As if having to remember to bring along a charging cable isn’t annoying enough, they seem to have a knack for becoming knotted while in your bag. But a company called Tylt has solved at least one of those problems with its Band Wall Charger that uses a ribbon design that’s nigh impossible to get tangled. More »
The minimalist look of Apple’s devices and peripherals isn’t for everyone. If you’re the type who immediately buys a colorful case for your new iDevice, check out Whooz, a set of colored stickers that will make your iPod, iPhone or iPad chargers and cables stand out.
There are two kinds of Whooz stickers: one for the iPod & iPhone and another one for the iPad. Each pack comes with four sheets; each sheet has one sticker each for an adapter, the USB end of an iOS cable and a pair for the stock earphones, if you still use those.
As you can see Whooz comes in a variety of styles, but if you’re willing to pay extra you can also order stickers customized with a drawing of your face in it. If that still doesn’t tell everyone else that your cables are yours, I don’t know what will.
Pledge at least $10 (USD) on its Kickstarter fundraiser to get a pack of Whooz stickers. The custom Whooz cost $100 for a pack.
[via Bonjour Life via Materialicious]
Apple doesn’t want you buying cables for your iPhone 5 (or new iPads) from anyone other than Apple, because it charges a fat $20 for each one. Luckily, we can now confirm a flood of cheap knockoff cables are real. More »
There should be a special Nobel Prize set aside for geniuses who find ways to improve the simplest things in life. And this year’s award would go to Shapeways user OliveBird, whose Button 2.0 turns any shirt into a convenient headphone wrangler. More »
People looking for cheap, third-party lightning adapters and cables for their new iPhone 5 are out of luck because of an authenticator device hidden in the official products. Here’s what’s lurking within that infuriating piece of technology. More »
If you’ve been wanting an extra iPhone 5 cable, but haven’t wanted to pay the full $40 for one, help might be on the way: a Chinese company called iPhone5mod says it has cracked the authentication chip found in the lightning connector and is now selling the cables for $20 apiece. More »
A couple of weeks ago, we told you about how Apple planted authentication chips inside their new Lightning cables to prevent third-party manufacturers from making Lightning cables of their own. However, it was only a matter of time before we would see the chip get cloned, and it looks like today is the day.
Chinese hackers announced today that they’ve been able to successfully clone Apple’s Lightning authentication chip, which now paves the way for third-party Lightning cables and accessories that will be much cheaper. The first of which is now out on the market. For $39, you can get a Lightning dock and a Lightning cable that also lights up as you charge your iPhone 5.
It’s not as cheap as you would normally see from a third-party manufacturer, but we’re guessing the high price has something to do with exclusivity. However, that won’t be for long as we’ll see more and more manufacturers take advantage of the cloned authentication chip. This specific cable/dock combo can both charge and sync the iPhone 5, and it should still work even after iOS 6 updates roll out.
Apple will no doubt attempt to stop manufacturers from making the cables and accessories in order to get an MFi licensing fee from the Chinese suppliers, but we’ll see what really happens when they cross that bridge eventually. In the meantime, it might be a good idea to snatch up these accessories while you still can, but hopefully we’ll see more in the near future.
[via M.I.C. Gadget]
Apple’s Lightning authentication chip successfully cloned is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
If you spend more time untangling your headphones than listening to music—and turn your nose up at clunky wireless solutions—consider these automatic Recoil winders that make the grandiose promise of knot-free cables. More »
Eastern Collective’s Cross Stripe Collective Cable is a 30-Pin connector cable, which is compatible with all Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPhone products. The cable features a solid red woven base with disconnected blue stripes along the cord length of the cord. If you are interested, you can purchase the Cross Stripe Collective Cable for $14. [Eastern Collective]
We recently reviewed AViiQ’s line of ribbon-style USB adapter cables, but found that what made them most unique—their flat cable design—also made them difficult to use. So we couldn’t recommend the cables, but maybe the convenience of this new triple-headed all-in-one design might make this cable worth carrying. More »
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