BERLIN, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Europe's biggest consumer electronics show, the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA), opened its doors here for press representatives on Wednesday.

The expo will open to the public on Friday and last until Sept. 5.

One of the biggest trends in the industry this year is the digitalization of living spaces, called smart home. According to a recent study by the German digital association Bitkom, one in four citizens is already using smart home applications such as voice control, intelligent lighting, video surveillance or even digital washing machines.

Smartphones and screen technology remain of central importance, while streaming media content and artificial intelligence are becoming increasingly popular at the 2018 IFA.

This year's IFA Next, which was launched last year, shows start-ups and innovations in an area twice as large as last year. In addition, the organizers want to bring the topic of autonomous and connected driving and mobility to the trade fair with the new "shift automotive" format during the last two days of the fair.

In the first half of 2018, the electronics sector in Germany had a combined sales volume of around 19.3 billion euros (22.6 billion U.S. dollars), including consumer electronics as well as large and small electrical appliances.

Last year, IFA attracted around 250,000 visitors.