Sennheiser has announced the arrival of its latest high-end range of headphones, the 500 Series.

These new cans offer up some premium listening goodness, with the series boasting something called EAR (Eargonomic Acoustic Refinement) technology.

Bad puns aside – earganomic, really? – the 500 series does have some top-end specs, including the use of neodymium magnets and Duofol diaphragms to guarantee natural reproduction, a gold-plated 6.3 mm audio jack and a frequency response of 12 to 38,500 Hertz.

In short: that Lady Gaga/Spice Girls mashup you secretely listen to is going to sound ace with these strapped to your ears.

Everybody Hertz

The 500 Series comes in three flavours: HD598 (padded with a compressed cellulose fleece and hits 38,500 Hertz), HD558 (built with soft velour ear pads and reaches 28,000 Hertz) and the HD518 (comes complete with anthracite finish and can reproduce up to 26,000 Hertz).

Pricing is still to be announced but expect to see these in the shops this month, as the UK release date is September.

Also announced is some new additions to Sennheiser’s ‘mini’ range of headphones.

The PX 90 and PMX 90 offer decent sound reproduction but inside an ultralight chassis – just 52g and 68g respectively.

The PMX 90 goes for a neckband look while the PX 90 favours the more traditional headband. Both have a frequency response of 20-22,000 Hertz.

Again pricing is to be announced but they two have a UK release date of September.

Sennheiser high-end 500 Series cans boast EAR technology via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/NsGk4AwQC2s/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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Sharp is no stranger to glasses-less 3D technology. It was the company which gave Nintendo its screens for the 3DS and the company has also hinted that more handheld consoles are on the way with this 3D technology.

Although Sharp did not actually announce any glasses-less 3D gadgets, it did show of a few prototypes which looked more than a little intriguing,

To view the parallex barrier tech properly, you need to be round 30cm away from the screen – so this is great technology for the likes of phones and cameras.

The screens contain 800 x RGB x 480, when seen in 2D and 400 x RGB x 480 when viewed in 3D.

The prototypes we saw were impressive. There was a tablet-sized screen, around 7-inches, shown off with some animated 3D, and also a smaller 3.5-inch screen which could easily be ported to a mobile phone.

Seeing both these in action was great, although it is all about the sweet spot when viewing this content. A few times we were too far away, too close and moved our head the wrong way and the illusion of 3D was shattered. It is great to see 3D work without glasses, though.

The most intriguing non-glasses 3D tech, though, was the prototype camera on show. The camera had the parallex barrier panel on the back and images looked crisper than you would expect.

It could also shoot moving images and still video.

Sharp are in no rush to bring this technology to the masses but as we have seen with the 3DS, the panel tech is around and it is being picked up by the big boys of the technology world.

Sharp did also hint that screens as big as 9.7 inches will be in the market before long as well – which is the same size as an iPad.

Not that we are reading in to this at all…

IFA 2010: Sharp shows off glasses-free 3D tablet, phone and camera tech via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/YoLt9E-e0Lw/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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Apple’s jewel in its iPod crown is, without a shadow of a doubt, the new fourth-generation iPod touch, revealed earlier today by the company’s charismatic CEO, Steve Jobs.

The new iPod touch 4G was perhaps the least surprising of this week’s announcements from Apple. The good old Apple rumour mill had been suggesting that the latest touchscreen media player would get front and back-facing cameras and Apple’s Retina screen for weeks.

iPod touch 4G: An impressive upgrade to Apple’s flagship iPod

Which is exactly what it did get. It is essentially an iPhone 4, minus the phone and SMS functions. Jobs himself stated this in no uncertain words in his presentation.

“No contract,” said the Apple CEO, while demonstrating the new iPod touch 4G, with the words “no contract” written in large letters on the big-screen slideshow behind him, at which point some elements in the assembled industry and media crowd tittered, as if Jobs had made some kind of naughty joke at the expense of O2 or AT&T.

Yet the new iPod really does have to be seen and played with to be fully appreciated. If you have yet to feast your eyes on the iPhone’s 3.5-inch, 960 x 640 pixel resolution ‘Retina’ display, then you have yet to appreciate the vibrancy and quality of the images that are now available on the new iPod touch.

iPod FaceTime: Sure to be a hit with students and teens

In terms of the overall form factor, Apple has stuck with the curved stainless steel back of the previous model, although has managed to shave around 15 per cent off the thickness and weight, so the new iPod touch is noticeably thinner and lighter when sat in the palm of the hand. We had, we have to admit, suspected Apple might go the whole hog and follow the boxier design of the iPhone 4. But after a very quick hands on play with the new iPod touch, we are more than glad they didn’t.

Of course, the main beneficiaries of a slightly slimmer iPod touch are going to be the peripherals companies, with reps from all of the well-known brands out in force at today’s Apple launch. And we can be sure to expect a slew of new cases and peripheral product announcements from all of them in the coming days and weeks.

Aside from the massively improved screen, the next biggest new feature on the new iPod touch is the introduction of two cameras, which allow 720p HD video recording and also allow you to use Apple’s FaceTime video-calling app, to talk to your mates and family with iPhones (or new iPod touches). This is sure to be a massive boon to students and younger users that either don’t want (or, more likely, are not financially able) to get tied into long-term mobile contracts, yet still want to use their iPod touch for instant messaging and video calling. It is, as we heard more than one punter mumble at today’s London showcase, a potential game-changer. Although whether or not it will cannibalise the demand for Apple’s iPhone 4 remains to be seen.

iPod touch 4G: Around 15 per cent thinner and lighter

There are a slew of genuinely brilliant camera apps on Apple’s App Store, along with numerous fun photo-manipulation apps that let you make your friends into zombies, ghouls, avatars and fatties. All of which have to date been limited to iPhone users. The introduction of a camera into the iPod touch mix opens up access to these great camera apps to a whole new audience. Which is also great news for the many third party app developers out there, as well as Apple. All we can hope is that the growth of the market can only continue to drive innovation and creativity in photo and camera app development.

In terms of the actual resolution of the video recording, from the brief demonstration we were given by an Apple rep, the recording quality does seem to be impressively clear. However, whether or not this is going to be completely satisfactory as your primary video-recording device when you are away on holidays or travelling remains to be seen. We’ll be sure to put that through the test when we receive our review unit to put through its paces.

The one thing that really left us wanting the new Apple iPod touch more than anything else was spending a few minutes playing Gameloft’s superb gyroscope controlled first person shooter, NOVA, one of the best iPhone 4 games developed to date. It is the closest you can get to that feeling of the accuracy of a mouse and keyboard control scheme with a traditional PC fps on a mobile device. Which is why Steve Jobs made a point of bringing the guys from Epic Games on the stage to show off their new title, codenamed ‘Project Sword’ and due for release later this year.

iPod touch 4G: The world’s best selling gaming handheld just got better

Apple is determined to build upon the huge success it has already had in the gaming market with the iPod touch and the iPhone. And the fact that the new iPod touch 4G will fully support Apple’s new Game Center which is a key part of iOS 4.1, is proof positive that the company (and its triple-A game development partners) have the hardcore gaming market clearly in their sights.

So, to recap, Apple’s new iPod touch packs in a lot of notably-improved tech and new features, including the Retina Display, the speedier A4 chip, FaceTime Video Calling, HD video recording, that 3-axis gyro, and the multiplayer goodness and more that is part of Apple’s new Game Center.

On top of all that, it’s marginally thinner and lighter than the last gen iPod touch and Apple claims that the battery will let you listen to up to 40 hours of music on a single charge. Impressive, if that turns out to be anywhere near the truth. Again, we’ll put that to the test in our full review, to follow very soon.

You will be able to pick up Apple’s new iPod touch within the next week for of £189 for the8GB model, £249 for the 32GB model and £329.00 for the 64GB model via www.apple.com/uk.

Hands on: Apple iPod touch 4G review via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/_NwbZa9WpqY/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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Orange seems to be the latest company to jump on the iPad-shaped bandwagon, with a new report claiming that it is working on its own tablet computer.

Les Echos, a French newspaper, is claiming that an Android tablet is being manufactured by a “large Asian manufacturer” which will end up being one of the cheapest on the market.

The tablet is said to be priced at around 250 Euros – a smidge over £200.

3G ready

The tablet would come with Orange branding and would be 3G enabled, which would mean that Orange would be able to offer subscriptions for the data package.

As the article states, this wouldn’t actually be the first time that Orange has tried its hand at tablet computing.

Back in 2009, Orange released the Tabbeee, a tablet which housed a seven-inch touchscreen and was branded as a ‘tablet organiser’.

It only actually made it to the French market, so fingers crossed that its latest attempt at making a tablet makes it across the pond.

Orange prepping £200 tablet for UK release before Christmas? via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/kZjy5QXLFk4/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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Pioneer has released details of its latest range of Kodo iPod dock setups, the XW-NAW1.

Bringing two 30w audio speakers, the docks have also been equipped with something called ‘neodymium tweetermagnets’ – which isn’t the name of a death metal band but speaker technology which brings “rich, powerful and outstanding sound”.

Wall of sound

The speaker system is wall mountable and definitely looks the business.

According to Pioneer, it is a mere 83mm thick and has been equipped with a remote control so once it is hung on the wall, you don’t have to keep getting up to change tracks etc.

The device NAW1 also has a component video out port, so you can also connect the system up to a TV to playback video.

And for those who don’t want to wall-mount the thing, the NAW1 is also said to be portable enough to blast out songs on the go.

The Kodo XW-NAW1 has a UK release date of September and is priced at £199.

Pioneer debuts wall-mounted iPod Kodo dock via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/mdh817iCE7w/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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Samsung has announced the launch of its first eBook reader in the UK.

The Samsung E60 is a slightly modified version of the Samsung SNE-60K which hit Korean stores earlier this year, and goes on sale online at WHSmith for £199.99. It’ll hit highstreet stores on August 26.

Samsung visited TechRadar HQ recently where we were able to have a little play with the E60, as well as the Samsung E65 which will arrive shortly with a built-in QWERTY keyboard.

Let’s start with the specs then.

The Samsung E60 comes packing 2GB of internal memory – enough to store 1,200 books – an SD card expansion slot and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi. You’ll be able to make use of this Wi-Fi connection to download books and newspapers from the WHSmith eBook store, as well as share content with other Samsung eBook readers using the Emolink option.

So far, so totally predictable then.

There’s no 3G-version anywhere to be seen (we were given a ‘no comment’ response when we asked if a 3G version was forthcoming), while other ‘me-too’ features include handwriting functionality for annotating books, MP3 support for listening to music while you read, as well as support for all standard eBook formats including ePub, PDF and TXT.

This will appeal to those people who already have a large collection of eBooks in PDF format and don’t want to repurchase.

Oh and there’s also a text-to-speech option which will read books to your kids for you if you’re too busy getting drunk downstairs to bother doing it yourself.

So what did we think of the E60? It’s a tidy little piece of kit, that’s for sure. It operates very much like a Samsung sliderphone in that the screen slides upwards to reveal more controls underneath.

It’s also a very solid build, with a nice clear e-paper display (800×600) and it has a firm feel to it – you’d have to give it a real good shunt if you were going to break it which is vital if you’re going to be taking this with you on the tube everyday.

To that end, it’s also not too heavy, though it’s still significantly larger and more cumbersome than your average paperback, that’s for sure.

The interface is fairly easy to navigate too – it’s very similar, in fact, to those found on eBook readers from the likes of Sony and Amazon – which means it also suffers from the same drawbacks…

Ebook readers only use power when you turn a page or navigate the menu system, so static pages use no power at all. That’s ideal for obvious reasons – the battery will last for 7000 page turns – but the downside to this is that just like most eBook readers, it’s just not very responsive.

Page turns are not instantaneous, there’s a brief but uncomfortable pause between your page-turn request and the next page being displayed. We were told that the E60 is “more responsive” than other eBook readers, but we beg to differ – performance is comparable to all the other eBook readers we’ve seen this year.

Samsung E65: coming soon with QWERTY keyboard

This all brings us down to how much it costs. It’s available at whsmith.co.uk from today for £199.99 which is a heck of a lot of dosh, if you ask us.

That’s the same price as the Wi-Fi version of the iRiver Story, which is also available at WHSmith.

In contrast, the new Amazon Kindle is set to cost just £109 for the non-Wi-Fi version and £149 for the version with free 3G.

How Samsung, iRiver and the rest expect anyone to fork out 200 quid in the face of that, we just cannot fathom.

Related Links

• Hands on: new Amazon Kindle review

Hands on: Samsung E60 review via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/H54mYE8mn9E/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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A seven-inch version of the Apple iPad is to hit shops before Christmas, according to a report by Taiwanese media.

The Economic Daily News, a Chinese newspaper-language newspaper based in Taiwan, is claiming that a smaller version of the Apple iPad (we are going out on a limb and calling it the iPad 2) is already in pre-production and could be this year’s surprise Christmas hit.

Christmas release?

The article, according to Macworld, states that a number of Taiwanese companies have won the rights to develop components for the Apple iPad 2, with Chimei Innolux supplying a seven-inch screen which utilises the same in-plane switching technology the iPad uses. Currently the iPad has a 9.7-inch screen.

The Economic Daily News is also stating that Compal Electronics have been enlisted to assemble the iPad 2.

Given Apple’s track record for major releases, a Christmas release does seem doubtful. If the rumours about a smaller iPad are true, then it is more likely that the company is getting its stuff together early for next year’s WWDC in June.

Saying that, the Economic Daily News has a decent track record in predicting Apple-related releases.

It was one of the first to rightly note that Apple was working on a tablet device in the first place.

7-inch Apple iPad readying for Christmas launch? via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/zaWFmlwN-sI/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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The Samsung Galaxy tab, a rival to the Apple iPad, looks like it is coming to the UK soon, with Vodafone accidently slipping out details that it is to carry the device.

Engadget has had an anonymous tip that the Samsung Galaxy Tab is on Vodafone’s upcoming roster of devices, alongside the ‘nearly new’ BlackBerry 9105 (Pearl 3G) and the BlackBerry 9300 (Curve 3G).

Tab clear

The Samsung Galaxy Tab will make its debut at IFA 2010, where TechRadar will be in attendance to get one of the first hands-ons with the device.

Packing Android, an ARM11 CPU with a 1GHz processing speed and the possibility of an Super AMOLED screen, the Tab looks like it will be a true contender to the iPad’s tablet throne.

The Vodafone leak doesn’t contain a UK release date but we will update as soon as we get word.

Vodafone nabs Samsung Galaxy Tab for UK? via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/2tycfi6cLXY/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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It’s been a long time coming for the Duracell myGrid. Originally slated for an August 2009 release, the wireless charging device has finally made it to the UK a year later and TechRadar has managed to get a close look at the thing.

Though similar in looks to its rival, Powermat, myGrid uses conductive (rather than inductive) charging strips that enable up to four devices to be placed anywhere on the mat.

It can handle a variety of electronic gadgets and ships with a single Power Sleeve designed to fit your required device like a protective skin.

Power Sleeves are available for iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry Curve and Pearl and you can specify which one is bundled at the point of sale.

Additional Power Sleeves can be bought for £19.99. Alternatively, there’s a series of Power Clips included, enabling you to charge devices with other connections, including mini USB.

The ultra thin and lightweight myGrid charges at the same rate as plugging directly into the mains and automatically stops charging devices as soon as they are fully powered up.

And, thankfully, It is safe to touch with the hand or metal devices, such as keys – so there isn’t a worry that this new-fangled tech will frazzle your brain.

In order to promote myGrid, Duracell commissioned RSA Films, Ridley Scott’s ad agency, to make a special short film, so it looks as if Duracell has brought out the big guns to promote the thing.

The Duracell myGrid has a UK release date of September and will cost £69.99.

In pictures: Duracell myGrid via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/O9cV57Rzx6M/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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According to a number of sources at a recent company meeting, HP’s webOS is set to be made available on a tablet PC next year.

The news hardly comes as a shock, as developing and monetising webOS was clearly one of the major reasons why HP acquired Palm earlier in July this year

Project Hurricane

Engadget cites “trusted sources” that were in attendance at a recent employee meeting where HP Senior Vice President Todd Bradley mentioned a planned first quarter of 2011 launch for a webOS tablet.

The sources added that the internal code name for the project is Hurricane.

HP plans to develop and use Palm’s webOS in various ways across a number of consumer product lines, from tablet PCs through to web-connected printers and smartphones.

So in addition to the new webOS tablet, HP is currently working on a Windows 7-based slate PC for the enterprize sector and an Android-based Zeen e-reader for consumers.

And who was it that said tablet PCs were a flash in the pan?

HP ‘Project Hurricane’ webOS tablet due Q1 2011 via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/E3pAcdyEdh4/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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