I’m headed to Berlin to seek the solution to the smart kitchen

I’m a sucker for the smart kitchen. Build me a kitchen that can tell me what to cook, when to cook, how to cook it, and do the boring bits for me, then clean it all up afterward, and I’ll be a happy tech reviewer. For years, this has seemed totally out of reach. Appliance makers have stuck Wi-Fi chips in everything, but have barely done anything to make those appliances smart. Unless all your appliances are from the same brand, nothing works together in the smart kitchen — the one place where interoperability really matters.

At the IFA tech show in Berlin, Germany, this week, the biggest names in home appliances will be showing off their latest gadgets, and hopefully presenting solutions to some of these problems. I’ll be there to hear what companies like LG, Samsung, Bosch, Haier (GE Appliances), AEG (Electrolux), and SharkNinja have to say about the evolution of home appliances.

Some news has already emerged ahead of the show. Samsung announced it’s bringing more AI to its Samsung Food app, which aims to be the connection between its appliances and your pantry. LG revealed its first dedicated smart home hub. The ThinQ On enables voice control of LG appliances and will monitor them and alert you when your washer is done, or your oven is preheated. The company plans to demonstrate voice-controlled cooking using LG’s ThinQ AI technology on the show floor. 

I expect we’ll hear a lot more about how companies plan to use AI to make our kitchens do more work for us. Yes, gadgets are fun and cool, but so far, much of the smart kitchen has felt siloed in individual ecosystems or trapped in single-purpose appliances with terrible apps. Many companies seem to think generative AI could help provide the connective tissue the smart home needs, one that can interpret what we want to do and have our appliances do it for us. 

Of course, IFA, which is celebrating its centenary this year, is not just about smart appliances. IFA is a huge consumer electronics show, it’s essentially Europe’s version of CES, but with smaller TVs and fewer cars and tractors. 

Based on previous years, we can expect to see announcements around new European smartphones and new smartphone accessories — as companies like Honor, Anker, Belkin, Fairphone, and Motorola are all showing their stuff.  

Laptop innovations are often part of the Berlin scene, and as its 2024, we can assume there’ll be a lot of news about AI. Acer is holding a press conference, and Lenovo is hosting a keynote with Qualcomm, Microsoft, AMD, and Intel. 

In the realms of home audio and entertainment, TCL has announcements planned, and Bluetooth SIG will show off its Auracast technology. Once again, plenty of home robots will roam the show floor, with Roborock, Dreame, Narwhal, SharkNinja, and Ecovacs all expected to reveal their latest floor cleaning conveniences. 

We’ll also see plenty of new gadgets from smart home companies, such as smart lights, locks, cameras, and sensors. Aqara, Meross, Ecoflow, Govee, Nanoleaf, Reolink, Shelly, and SwitchBot are all heading to Germany to show off their latest gadgets, and The Verge will be there to report back on the latest and greatest.

This year, Canadian rocker Bryan Adams is headlining a series of concerts on the lawn outside the Messe Berlin conference center. While I’m wading through the crowds searching for the latest foldable phone, yoga-rific laptop, and smartest kitchen accessory to report on, just remember: everything I do, I do it for you.