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Looking for a good pair of earphones and have a ton of cash to burn through? Sennheiser has you covered with its IE 800 earphones, which are being touted as having “the most innovations per square millimeter.” According to Sennheiser, these earphones can compete with the rest of the company’s high-end portfolio, and we’re tempted to believe it.

That’s because, for starters, these earphones sport a frequency response of 5 to 46,500 Hz, allowing for a “lifelike sound image.” The hardware in these earphones is held in a ceramic housing, and as you can see from the image, the have quite a nice-looking finish. The star of these earphones is the Sennheiser-developed Extra Wide Band (XWB) driver, which comes in at only 7mm in diameter and provides excellent sound quality with perfect timing.

Also included in this package is Sennheiser’s new vented magnet system, which is meant to bring distortion to a minimum. “The oscillating motion of the diaphragm produces an air flow in the magnet system housing that causes the diaphragm to wobble slightly,” said Senior Acoustic Engineer Axel Grell in a company statement. “By positioning two precisely defined vent holes in the housing directly under the magnets, we can cause the air to flow in a specific direction. This minimises the wobbling motion of the diaphragm and reduces total harmonic distortion to less than 0.06 percent.”

Sennheiser also claims to have solved the problem of masking – which is when low-volume frequencies are masked by louder low-frequency sounds – through the use of a new absorber. These absorb all of the extra energy from the loud low-frequency sounds, allowing users to hear all of the frequencies without having to worry about masking. Sennheiser has also developed new oval-shaped ear adapters that allow for a better fit, but the company also includes the more common round ear adapters should you decide that you prefer those.

They sound pretty impressive at the end of everything, but you’ll be handing over a hefty chunk of change if you want to get your hands on the IE 800 earphones. They come in at $999.95, so only those who are very serious about sound quality need apply. They’ll be available in the US “later this fall” but other that, we don’t have a solid release date. Are you going to pick up a pair of these, or are they a little too expensive for your tastes?

Sennheiser shows off its high-end IE 800 earphones is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The folks at LifeProof have given us a hands-on experience with their iPhone 4/4S case lineup as well as their new NUUD iPad case. The iPhone case we’re finding is so thin that it appears that there’s no cover over the front – and yet there is. The iPad case allow you to dunk your device underwater – and the iPhone case does this as well. Basically what we’ve seen is that LifeProof iPhone and iPad cases make their contents impervious to damage – have a peek at how tough they are right this minute!

The LifeProof NUUD iPad case works with each of the 2 newer iPad models out on the market and protects with IP-68 and Military Standards to make sure your device will be protected like no other. For water you’re able to submerge the device fully up to 6.6 feet under the surface for 30 minutes. The case is sealed from dirt and minute dust particles at an IP-68 rating – the same is true of its rating against melting snow and ice. This case also protects your iPad against shock with the ability to withstand drops from up to 4 feet.

This unit allows you access to all of your buttons including volume, screen lock, power button, home button, and your dock connector as well. This case also has large speaker ports so you’re good to go with the beats, and you’re working with CrystalClear double AR coated real glass lens as well for high quality images. This unit weights in at 310 grams, 9.97 ounces, and is the following dimensions: 265 x 208 x 20.5 millimeters (10.43 x 8.18 x 0.81 inches). You’ll be able to pick this unit up now online at LifeProof’s store for $149.99 – there’s a cover+stand unit for this case as well for $29.99 more.

The iPhone 4/4S case is also shown off here complete with IP-68 rating against water and dust. It’s got Military Specifications MIL-STD-810F-516.5 (2 meters/6.6ft drop on all surfaces and edges. 26 tests) for shock and impact, and it’s ready for 2 meters of water – 6.6ft depth as well. This unit weighs in at less than an ounce and is made to work with all iPhone 4 and 4S models all around the world and for every carrier. It adds just 1/16” (1.5mm) when measured from the center of the phone when you’ve got it on your device, and again you’ve got fabulous double AR-coated optical glass lenses in place to make for the great crystal-clear vision.

The iPhone 4/4S unit is $79.99 and comes in a wide variety of colors and is also ready for purchase right this minute. In our talk with LifeProof they let us know that they’re prepared for the next-generation iPhone (still code-named iPhone 5) already and are planning on working with the Samsung Galaxy S IV as well when it’s eventually announced. They’ve also got cases coming for other Apple and Android cases including the iPod touch – expect great things from LifeProof now and in the future too!

LifeProof iPhone 4/4S case and NUUD iPad case hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Windows 8 devices are all the rage at IFA this year, especially tablets. Toshiba has a new Satellite – the U920t – on the scene, and like many tablets we’ve seen, this one is convertible into a notebook. However, unlike a number of the tablets we’ve seen, you don’t convert this tablet by attaching it to keyboard dock. Instead, it features a slide out keyboard using a mechanism that Toshiba assures will provide for a smooth and stable transition.

The Satellite U920t comes with a 12.5-inch glossy touchscreen, and as you can imagine, that slide-out keyboard adds a bit of weight to the unit. It weighs in at 1.45 kilograms, which is around 3.2 pounds, so while it’s a bit heavy as far as tablets go, it’s still right around the top-end for Ultrabook weight. The U920t makes use of Intel‘s Core range of processors, and you can run with either 4GB or 8GB of RAM, depending on your preference.

As far as storage goes, Toshiba is making use of solid state drives with the U920t, allowing users to pick from either 128GB or 256GB varieties. It also features two USB 3.0 ports and one full HDMI port, which is a pretty rare sight for tablets. It comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities, and even though it doesn’t come with 3G functionality at the moment, Toshiba says that it could update the U920t to include 3G in the near future.

Since it’s a Windows 8 tablet, Toshiba is hoping to have launch bad boy as close to the Windows 8 release date as possible – meaning it should be available right on October 26. Of course, Toshiba may need a bit more time than that, so the company isn’t ruling out an early November launch. The Satellite U920t will cost €949 when it launches in Europe, which comes in just south of $1,200. More details on pricing and availability are likely to follow soon, so keep it here at SlashGear for more information.

Toshiba Satellite U920t hands-on is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A giant man is burning somewhere in the desert, and Myriam is currently gazing upon him. In her absence, Brad will be joined by fellow Engadgeteers Dana Wollman and Jon Fingas to discuss the latest happenings at IFA (as well as the rest of the world). We’ve got a lot to discuss in a very short period of time, so the ratio of mobile geekery / minute is going to be pretty dang high. Join us at 3pm!

Filed under: Announcements, Mobile

Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 3pm ET! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you thought Mophie was planning to keep its smartphone Juice Packs exclusively Apple-based — we’d have probably agreed with you. But then we got to take a look at this pair of cases crafted for Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Yep, the battery-packing cover (which looks likely to fit all the current iterations) promises to give “over double the battery life” of your un-augmented handset. This was just a brief peek — but expect the (as-yet unpriced) cases to appear in stores around the end of October, early November.

Continue reading Mophie readies Galaxy S III Juice Packs, coming very soon

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile

Mophie readies Galaxy S III Juice Packs, coming very soon originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 13:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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