At Europe's biggest tech show, a peek into the future

Each September, the tech world descends on Germany to get a sneak preview of the hottest new gadgets of the upcoming holiday shopping season. The place is Berlin, and the event is IFA.

Held at the massive Messe Berlin convention center, the show attracts hundreds of thousands of curious visitors, along with some of the biggest names in home entertainment, mobile tech, and appliances — including the rapidly expanding smart home market.

While many of the products here are destined for the European market, some of the biggest reveals will also be coming to American shores. Expected are some particularly ground-shaking announcements in the smartphone, smartwatch and TV markets.

Likely the biggest news of the show will drop at Samsung's "Unpacked" event Wednesday. Most are expecting a new phone in the genre-defining Galaxy Note series, positioned to take on a rumored big-screen iPhone.

Already, Samsung, LG and Asus have begun to tease new smartwatches, with the Gear S, G Watch R and ZenWatch, respectively. Other likely attendees at IFA include the new Motorola Moto 360, and possibly a new SmartWatch model from Sony.

All of these watches, of course, are hoping to steal a day in the sun before a widely rumored Apple iWatch announcement on Sept. 9.

In the world of television, Samsung and LG once again reign supreme. Last year, the giants went toe-to-toe with 4K OLED prototypes. This year, LG has already announced that it plans to go ahead and commercialize the cutting-edge tech.

Is 2014 the year OLED will find its way into the mainstream? IFA could be the place to find out.

Ultra-high-definition TVs might have a better shot at finding widespread acceptance, especially if TV manufacturers keep adding new 4K content. Just last week, Samsung struck a deal to bring Amazon Originals to its UHD smart TVs in native 4K resolution, and it probably won't be the last partnership announced at IFA this week.

The other big story of the show is the smart home. Appliance manufacturers have begun outing their Wi-Fi-connected fridges and washing machines, self-diagnosing dishwashers and smart security products — and that's just the start.

Following on its acquisition of home automation start-up SmartThings, Samsung has also announced its new smart home SDK, which opens its system up to third-party developers and products. It's a bold, potentially game-changing move from one of the biggest companies in the market.

Whatever breaks at IFA 2014, the team from Reviewed.com will be here to cover it, bringing you all the news and hands-on impressions you can handle.