The IFA 2006 opens today in Berlin to the public. This is the first time that the show is in its new yearly schedule. Apparently this change kept some companies away from this years show. Most prominent 'no-show' is Sony (via Heise German).

I do not have high hopes on interesting new announcements from consumer electronics companies for this year's IFA. Reading the press here in Germany the most pushed new thing is full HDTV (1,920x1,080px) flat screen TVs. Also every TV news station in Germany is touts that you need full HD to really leverage Blu-ray or HD DVD. Talk is just not enough. Offer me a quality 50 inch Plasma or LCD with full HD at $3,000-$4,000 and I take it. Until then normal HD HDTV will have to suffice.
There is also lots of discussion out there if you really need full HD right now. For me it is a price question. Take the Panasonic TH-50PX60U which sells for $2,549.99 on Amazon.com right now. This baby has an awesome image quality and sports the new G9 panel with 10,000:1 contrast ratio. For this price you will not see 50 inch full HD HDTV for still quite a while.
I close to by the German version of this Panasonic Plasma as it is finally shipping after months of delay. The Panasonic TH-50PV60E can be had for as low as 2,500 Euro ($3,200) in Germany.

We will of course report about anything interesting that is announced or presented at the IFA 2006. Just do net get your hopes up to high.
More details about the IFA can be found here.