Technology
Panasonic To Showcase Future Lifestyles at IFA 2016
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Japanese company, Panasonic, says it will exhibit its latest products and technologies at Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA) 2016 to be held in Berlin, Germany, from September 2 to 7, 2016.
Under the theme of “A Better Life, A Better World,” the Panasonic booth will highlight the Lifestyle Showcase to present a living environment featuring “the lifestyles we all desire,” complete with Panasonic’s wide range of products, from audio-visual equipment to home appliances and beauty.
With its advanced appliances connected to a network, Panasonic will create a multipurpose living area by fusing the kitchen and living and dining rooms into one where the family and friends can congregate and share time together, yet each one can have enough space to spend one’s time in one’s own way.
As an example of “the lifestyle we all desire” technically achievable within the next three to five years, Panasonic presents an enriched lifestyle as envisaged by sharing the space with loved and special ones.
Multipurpose space allowing to share experiences
This corner will feature a simple, interactive, and harmonious living environment in a manner that reflects personal preferences in daily life. The spatial environment can be changed depending on personal behavior to ensure comfort and to produce unexpected excitement anywhere.
･ In/visible library, glass curtain
Transparent displays are blended into the home’s interior – invisible as they are built into cupboard doors or sliding doors. The displays show images only when necessary.
･ Lighting and audio-visual equipment
Lighting and sound change in response to personal movement. The equipment effectively changes the atmosphere depending on the situation.
Equipment and services that reflect personal preferences and increase satisfaction
This corner will feature a living environment that enables access to appropriate information and offers support on various occasions in daily life. The cooking experience helps to enjoy meals and conversation.
･ Sake & wine cellar
This cellar keeps different types of alcoholic beverages, such as sake and wine, at optimal temperature and humidity. A transparent display is used as the door to show a variety of information such as information about the drinks inside and recipes of dishes that go well with them.
･ Range hoods equipped with a camera
Panasonic’s range hoods achieve accurate sensing of cooking conditions. The temperature of induction hobs is properly controlled to get professional-level cooking at home. The progress of cooking can also be checked.
･ New Concept Built-in Cooker
Panasonic’s new cooker is based on a concept totally different from that of induction hobs and griddles. It is also built into a table. The operation is simple – put ingredients on a dish and set it on the cooker. No pot or frying pan is required because the cooker heats only the ingredients. The cooker presents a new cooking experience that keeps freshly cooked dishes hot and tasty until the end of a meal.
･ Cloud services
The cloud services are designed to present recipes for increasing the joy of cooking and making up variations. Working in tandem with a range hood equipped with a camera, the cloud services enable connected cooking appliances to share information and control the temperature, so that multiple dishes can be completed simultaneously. Great food makes your party with special ones even more special.
･ All in One Laundry
This laundry machine does a series of time-consuming laundry chores, from washing, drying and folding, to storage, based on image analysis and robotics technologies. This allows for more leisure time.
･ Home controller
The home controller is designed to control all home appliances, including lighting, and provide helpful information. For example, the controller also detects and lets users know what is left in the refrigerator. It is connected with the cloud via a home server to support various aspects of daily life.
Smart Home
Lifestyle Showcase: Peace of mind for your life
Here visitors can find a smart home that is easy to operate, with all security products in the house, e.g. cameras, sensors, connected. A lifestyle that provides a sense of security is introduced in five settings and presentations.
Products on Display
･ Home network system
This corner will introduce a DECT-compatible home network system that easily establishes a connection between a smartphone and the home. Also exhibited will be optional products including indoor and outdoor cameras, open/close sensors, occupancy sensors, and smart plugs with a built-in sensor.
Digital Imaging
Consulting counter & shooting
The lineup of Panasonic LUMIX digital cameras and video cameras will be on display. Panasonic’s product experts will be on hand to offer consulting services. All products on display here will be available for visitors to try out and experience first-hand.
Products on Display
･ HC-X1 4K 60p/50p video camera (to be released in December 2016 in Europe)
HC-X1 is the world’s first* video camera with a 1-inch sensor that features a wide-angle (24 mm)/optical 20x zoom lens. This new 4K 60p/50p video camera that meets professional needs will be on display.
*As of September 1, 2016, based on a survey conducted by Panasonic.
･ LUMIX Digital Cameras
This corner will feature DMC-TZ100 and other LUMIX cameras to introduce the Focus Select feature, which allows the focus position to be freely adjusted after the photo is taken, and the 4K PHOTO feature, which enables the user to select a frame from a 30-fps image sequence and create a photo.
TV + Home AV
Lifestyle showcase: True to filmmakers vision
This area highlights Panasonic’s guiding philosophy for picture quality: “true to the filmmaker’s vision,” by showing how Panasonic is uniquely involved from the movie-set through to the living room. As such Panasonic’s professional filmmaking equipment is displayed alongside its Ultra HD Premium* TVs and a Blu-ray Disc players.
*A premium standard established by the UHD Alliance that specifies the highest quality of 4K Ultra HD
Products on Display
･ 4K Pro HDR TVs
This corner will highlight the high-quality picture quality of Panasonic’s 4K Pro HDR DX-series line-up, with accurate color thanks to Panasonic’s proprietary image processing technologies, and fine-tuning by a leading Hollywood colorist. Panasonic’s Art & Interior design concept for 2016 TVs which aims to harmonize them within our living environments is displayed and explained. Panasonic will also exhibit a prototype OLED TV, in addition to various other future TV technologies.
･ Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Players
In addition to the high-end DMP-UB900, the DMP-UB700 which will be released from October 2016 in Europe, will also be exhibited. Both models are ULTRA HD Premium* certified and thus deliver the best 4K/HDR experience available.
Audio
Products on Display
･ Urban Audio series
The Urban Audio series will be on display for the first time. Featuring stylish designs, this series is designed to deliver high-quality music for urban life based on the concept of “LIFE WITH MUSIC, REIMAGINED.” The SC-UA7 all-in-one speaker system consists of 10 speaker units, each built into a hexagonal cabinet, and delivers powerful sound with a 180-degree listening area. The SC-RB5, which is portable and waterproof type, produces ultra-bass sound by vibrating the bottom face of the cabinet, and achieves a 360-degree sound field.
･ AllPlay™-Compatible products
Visitors will find here Panasonic’s audio products that are compatible with the AllPlay™ protocol, which uses Wi-Fi to play music simultaneously on several devices in the house. Various products will be on display to present a new audio experience at home, including the SC-ALL7CD featuring a flat design that achieves both high sound quality and compactness with Hi-Res compatibility, and the SC-ALL05, the first waterproof product in the series with a built-in battery.
･ Headphones
This corner will exhibit RP-BTS50/BTS30/BTS10 wireless headphones that enable the user to enjoy high-quality sound while engaged in hard sports, and RP-HF500/300/100 high sound quality headphones featuring a fashionable design and color variations, etc.
･ Hi-Res-compatible products
This corner will introduce products that play Hi-Res audio files with high resolution and quality, such as SC-PMX100/70 micro audio systems, RP-HD10/6M headphones, and RP-HDE10 inside phones.
Personal Care
Lifestyle Showcase: Feeling better by looking good
Personal Care for three categories, ladies beauty, men’s grooming, and oral care, will be presented in a special space.
･ Ladies beauty
The EH-XC10 facial beauty appliance for “dense foam aesthetic salon treatment” and the EH-XT20 ion effector, both of which are to be released in October 2016 in Europe, will be introduced as high-grade professional beauty products. Visitors can also try out the EH-SA31 steamer. #SnSnap, an SNS photo printing service, will also be available here.
･ Men’s grooming
Visitors can experience firsthand the 5-blade ES-LV9N Lamdash shaver that allows for a gentle and close shave, ER-GB80 beard and moustache trimmers offering 39 settings for personalized trim length, and the ER-GC71 hair trimmer.
･ Oral care
The EW1411 rechargeable dental beat, the EW-DM81 electric toothbrush (to be released in September 2016 in Europe), and the EW-DL83 will be available for try out.
Laundry
Products on Display
･ This corner will feature demonstrations using an actual model equipped with Panasonic’s unique Auto Care function, which employs four sensors to detect laundry weight, materials, and soil levels as well as water temperature, and automatically achieves optimal washing settings. The lineup exhibition will feature 10 kg and 8 kg models to compare how much laundry can be handled in one load. Miniature models will show the history of Panasonic washing machines, and a video presentation will illustrate their quality trusted by consumers over many years.
Kitchen Appliances
Lifestyle Showcase: Experience Fresh
A food specialist will be invited for cooking demonstrations using Panasonic’s kitchen appliances — microwave oven, bread maker, slow juicer, high-power blender, food processor — and ingredients that are kept fresh in a Panasonic refrigerator. Recipes for dishes that can be cooked using Panasonic’s kitchen appliances will also be introduced.
Products on Display
･ Kitchen appliances
On display will be the NN-DS596 microwave oven, the SD-ZB2512 bread maker, the MJ-L500 slow juicer, the MX-ZX1800 high-power blender (to be released in September 2016 in Europe), and the MK-F800 food processor. Visitors will also be able to learn about a fresh and healthy eating lifestyle that can be readily practiced.
･ Refrigerators
This corner will focus on Panasonic’s own technologies including temperature control that keeps meat and fish fresh for an extended period of time at -3°C, in addition to demonstrations showing humidity and nutrient control technologies to maintain freshness. A lineup of side-by-side refrigerators along with their sleek design will also be introduced.
Built-in Kitchen Appliances
Cooking demonstrations
An instructor from a famous Japanese cooking school, the TSUJI Culinary Institute, and a German chef will prepare dishes using Panasonic’s cooking appliances. Visitors will find how accurate temperature control of Panasonic’s induction hobs makes perfect deep fries and grilled dishes. The food will be available for tasting.
Products on Display
･ Induction hobs
This corner will feature the Genius sensor, Panasonic’s original light thermal sensor technology that detects far-infrared radiation from the bottom of the pot to ensure accurate temperature control. Panasonic’s proprietary technologies to provide optimum temperature control for cooking will be introduced using a skeleton model and video. Also on display will be a prototype of the KY-T937VF induction hob (to be released in March 2017 in Europe).
･ Built-in equipment
Built-in kitchen equipment that is on sale in Germany (steam microwave ovens, dishwasher-dryers, warmers, and refrigerators) will be on display. For the HL-SX485 steam microwave oven equipped with inverter controls and steamer functions, steam demonstrations will be performed.
Technics
Sound room
･ Visitors can experience the Technics SL-1200G direct drive turntable system that has been developed to redefine the direct drive mechanism, and the sound of the G30 series that is designed to create next-generation Hi-Fi sound.
Products on Display
･ SL-1200G direct drive turntable system
The manufacturing process for the SL-1200G, underpinned by craftsmanship, will be introduced together with a video presentation. Tradition is combined with advanced technologies, with each part carefully crafted.
･ Lineup exhibition
The overall concept of Technics will be introduced by exhibiting the full lineup of products, including Reference Class, Grand Class, and Premium Class, and the Technics TRACKS Hi-Res audio files download service, etc.
Future Living Berlin
Panel/diorama exhibition
･ In addition to the smart city project in which Panasonic is involved, the company’s five proprietary solutions that underpin the smart city project will be introduced using panels and dioramas. These solutions include smart energy, smart mobility, smart security, smart health, and smart citizenship.
Panasonic Booth at IFA
Period:
Friday, September 2 to Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Location:
Messe Berlin, Hall 5.2 a/b
Booth size:
Approx. 3,300 m2
Exhibits:
Latest consumer electronics products
Panasonic Live@IFA 2016
Panasonic will be covering its booth live with “Panasonic LIVE@IFA 2016.” The booth as well as the latest products, and Panasonic’s ideas and technologies that help realize an “aspirational lifestyle” will also be introduced in detail.
Panasonic LIVE@IFA Special Website: http://www.panasonic.com/ifa
(*EU residents can join the winning game. Learn more at the special website.)
Please follow Panasonic’s main stream for LIVE@IFA 2016 with hash tag #PanasonicIFA.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Cloudflare Incorporated, a business providing cloud-based services to various enterprises, said in a note on Friday it is investigating issues with its Dashboard and related Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).
Numerous companies and services, including payments platform like OPay as well as Canva, Coinbase Global Incorporated, Investing.com , Shopify Incorporated, and Zoom Video Communications Incorporated, all appeared to crash, with some seeing “500 internal server error” and “Please check your internet connection and try again”.
The global outage has left many users unable to access these key services as this disruption has not only affected individuals but also businesses relying on these platforms for their operations.
Customers using the Dashboard or Cloudflare APIs are impacted as requests might fail and errors may be displayed, the company said on its status page.
In its latest update, Cloudflare added that “a fix has been implemented,” with the firm monitoring the results.
Users from all over the world have taken to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to voice their frustrations over the issue.
This is Cloudflare’s second major disruption in nearly a month, following another incident in November that affected services like Spotify and ChatGPT.
At the last outage, Cloudflare’s services were largely restored within three hours, and fully restored after approximately five hours.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
As part of broader Africa-focused Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiatives, Google has launched the AI Skilling Blueprint for Africa, designed to help governments build a future-proof workforce.
The programme provides governments with a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to formulate national skilling strategies. It focuses on developing three critical cohorts: AI Learners, who will gain foundational AI literacy; AI Implementers, professionals upskilled to integrate AI tools into their work; and AI Innovators, deep technical experts dedicated to building the next generation of AI solutions.
Africa is home to the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. The continent shows immense potential for AI-driven economic growth.
However, new research highlights a significant challenge: while optimism for AI is exceptionally high, reaching 95 per cent in Nigeria and 76 per cent in South Africa, 55 per cent of firms across the continent report needing AI talent more than financing. Closing this skills gap is key to unlocking Africa’s opportunity.
Google’s Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy, Doron Avni, explained that, “The AI Skilling Blueprint provides a clear roadmap for governments to build the workforce of the future.
“By also investing in AI-ready data and expert local organisations and partners, we are helping build the interconnected ecosystem needed for a prosperous, AI-driven future for the continent.”
As part of its broader initiatives, Google also announced $2.25 million to support projects building trustworthy public data sets for AI by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and PARIS21.
This contribution will help national statistical offices modernize their infrastructure and empower decision-makers with the reliable data they need to address challenges from food security to economic growth.
“For Africa to drive sustainable development, evidence-based policymaking is indispensable. This requires accessible, reliable, and AI-ready data.
“This effort is a crucial step forward. By building a Regional Data Commons, we can empower African institutions with the data and tools they need to make strategic choices that will drive growth and prosperity,” the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Claver Gatete, said.
Finally, building on its $7.5 million Google.org Skilling Fund commitment, Google announced the first set of expert social impact organizations who will receive funding to execute on projects consistent with its skilling mission, including FATE Foundation and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), which will embed advanced AI curricula into universities; and JA Africa and CyberSafe Foundation, which will advance crucial work in online safety and digital literacy.
“We are incredibly proud to partner with the African Institute of Management Sciences on the Advanced AI UpSkilling Project, with support from Google.org. This groundbreaking initiative is a direct response to the urgent need for deep AI competencies in Africa, empowering tertiary institutions, lecturers, and students in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.
“This strategic support aligns perfectly with FATE Foundation’s mission to foster innovation and sustainable economic growth across the continent, ensuring Africa is fully equipped to lead in the global technological future,” the Executive Director for FATE Foundation, Adenike Adeyemi, stated.
“We live in an age defined by rapid technological change and our mission at JA Africa is to ensure that African youth are not left behind. However, even as we engage our youth in more digital programs and encourage AI literacy, we are fully aware of the harmful effects of unchecked online exposure and, therefore, invest equally in protecting their data, physical safety and mental wellbeing.
“Through this support from Google.org, we will give young people the tools, knowledge, and confidence they need to navigate the digital world safely and responsibly,” the chief executive of Junior Achievement Africa, Simi Nwogugu, remarked.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Global technology firm, Zoho, has enhanced its all-in-one business software platform known as Zoho One with improve security, and deeper intelligence across all over 50 applications.
The company improved the user interface, placing context at the centre of the user journey and removes traditional boundaries between applications.
Spaces now organise tools by purpose—such as Personal, Organisation, and Department-specific groups—enabling employees to access what they need without switching between apps. A centralised search bar spans the entire ecosystem, allowing users to find information or trigger workflows instantly.
An enhanced Action Panel provides a full view of upcoming meetings, unread messages, pending tasks, and other key updates, helping employees remain informed regardless of which app they are using.
The updated Dashboard consolidates data from Zoho and third-party apps into one central hub that can be customised using pre-existing or bespoke widgets.
The platform also introduced Vani, a new visual-first collaboration space that supports brainstorming, planning, and creation through diagrams, whiteboards, mind maps, and integrated video calling.
A central integrations panel enables administrators to monitor and configure all connections. Foundational integrations bring application-specific portals—Zoho or third-party—into a single unified portal. Practical tasks such as domain verification and authentication can now be configured more easily.
The new Smart Offboarding feature introduces outcome-based integrations, allowing organisations to transfer department ownership, manage employee device data, and determine data access rights within a single workflow, ensuring smooth transitions.
Also, Zia, Zoho’s AI assistant, is now accessible throughout Zoho One, providing unified intelligence that supports decision-making and improves productivity. Zia can aggregate and contextualise information from various platforms, including third-party systems such as Google Workspace, and present it as clear, actionable insight.
Zia Hubs, the platform’s intelligent content management system, now has a dedicated space where contracts, meeting recordings, and other important assets are automatically organised. Through Zia Search, employees can quickly surface relevant information without navigating multiple locations.
In addition, Ask Zia, available from the bottom toolbar, enables prompt-based searches across Zoho One, providing quick visibility into schedules, tasks, recent interactions, and other key details.
Commenting on the changes, the Country Head for Zoho Nigeria, Mr Kehinde Ogundare, said, “The Zoho One update reflects how work has evolved from using individual applications to operating within a unified platform.
“Zoho One customers are not simply licensing apps; they are choosing a solution that allows Zoho to handle the technology while they focus on productivity. The enhancements announced today deliver a cohesive experience built on unified integrations, context, and data.”
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