IFA week has begun so it's time to lay down the game plan - almost all major manufacturers are in Berlin and have exciting new devices to unveil. Hold on to your hats folks, this will be the busiest Wednesday and Thursday we've seen in ages. Samsung (Wednesday) The Samsung Unpacked event at IFA has brought us a new Galaxy Note phablet for three years running and this one will be no exception. Samsung of course is only teasing the Note announcement with no substation details but the rumor mill has been good to us. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will have a 5.7" QHD screen (1,440 x 2,560) Super AMOLED screen, Snapdragon 805 or Exynos 5433 chipset (64-bit), a 16MP camera, Galaxy S5's sensor array (perhaps more elaborate) and, of course, the S Pen. Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Images of a VR headset have leaked suggesting Samsung might get into the virtual reality game. And it's exactly games that Samsung is said to be targeting. The Oculus Rift uses a Galaxy Note 3 display but we may see a Note 4 unit for Samsung's VR headset. The Samsung Gear S is already official but we'll certainly be seeing more of it at IFA. It marks Samsung's return to wrist-worn phones and is technically the first Tizen phone now that the Samsung Z seems to have run into issues. Sony (Wednesday) Sony made its intentions clear in a teaser video - it will release a trio of Xperia devices including the Sony Xperia Z3, the Xperia Z3 Compact and an Xperia Z3 Tablet with the distinct possibility that it will be a Compact tablet (though that's just hearsay for now). The Xperia Z3 Compact is the much awaited sequel to the Z1 Compact. It's expected to bring a 4.6" 1080p screen, Snapdragon 801 chipset and Sony's trademark 20.7MP camera and water-resistant design. It's going to challenge the Samsung Galaxy Alpha for the Android super mini crown. The big Xperia Z3 was certified by TENAA, revealing small changes to the Z2. It will keep the 5.2" 1080p screen, and will be about the same size, while keeping the same 20.7MP camera. It will bump up the chipset to the faster Snapdragon 801 version (8974AC) but we'll have to listen keenly to the presentation on Wednesday for the complete changelog. Sony Xperia Z3 in White The Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact has been namedropped three times already and is presumed to have a 7" or 8" screen instead of the 10.1" screen of the Xperia Z2 Tablet. Sony should also bring the third generation SmartWatch (this time with a bigger 1.68" 320x320 screen) and IP58 certification. The recently unveiled Sony SmartBand will be getting a cooler version too - the SmartBand Talk reportedly has a curved e-ink display and its name suggests it will handle calls over Bluetooth too. Sony has a VR headset in the works too, the so-called Project Morpheus, which won't compete with the Oculus Rift or Samsung's headset as it's positioned as a PlayStation 4 accessory. Morpheus is official though details are scarce - it will have a 90° FoV and two 960 x 1080p displays (one for each eye). Nokia (Thursday) Microsoft/Nokia are expected to bring two mid-range Windows Phone devices to plug in the gaping hole in the lineup, 2014 has seen only entry-level and flagship devices so far. There's a lot of confusion around the screen size of the Nokia Lumia 830 but the rumor mill suggests it will carry the 20MP PureView camera of the Lumia 930. That would make the Lumia 830 a compact (4.5"-4.6") alternative to the 930 or it may be the same size. Either way, its chipset is expected to be low-powered compared to the Snapdragon 800 in the Lumia 930. Then there's the Nokia Lumia 730, which the rumor mill describes as a cheap ($240) mid-range Windows Phone handset with a selfie-centric 5MP camera on the front. This one will get dual-SIM and LTE options like the Lumia 630. Not a phone but equally important, IFA might officially bring "Nokia by Microsoft" branding on Lumia handsets as the Redmond giant begins to transition away from the Nokia brand (on which it has a temporary lease). It will be interesting to hear Microsoft's thoughts on the future of feature phones (one was released under Microsoft stewardship so far) and what's to become of the decommissioned Nokia X platform as the remainder of Nokia is warming up to Android. LG (Thursday) LG put out a couple of LG G3...
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