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
Nigeria has set 2028 and 2029 as the timeline for the deployment of its new satellites, NIGCOMSAT-2A and 2B, respectively.
The Managing Director of NIGCOMSAT, which is Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited and the premier satellite operator in Nigeria, Mrs Jane Nkechi Egerton-Idehen, disclosed this at the second Nigerian Satellite Week in Abuja on Monday. She noted that the development is expected to boost military intelligence, surveillance, and regional connectivity.
“For 2A and 2B, we have started the process. We have closed the tender and are now back into the financing and implementation stage. 2A is built to come up in 2028, and 2B for 2029.
“When they are up and running, they are expected to provide security within the borders and neighbouring countries. They will support the security agencies because data collection and intelligence in real time is important. Satellites like communication satellites allow that, irrespective of where they are,” she said.
In his remarks, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, said the satellites form part of the nation’s strategy to strengthen digital infrastructure.
Mr Tijani explained that the satellites will complement ongoing investments in 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable and nearly 4,000 telecom towers, which are being rolled out nationwide and extended to neighbouring countries, including Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and the Republic of Benin.
He stressed that satellite technology is critical for national development, affecting education, agriculture, business, and emergency response.
“The president’s approval of NIGCOMSAT-2A and 2B demonstrates a clear commitment to building the future. These satellites will enhance security, connect remote communities, and extend our fibre-optic network into neighbouring countries,” he said.
“Some of these neighbouring countries pay up to ten times more for internet capacity than Lagos. Extending our fibre network will not only improve connectivity but also enhance border security and regional collaboration.
“Satellite technology affects everything, from how a child in a rural community accesses the internet to how farmers make critical decisions and how businesses operate across distance,” the Minister said.
Also speaking, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, welcomed the development, saying the military will leverage the satellites for operational efficiency.
“The Nigerian Army will continue to use space assets to improve intelligence gathering, surveillance, and operational coordination across all theatres of operation,” he said at the event, represented by Major General Kennedy Osemwegie, Commander of the Nigerian Army Cyber Warfare Command (NACWC).
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A partnership to advance digital payments and financial inclusion across East Africa has been strengthened between Interswitch and KCB Group.
Both parties have agreed to expand digital payment infrastructure and deliver innovative financial solutions that meet the evolving needs of individuals, businesses, and institutions across the region.
The aim is to accelerate seamless, secure, and inclusive digital payments in East Africa, where the leading Africa-focused integrated payments and digital commerce enabler, Interswitch, recently announced an expansion of Verve card acceptance footprint, leveraging its consolidated partnership with KCB Group, Kenya’s largest financial services group by assets, following a similar move in Uganda through the local KCB Franchise in February 2022.
During a recent executive engagement at KCB Group headquarters in Nairobi, the chief executive of Interswitch, Mr Mitchell Elegbe, held high-level discussions with KCB leadership, including its chief executive, Paul Russo.
At the core of the strengthened collaboration is the integration of Interswitch’s robust payment rails, card scheme, and emerging digital token solutions with KCB Group’s expansive regional footprint and trusted banking franchise.
This integration enables the acceptance of Verve cards and tokenised payment solutions across KCB’s extensive merchant point-of-sale network in Kenya and Uganda, significantly enhancing everyday usability for customers while strengthening KCB’s digitally driven retail payments offering.
The consolidated partnership is expected to drive increased merchant acquisition, improve interoperability across payment ecosystems, and expand access to secure, cashless transactions. It also reinforces both organisations’ shared objective of deepening financial inclusion and accelerating digital commerce across East Africa.
“Our collaboration with KCB Group represents a powerful alignment of vision and capability. By combining our technology-driven payment solutions with KCB’s strong regional presence, we are unlocking new opportunities to scale access, drive innovation, and deliver greater value to customers across East Africa,” Mr Elegbe stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to provide compensation to subscribers whose network quality of service experience is below specified targets within specific locations.
In a Sunday statement, the commission noted that its position is that customers should not be made to bear the full burden of service disruptions where operators fail to meet prescribed standards of service delivery.
Under this directive, NCC said erring operators would compensate affected users directly for breaches of Quality of Service (QoS) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) will be required to pay these compensations for instances of poor quality of service recorded within specified time frames.
“The compensation will be provided in the form of airtime credits, calculated based on subscribers’ average spending patterns and their presence within Local Government Areas where service failures occur”, according to the statement.
The directive is rooted in the agency’s broader regulatory philosophy that places the consumer at the centre of Nigeria’s telecommunications ecosystem.
“Telecommunications services today underpin economic activity, social interaction, and access to digital opportunities. When service quality is poor, the consequences affect productivity, commercial activities, and even public confidence in our communications system.
“While regulatory fines have traditionally served as a deterrent against poor service delivery, the Commission is adopting a more consumer-focused approach that strengthens accountability within the industry”.
The commission explained that it has designed this measure to complement existing and ongoing efforts to strengthen service quality monitoring and enforce performance standards.
Further to this directive by the commission to MNOs on compensation to consumers, the regulator has mandated Tower Companies that own the critical infrastructure, such as masts, for Quality of Service delivery, to invest in infrastructure with measurable outcomes using sums that it has fined these companies, in addition to other financial fines the Commission will deem appropriate.
“The commission will continue to reinforce the obligation of operators to invest consistently in network resilience, capacity expansion, and infrastructure upgrades to meet the growing demand for telecommunications services.
“At the same time, it will deploy regulatory tools that promote fairness, transparency, and accountability across the sector, ensuring that every subscriber receives the quality of service they deserve while sustaining a telecommunications industry capable of powering Nigeria’s digital future”, the statement added.
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