Great quality from a bargain set of earbuds ( RHA SA-500 )

When it comes to
earphones, you typically have to pay quite a lot for a decent pair of over-ear cans. Coming in at just £34.99, the RHA SA-500 buck this trend by offering great value for earphones that cover the whole ear. Normallyyou'd expect to pay a good deal more for this sort of quality.

There are some good technical specs here. The SA-500s have a 40mm mylar driver and gold-plated connections, the frequency " range is 20 to 20,000Hz, and they offer

32ohms impedance with a rated power of 30mW.

The audio quality is surprisingly good, with crisp sharp sound and clear mid-tones. It's not quite as good with bass as other earphones
though, and with the volume up the bass starts to break up. This may be due to the casing surrounding the
drives, which (despite the overall high quality of the design) feels made of quite thin plastic.

The earphones come with a detachable cable making it easy
to replace or upgrade, although it sadly does not include iPhone and iPod touch controls and a mic. The earphones themselves weigh just 105g, making them lightweight but not overly small.

Overall though, the SA-500s are stylish well made and possess good audio quality. And for just £34.99 they are a bit of a bargain. You would be hard-pressed JJ to find better earphones on the market at this price.

iPad & iPhone User says...

If you're looking for a great set of earphones at a bargain price then the SA-500s certainly do the job. Mark Hattersley

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Power up your iPhone and iPad with this portable battery pack ( goBat II 2)

There are plenty of portable battery packs for iPhones and iPads. Some are built into iPhone cases, which is very handy, but means that you're stuck with a bulky case. Scosche's goBAT II battery pack, on the other hand, is actually bigger than an iPhone 4, and weighs only slightly less (164g compared with 174g). However, it's
you down ifyou need a portable power boost and it's slim enough to slip into a suitcase or backpack.

Scosche promises that an iPhone 4 will get 2.6 charges out of the battery pack and our tests proved it. Crucially, we left a whole week between charges two and three, proving that the battery pack maintains its power at least for that amount of time. A fully charged goBAT II can also charge an iPad to
you're down to one or two lights you won't manage a whole charge, but you'll get something out of it.

One important point to note: the goBAT II has two USB ports, so it can be used to charge two devices at once. However, the battery pack will not charge an iPad and iPhone at the same time if both are fully drained.
just over half full. As Apple claims a fully charged iPad can give you 10 hours of power, 55 percent is going to give you a fair bit of extra use.

You can tell how much charge is left in the battery pack by pressing the button on the front - four lights indicate fully charged. By the time
iPad & iPhone User says...

While it's quite bulky compared to some solutions, the goBAT II lets you charge two items at once; it will completely charge an iPhone 4 more than twice; and it holds its charge between uses. Karen Haslam

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Make your case Case-Mate iPhone 4 ID Case

As any iPhone owner will tell you, there are thousands of cases to choose from, so finding the right one can be tricky. With this in mind, Case-Mate lets you design your own case. Its 'I Make My Case' option allows you to choose artwork from bands such as Nine Inch Nails, or choose a custom print. Alternatively, you could opt for'Do It Yourself', and upload your own photos or digital artwork. The iPhone 4 ID Case will protectyour handset, store your credit card and ID, and reflect your personal style, all at the same time.

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31 nights of iTunes

31 nights of iTunes

iTunes Festival is back for its fifth
consecutive year, promising its best ever line-up. Performances will run throughout July at the Roundhouse, London.

Orange combo

Orange is offering UK customers an iPad 2 and an iPhone 4 on a combined €65 per month contract.

Party pooper

Apple is cracking down on iPad and iPhone offers that fall foul of its Guidelines for Third-Party Promotions.

Lodsys not scared

Even with Apple backing its iOS developers, IP firm Lodsys is suing seven developers for patent infringement.

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Apple updates iOS versions of GarageBand and iMovie

AirPlay and HDMI support have been added

On 1 June, Apple released free updates for both GarageBand and iMovie for iPad, adding new imports options for the first, performance fixes for the latter, and AirPlay and HDMI support for both.

For GarageBand, the update adds the option to import external audio into the app, while iMovie has had bugs fixed that were found in previous releases.

Both applications have received support for AirPlay and audio output via Bluetooth or HDMI.

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Did Apple steal Wi-Fi Sync app?

Apple's new wireless syncing app may have come from a Cydia developer

As part of iOS 5, Apple is launching the Wi-Fi Sync app, which will enable users to sync their iTunes libraries with their device using a shared Wi-Fi network. However, the announcement of this new app has sparked clams that Apple has copied an old Cydia app, also called Wi-Fi Sync.

In May 2010, University of Birmingham student Greg Hughes submitted his app, Wi-Fi Sync, to Apple's App Store. The app was rejected because of "unspecified security concerns".

Hughes told The Register that Steve Rea, an iPhone developer relations representative, said the iPhone engineering team was "impressed" with the app and that Apple even asked for his CV. Hughes accepted the rejection and took his app to Cydia, the unofficial, jailbroken app store. More than 50,000 copies have been sold in the past 13 months.

Hughes was surprised to see Apple's WWDC announcement about the new wireless syncing feature, which has the same name, functionality, and a very similar logo reworked to match Apple's latest feature icons.

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New iWork apps released

Apple's iWork productivity apps are now available on smaller iOS devices
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HTC Sensation

A new Android smartphone has arrived in the form of the HTC Sensation. It has a front-facing camera, but its lacking in memory in comparison to the iPhone, with only 1GB of onboard RAM. An 8GB MicroSD card is included in the box.
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12 iPad& iPhone User 2011
Phone and iPod touch owners can now download and install Keynote, Pages and Numbers apps on their devices.

The three new iWork apps are available on the iTunes Store for £5.99 each to new users, and as a free update for existing iWork for iPad customers. Using the apps, you can import and export documents from iWork for Mac and Microsoft Office, and print wirelessly using AirPrint.

An additional Keynote Remote app can be purchased for59p, which allows your iPhone or iPod touch to control a Keynote presentation.
Team effort Joining the iPad, the iPhone and iPod touch can now use new iWork apps.

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iPhone killer of the month

Could these gadgets be the death knell oFthe iPhone? As if!
Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro

Equipped with a slide-out Owerty keyboard, Sony Ericsson's Xperia Mini Pro is due to arrive later this year. Expected to be available in Four colour options, it's chunkier than the iPhone and the battery has less than six hours of talk time.
New iWork apps released
Apple's iWork productivity apps are now available on smaller iOS devices


HTC Sensation

A new Android smartphone has arrived in the form of the HTC Sensation. It has a front-facing camera, but its lacking in memory in comparison to the iPhone, with only 1GB of onboard RAM. An 8GB MicroSD card is included in the box.

Read More