Hasta La Gadget!

If you caught Ion’s All-Star Guitar in our holiday gift guide, but didn’t find it under the Festivus pole since it lacked support for Apple’s Lightning connector, there could be hope for next year’s holiday haul. The faux guitar is getting refreshed with a Lightning connector and has kept the same form factor, complete with light-up fret buttons and built-in speaker. For the uninitiated, the rig above can accommodate an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch and allows users to learn notes and chords via a companion app. As of now, there’s no word on when you’ll be able to rock out with the axe or how many simoleons it’ll set you back.

Filed under: Misc, Peripherals

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Source: Ion (PDF)

We get it. You love your iPhone 5 so much that you’re willing shrug off the money you lost on the two-year-old, 30-pin speaker dock that’s now obsolete. You’re ready to invest in an 8-pin dock because Apple wouldn’t dare change its proprietary standard again. Right? RIGHT? Don’t worry, this burly burnt orange speaker dock for Apple’s Lightning iOS devices will disappear your cash in a flash. More »

It’s time to get your transitional period on with an update the the specifications accessory makers much follows in order to get official support from Apple. In the wake of an issue with having both the Lightning cable and the legacy 30-pin connector working on one device, Apple has come forth with a tweak to the rules. While it’s not entirely clear if it was the POP Kickstarter incident from earlier this week that made this change in Apple’s policies a reality, the result is clear: you’ll be able to work with a single accessory in the future with both types of connectors, no sweat.

Word of an update to the policies Apple has for accessories working with their mobile devices came down today via CNET where Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr made just the past crystal clear. The actual “we’ve changed” part of the equation was left to the author to elaborate on himself with a simple “the company added that the guidelines have since been updated.” Neumayr spoke thusly:

“Our technical specifications provide clear guidelines for developing accessories and they are available to MFi licensees for free. We support accessories that integrate USB and Lightning connectors, but there were technical issues that prevented accessories from integrating 30-pin and Lightning connectors so our guidelines did not allow this.” – Neumayr

What we’re talking about here is not Apple telling the world that they may not have cords coming from devices with the Lightning connector as well as the 30-pin iPod connector in one, but that if they do, they’ll not be speaking kindly with them any time soon. Accessory makers around the world speak with Apple on a regular basis to get official licenses from the company so that they can get approval for the cords Apple designed. With the dawn of the Lightning cable, many accessory makers had to re-think their entire iDevice strategy.

Have a peek at the timeline below to see some of the brief history of the Lightning connector and make sure you’ve got your eyes open for the first dual-connector accessories in the very, very near future. Expect some Apple-approved dual-wielding docks by the middle of 2013, without a doubt.

30-pin Lightning combo docks coming soon as Apple tweaks spec is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’ve been holding out for a Bose-branded speaker dock to perch your iPhone 5 onto, the time has finally come. Bose has released an update to its SoundDock that now comes with full support for Apple’s new Lightning connector. The new dock looks a lot like past SoundDock iterations, expect this time you can use your newer iDevices with them.

The SoundDock III costs $250, which may be way over most users’ budgets, but for those looking for quality sound out of a speaker dock, $250 is not a bad price to pay. Other than the new Lightning connector, however, users won’t tell much difference between past iterations of the SoundDock — even the remote control is the same.

The SoundDock III may look big in the pictures, but it’s actually small enough to sit on most countertops, end tables, and dressers. It’s only 12-inches long and almost 7-inches tall, while it measure 6.5 inches in depth, which makes it a great solution if you’re looking for a small and versatile speaker system that still has plenty of oomph.

The Bose SoundDock series was one of the first popular speaker dock solutions, and it’s been around for a while now. It was first released way back in 2004 when the iPod was just becoming really popular. The first-generation SoundDock even used Firewire, and it wasn’t designed to be used with a cellular device, so connecting an iPhone to it caused major distortion issues. However, the company has made major progress in just three generations of the SoundDock, and audiophiles will no doubt be adding this to their last-minute Christmas lists.

Bose SoundDock III comes equipped with Lightning connector is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Third-party accessory maker Griffin has announced the first major third-party Lightning cables to hit the market. While we’ve already seen a few Lightning accessories come our way, there hasn’t been a third-party Lightning cable option other than what Apple offers themselves. Finally, though, our options are starting to spread out a little.

Griffin is offering the cables in four different lengths and styles. A 2-foot cable will cost $16.99, a 3-foot cable for $18.99, a 4-foot coiled cable for $24.99, and a 3-meter (9.7 feet) cable for $29.99. To compare, Apple sells a 3.5-foot Lightning cable for $19, so Griffin isn’t really undercutting the price too much.

However, it’s nice to now have more options when it comes to shopping for Lightning cables, especially if you prefer a black color scheme and a shorter or longer cable than what Apple offers. Because of this, we’re sure these third-party products will find their audience even if they aren’t necessarily cheaper than Apple’s offering.

Griffin says that all of these new cables will be shipping sometime in the first week of December, so only a few days from now, give or take a day or two. Plus, you can pair the cables with a USB car adapter so that you can charge up your new Apple devices while on the go. Griffin has plenty of those as well.

Griffin announces third-party Lightning cables is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.