Griffin brought its WoodTones earbuds and over-the-ear headphones, which, as their name implies, are made out of wood. Skullcandy showed us its Crusher range of headphones that let you add as much bass to the sound as you desire. Go all the way, and the Crushers really start to crush your head — in a good way, if you like really heavy bass.
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Are you more of an earbuds fan? Yurbuds has a range of models for sports enthusiasts that they claim never hurt or fall out. I heard similar claims from Sweden-based Urbanears, which mercifully only brought one model, the Kransen, to the show.
There were more headphones to be heard, but my ears have reached their limits. For audio gizmos of another variety, Singapore-based company Xmi produces the X-mini, a portable, modular speaker that can be daisy-chained for a richer sound. Jabra brought the Solemate Mini, a water-resistant, compact, rubbery stereo speaker that connects to any device via Bluetooth or NFC. It comes in different colors and can also be used as a speakerphone. Finally, Logitech also had a modular speaker to show, courtesy of its Ultimate Ears brand. The UE Boom is a water-resistant, 360-degree speaker that can be daisy chained for a better stereo experience (via a smartphone app). It's not as portable as the above mentioned speakers, but it's loud enough for a party.
Speaking of Logitech, the company actually launched several new products at IFA, including protective cases for Samsung Galaxy Tabs, as well as the Ultrathin Touch Mouse — probably the simplest, most-compact mouse (which doubles as a touchpad) I've ever seen. Finally, the TK820 portable keyboard is ultra-slim and incorporates a huge touch pad with supports for up to 13 Windows 8 multi-touch gestures.
Of course, Showstoppers wouldn't be complete without a couple of totally weird gizmos. The 3Doodler, a handheld 3D printing device, lets you create plasticky 3D artworks. The company behind the device, Wobbleworks, crowdfunded the project on Kickstarter and plans to sell it for just $75. PhotoFast showed its i-FlashDrive HD, a gizmo that lets you transfer data directly from an Android device to the iPhone and vice versa.
Finally, here's one for the doomsday preppers: The Eton BoostTurbine is a rechargeable battery pack with a hand-crank power generator — meaning you can get some of that sweet electric juice for your dying gadget by using the manual power of your hands. We hope it never comes to that.
Photos by Mashable