LG may not have revealed a new smartphone during IFA 2020, but they announced a revolutionary device.

Meet the LG PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier — a mask that has a built-in air purifier into it. ‘PuriCare’ is LG’s special line for their air and water purifiers. The mask is battery-powered and charges via USB-C to keep it running. It also has fans and even HEPA filters to filter out pesky

Although this isn’t approved yet for commercial use, we’re still hoping that regular consumers would be able to have one of their own — especially that the COVID-19 crisis is far from ending.

You can find more about LG’s mask here.

This year’s paired down IFA had attendees giving more attention to the startups and smaller tech companies that joined the fair. One of the stars of the show is even a compact dishwasher that will fit smaller kitchens. Meet Bob the Dishwasher designed by France’s Daan Tech.

Bob the Dishwasher comes in 12 different colors ranging from brights to pastels. There’s one for every kitchen aesthetic. The whole machine weighs 10 kilograms and can clean your dishes in 20 minutes. It also has an ultraviolet sterilizer that kills viruses and bacteria.

And while it’s so compact, it actually fits quite a lot for its size. It comfortably fits 6 plates, 12 pieces of cutlery, and 6 glasses. This means you can do one wash per day if there are only two of you living in your flat, eating three meals a day. The basket is, however, modular and can be adjusted to fit more. If you’re using different sizes of plates, it can fit up to 8 by putting some smaller ones on the sides.

Bob the Dishwasher fits well in a kitchen counter or a separate stand in your kitchen. You just plug it in, insert the detergent cassette, fill it with water and dirty dishes, and you’re good to go.

Eco-friendly detergent cassettes

Each detergent cassette that you can also purchase from Daan Tech can last you up to 30 washes. Each cassette contains about 120 ml of detergent. It’s the machine’s job to just get as much as it needs. The cassette is made of 100% recycled plastic and can be returned to the company. They will then refill the cassettes and put them back in the market.

Bob the Dishwasher only uses 2.9 liters of water per cycle, making it a really good choice for people who want to be kinder to the environment.

The rise of realme over the last two years has been nearly meteoric. After building a foundation in Southeast Asia, the brand has announced at IFA 2020 that they’re now ready to take on Europe. Their strategy is to go beyond smartphones but with that personal mobile device as the central hub for everything.

Sound familiar? What realme aims to do appear to be a mish-mash of what Huawei and Xiaomi are doing. Not bad examples to follow seeing as how Huawei sky-rocketed in popularity (US-China trade war notwithstanding), and how Xiaomi has built a cult following for offering smart home devices for less.

Disrupting the smartphone market

We’ve already talked about how realme has been a disruptor by offering flagship features for phones in the lower and upper midrange category. The features range from debuting the 64MP camera, adding a 90Hz refresh rate, and many more.

They have also had success with their budget offering — the realme C series. These budget phones are well-built and have enough oomph for what you may need a smartphone for.

The next frontier is 5G and naturally, realme is also partaking in that area with the realme V series and realme X series.

The realme V Series is mainly for solving low battery anxiety in the 5G era with flash charging and mega battery, enabling better 5G experience. The realme V5 was launched in China in August with 5000mAh mega battery and 30W Dart Charge. Launched in September, realme V3 is designed to bring 5G closer to more people by pricing at at the budget $150 segment.

Meanwhile, the realme X Series is positioned as a lighter and thinner 5G flagship with powerful performance. It will adopt cutting-edge technology and craftsmanship to bring industry-leading trendsetting design and bring a unique experience for the young. Recently, realme X7 and X7 Pro were launched as the 1st choice among 5G flagship with 120Hz AMOLED screen and 65W SuperDart charge.

1+4+N

realme has also started offering a bunch of AIOt products that can be linked to the still developing realme Link App. We’ve seen the some TWS buds and most recently the realme Watch. But it doesn’t stop there.

They’re taking a “1+4+N” strategy meaning they look to lure you into the ecosystem by offering products that first work with the smartphone and extending their reach from that.

• 1 Core: realme takes smartphone as the core of realme AIoT ecosystem to connect, manage and control all AIoT product with realme Link App.
• 4 Smart Hubs: realme makes Smart TV, Smart Speaker, Smart Watch and Smart Earphone as the top 4 smart hubs to help consumers manage and control more AIoT products together with smartphones.
• N AIoT products: The ‘N’ here represents realme’s commitment to bring a plethora of new AIOT and peripheral product, and trendsetting lifestyle products for our fans. realme aims to build a trendsetting community for the young.

realme is poised to launch over 50 AIoT products in 2020, and 100 in 2021, to make AIoT become a part of our lives in a more easy and affordable way.

In 2020 Q4, realme will enhance this AIoT ecosystem with its first 55” TV, wireless and TWS ANC earphone, medium and high-end smartphone, and smart camera and smart bulb.

A brand for the youth

realme also has its cross-hairs squarely focused on the youth. The idea is to bring this new digital home lifestyle closer to the youth. To do that, they need to make the products affordable but made with quality. For the most part, they’re on the right track.

At present, realme has over 45 million users in 61 markets worldwide. They’re top 5 in Singapore, top 4 in Australia, top 4 in India, and top 4 in SEA. As mentioned earlier, the next market of interest is Europe then Latin America.