Today, the 50th edition of the consumer electronics show IFA in Berlin is starting. Until coming Wednesday, September 8th, more than 1,423 exhibitors are showing consumer electronics and home appliances on the exhibition site. Key themes on display at the IFA 2010 include HDTV, 3D TV, the networked home, TV/internet convergence and mobile media. One of the highlights is the new Android tablet Samsung Galaxy Tab which the manufacturer presented on Wednesday at the SoHo house in Berlin. In the home appliances sector, the focus is on design, ease-of-use and ergonomics. Other important trends cutting across market segments and discussed in conference sessions are digital lifestyles, smart homes, and energy efficiency. Here is some more information for visitors of the IFA 2010 show.

There have been lots of rumors about the tablet PC Samsung Galaxy Tab. Now, we know: It is real. Today, Samsung has presented the Galaxy Tab at the consumer electronics show IFA 2010 in Berlin. It will be available in October at all four operators’ stores in Germany with and without plan. Without plan the purchase price for the Galaxy Tab with 16 GB storage capacity will be probably less than the recommended retail price of € 799.00. Later on, there will also be a 32 GB version of the mobile device. I had the opportunity to take a closer look at the Android 2.2 (Froyo) tablet yesterday night. Here is a short review of the Galaxy Tab.

German broadband Internet provider Hansenet (Alice) takes a second shot at marketing highspeed VDSL lines a second shot. This week the ISP will start offering VDSL lines with flat rate tariffs for surfing the web and home phone calls to other landlines in Germany and with data transfer speeds of up to 50 mbps (download) and 10 mbps (upload). New subscribers ordering the new VDSL package “Alice Speed” of Hansenet until the end of October will have to pay just € 29.90 per month for it. New subscribers ordering “Alice Speed” later than that will probably have to pay a monthly fee of € 39.90.

The Starbucks Coffee Company offers free WiFi in 140 coffee houses in Germany. Smartphone, netbook and notebook users can access the Internet for up to two hours without being charged for it - accept for the coffee or cake they order at Starbucks. Starbucks guests need only bring a mobile, wireless-enabled device and connect to the BT Openzone hotspot at the Starbucks coffee house. Customers of British Telecom can use the BT MobileXpress clients to establish a secure connection to their corporate network and access their e-mails, files and applications as if they were in their office. BT MobileXpress does also provide them with hassle-free access to more than 100,000 public hotspots throughout Germany, e.g. in hotels, restaurants or shops.

Google will start its controversial Street View service with its navigable 360-degree photo maps in 20 cities in Germany this year, the Californian company has announced. This service integrated into Google Maps will give users the opportunity to explore cities virtually, to retrieve local directions, to find a new apartment, house or property, or to check the maps and photos for vacation planning. At the beginning, Google Street will be available in Germany for these cities: Berlin, Bielefeld, Bochum, Bonn, Bremen, Cologne, Dortmund, Dresden, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfort/Main, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Wuppertal. But unlike in the United States and in 22 other countries around the world, some people in Germany see Street View as an interference with their privacy in an unacceptable way. Some do also think that Google Street View with its detailed street level maps may have potential applications for thieves or terrorists. The strange thing is: According to Google, Germans have already become loyal users of the Street View service.

Simfy is a new free music streaming service for web users in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. When connected to the web, registered PC users can listen to music and create playlists without buying or downloading songs. The Simfy music streaming service offers a basic membership that is free of charge and a premium membership for € 9.99 per month. Premium members can use the music streaming service ad-free, can listen to the music when being on-line or off-line and download the desktop and the mobile applications for the Apple iPhone or Android smartphones. Premium members pay via direct debit (with German banking account) or via credit card. Social networking features like the integration of Facebook Connect have also been added: Signing up for this service allows registered Facebook users to use their profiles on Simfy.

The FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa has finally kicked off. Soccer fans in Germany can watch the games on TV at home, on big screen in a pub or via live stream on the web. In this overview you will find all the information you need to watch the World Cup matches live in Germany: Public and commercial broadcasting stations covering the tournament, providers selling web and TV sticks to PC and laptop users, web radio stations with live coverage and podcasts as well as locations of public showings in Berlin and Hamburg.

With the Apple iPad WiFi + 3G models it is possible to access the internet, but not to make phone calls over mobile networks. Making phone calls with the Apple iPad is only possible via a detour over internet telephony (voice over IP or just voip). Providers such as Skype or Sipgate and the software developer Acrobits have released voip apps for iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad. While Apple iPad WiFi users can make voip calls whenever they find a hotspot for connecting to the web, some operators in Germany prohibit voip calls over their GSM and 3G networks. For example, Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile) and Vodafone only allow voip calls over their networks when the subscriber has booked a special tariff option. On the other hand, customers of O2 Germany may use voip services with their mobile device.

On Friday, May 28th, the Apple iPad will be launched in Germany and several other countries. People will be able to buy the tablet PC at Apple stores in Munich, Hamburg or Frankfort as well as at Apple shops in selected – not in every store – consumer electronics retailers such as Saturn, Media Markt and Medimax. I am pretty sure that Gravis will sell the Apple iPad, too, since Gravis stores will open at 8:00 a.m. in the morning – just like the three German Apple stores. It is also possible to order the Apple iPad at the German Apple web store, but then the tablet will not be delivered before June. I have summarized the latest developments regarding points of sale as well as micro SIM cards and price plans for the Apple iPad in Germany. Please read on.

You want to get a DSL internet connection. You don’t want to get in three or four weeks, which is the usual time it takes providers in Germany to set up the broadband internet connection, you want to get it today. One way to access the internet immediately is to buy a prepaid SIM card and an UMTS surf stick and to access the internet over the mobile network until the DSL connection is activated. Another way is to order a DSL bundle of a provider that offers an UMTS surf stick to new customers itself. Unfortunately, at the moment there is only one provider offering DSL with a short minimum term commitment and with such an UMTS surf stick in the German market: Hansenet with its Alice brand.