LasersHurt: rickythepenguin: ok, what does it mean in non-Nerdspeak? i can't dock my iphone to a PC? i have to have a Mac? I have to use their cable to dock my iphone?

You have to use an Apple cable or Apple approved third party device with the new style connector. If you get the new model, that is. Also if this actually happens, since it's a rumor.

Apple always made third party vendors license the port, now they're just requiring proof via a chip. In theory.

That will add even more to the cost of the device. Which is why it is bullshiat, but par for the course for Apple.

Shostie: slayer199: Well Apple, you just made my decision to go to Android easier for me. I've always purchased what I felt was the best device at the time I was looking. I've owned 2 iPhones and 1 iPad. I put up with your proprietary bs by jailbreaking my iPhone, and changing the root password, and other tricks just to have the flexibility I want in a device. Unless the 5 is totally amazing, I'm going to switch to an Android phone and I've been eying the Asus Transformer as my new tablet solution.

[Scene: A buzzing auditorium. The crowd goes briefly silent, and then breaks into enthusiastic applause as Apple CEO Tim Cook strides on stage, walking purposefully to the simple podium placed front and center. There is soft click, click, clacking of both professional and phone cameras as the crowd attempts to capture this moment for their live blog or Twitter feed. As Cook reaches the podium he slightly adjusts his tie and clears his throat and the crowd goes utterly silent to hear his response to slayer199's post on Fark.com about a the as yet unreleased iPhone 5. The anticipation is palpable. And Cook responds:]

[www.nationofblue.com image 299x156]

[Exeunt and applause]

Everybody's leaving? Or just Cook? Exeunt is plural, so does that mean that everyone is leaving as they clap? Or perhaps Cook is applauding every else as they leave? Please help me!

Of course, you could just buy a case that converts this to a mini-USB connector.

funzyr: Everybody's leaving? Or just Cook? Exeunt is plural, so does that mean that everyone is leaving as they clap? Or perhaps Cook is applauding everyone else as they leave? Please help me!

FTFM

Currently still using a 3GS and out-of-contract, and was considering getting out of Apple's ecosystem. I'm going to wait until the iPhone 5 and the Windows Phone 8 come out before making a decision. Currently have unlimited data on AT&T so the HTC One X is also an option.

I love my new iPad and 11" Air, but they might end up being the last Apple products I but for a while. I'm really interested in seeing how a MS Surface and Windows Phone 8 would work together.

Given that I haven't had the need to buy a new docking cable since the one provided with purchase of my apple product functions well and has not been lost nor chewed upon by he-who-sheds-on-everything...

Why would I care about this again?

Wait... you mean I won't be able to buy Monster Cables for my iPhone?


Oh, wait. I have an Android.

Demise: Shostie: vernonFL: I bought an expensive, pimpy ipod / iphone speaker, which I use a lot to play music, and the dock built into the speaker system is the current (soon to be old) dock.

: (

I can't imagine that Apple wouldn't produce some kind of adapter, available online or at the Apple Store for only $19.99. $49.99

/FTFY

Sometimes Apple decides not to make an adapter. They've changed the docking port before on the iPods. I bought my wife a nano 6th gen, and it won't charge in my 3rd party dock. When I Googled it, I found this: Link.

I'm looking into a 3rd party adapter to bypass the modification to the new dock instead of buying a new dock.

InfamousBLT: Who cares? Who in their right mind would plug their iPhone in with anything other than Apple Genius Approved cables and peripherals? My iPhone is too sacred of a device to be SULLIED by a third party vendor. I think this is a very smart move by Apple and just goes to show that, even without Steve Jobs, they are still in touch with exactly what the consumer wants.



I voted your post "Funny" as I'm still laughing!

That was a real hoot!

Theaetetus: That's it, Apple has lost my business forever!

Apple : Theaetetus :: Israel : Tatsuma

PsyLord:
/surprised that they haven't designed a proprietary headphone jack

You must've missed this last year:
http://www.conceivablytech.com/8927/products/apple-to-cut-audio-plugs - in-half-to-enable-razor-thin-iphone

zedster: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha: cameroncrazy1984: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha: Only the underlying OS of Android is open source, the Google apps (including Google Play) are proprietary. Let's not pretend any huge multinational companies care about being "open" or users; they care about profit.

You realize there's a whole slew of apps you can add onto your phone if you root it, without using the Google Play store. Right?

Yes, I had rooted Nexus One for two years-you can actually install non-Google Play apps, if you flip a switch in the settings, even without rooting. Though Google is more towards open than Apple, we shouldn't pretend that it's just because the want to be open. For example, they held back on releasing the code for honeycomb for a while.

Jail Break !== root

Jail Break - to remove your device from a "walled garden." On Android just hitting the switch that says allow apps from unknown sources is "jail breaking." To jail break an Apple device you must have root.

Rooted = gaining access to the base level of a file system, especially locked system files

Jailbreak == root

Jailbreak is a play on words since it got them out of the chroot jail so they could access the root filesystem.

Well, considering that you can get some seriously crappy third party stuff, regardless of your brand of phone, I don't see anything really all that wrong with this.

Take my phone for example, third party batteries that haven't been tested as original parts are, so they do scare me a bit as if something goes bad, it could fry my phone.

With cheap cables, you could get something that could short-out and such.

I love my phone (and my tablet) for the simply fact that they both charge via induction chargers, so no cable and plugging in and out leading to broken port, and it's just easier to place them on the touchstones and not worry about it.

For file transfer, then either I go ahead and plug them it, but I prefer to do a wireless transfer and keep the plugging in at a minimum.

For accessories, earphones, cases, etc. third party stuff is fine, but anything that I plug into my devices, I'd rather ensure some sort of quality testing done first and if it needs to be from the same company that build my devices, so be it.

I know that I've tested a few accessories that just didn't work right, but authentic brand stuff, never an issue.

Gee - whoever thought a company ran by a guy who parked diagonally across two handicap spaces could be such assholes?

kidgenius: PsyLord:
/surprised that they haven't designed a proprietary headphone jack

You must've missed this last year:
http://www.conceivablytech.com/8927/products/apple-to-cut-audio-plugs - in-half-to-enable-razor-thin-iphone

Wow, I did miss that. One last thing they need to do now is to remove bluetooth connectivity for a wireless headset.

LasersHurt: Felgraf

Argh, monopolistic might not have been the right word, I admit. I'm sort of groping mentally for the correct one. Basically, wouldn't this run afoul of the same anti-competitive behavior microsoft got accused of?

ProfessorOhki: USB OTG. Don't think the USB spec would need an update:
01h - Interface - Audio
0Eh - Interface - Video
10h - Interface - Audio/Video Devices (AVControl and A/V Streaming subclassed)

I mean, standardizing around Mass Storage has worked pretty well, hasn't it?


How about that, somebody was smart enough to include it in the spec. So yeah, I guess you could just use the USB bus as long as those protocols didn't suck.

Lol!! Nice troll subby. Yep, evil Apple did it just for CONTROL (cue scary, dramatic music...). Definitely not because...

...cables will dock with the port on the new iPhone magnetically, making it easier for users and ensuring a more durable cable. In addition, the smaller connector will allow Apple to make the device physically thinner. That leaves more room for an improved microphone and better sound quality, and also reduces the chance of water damage occurring.

No, this is obviously just another example of Apple evolving and innovating their products to CONTROL and LOCK OUT their legacy customers and third party vendors. WHEN WILL IT END?

Absolutely diabolical.

InfamousBLT: LasersHurt: Come on, Windows Phone!

I mean I'm being optimistic, but really this is just obnoxious behavior. I've had iPads and iPhones for a while now, but I am not above switching to a Windows line of devices if they deliver something as good as what they're promising.

My 5 year old Zune died last weekend, and I'm looking for a replacement. I'm thinking of finally getting a smartphone. The thing is, I absolutely LOVED the Zune interface. It was clean, easy to use...the hardware was excellent also. I've always said "They need to make a Zune phone."

If the new Windows phone is truly, FINALLY, a "Zune phone," then I'll be getting that as a replacement. I really truly hope it is.

FWIW, the current Windows Phone (WP7/Mango) is a Zune phone. I'm sure that WP8 will be an improvement, but if you want to maintain the investment you've made in the Zune ecosystem, a WP7 phone will do that now...

"The dock connector on the next iphone will contain a chip in the cable just to lock out third party vendors..."

... for about a week, until the Sinon Empire puts out their reverse-engineered, claptrap copies that will be made in the same slave labor factories as the actual ishiat. Mark my words, nothing "proprietary" stays that way for more than a few minutes in China, and we eat that shiat up like popcorn, because we just love cheap over Kwality!

Durendal: Am I late to the thread where everyone treats unfounded rumor as fact? I'll believe it when I see it. Even if they do, Chinese knockoff makers will have cracked it in a month.

I was going to say the same thing, if Apple is planning on doing this and expect to keep exclusivity, they seriously underestimate the Chinese chip makers ingenuity.

spacebar: Absolutely diabolical.

What? Using magnets in close proximity to magnetic storage media?

"Diabolical" isn't the word I'd choose...

Felgraf: LasersHurt: Felgraf

Argh, monopolistic might not have been the right word, I admit. I'm sort of groping mentally for the correct one. Basically, wouldn't this run afoul of the same anti-competitive behavior microsoft got accused of?

There's alot they've done that mirrors or is even worse what Microsoft was found guilty of doing. Microsoft got crap for including a web browser as part of their OS. For several years, you couldn't even use a web-browser besides Safari on iOS. I'm still not sure how they get away with a closed store like that, even in Europe. The anti-competitiveness is blatant.

SkunkWerks: spacebar: Absolutely diabolical.

What? Using magnets in close proximity to magnetic storage media?

"Diabolical" isn't the word I'd choose...

I was thinking that too, except that having magnets that close to the data line might corrupt the data?

/not sure, cause I'm not sure about farkin' magnets
//how do they work?

Felgraf: IF they do this, how is it not a monopolistic act?

Either way, you've got the monopoly on stupid.

Disposable Rob: There's alot they've done that mirrors or is even worse what Microsoft was found guilty of doing. Microsoft got crap for including a web browser as part of their OS. For several years, you couldn't even use a web-browser besides Safari on iOS. I'm still not sure how they get away with a closed store like that, even in Europe. The anti-competitiveness is blatant.

They get away with it because they are less then 10% of the PC market share (maybe less than 5%). Windows is seen as a near monopoly.

Apple enforcing the patents it owns on the products it sells is wrong because....???

Disposable Rob: Microsoft got crap for including a web browser as part of their OS. For several years, you couldn't even use a web-browser besides Safari on iOS. I'm still not sure how they get away with a closed store like that, even in Europe. The anti-competitiveness is blatant.

The crux of the IE issue (in the US) was the judge determine Microsoft, at the time, had a monopoly of x86 personal computers. Apple has 10%? Maybe less? of this market. One could argue Google is similarly guilty since their ChromeOS is built entirely on Chrome. But again, it's the market share that is the key difference.

RexTalionis: LasersHurt: Come on, Windows Phone!

I mean I'm being optimistic, but really this is just obnoxious behavior. I've had iPads and iPhones for a while now, but I am not above switching to a Windows line of devices if they deliver something as good as what they're promising.

Wait till Windows Phone 8. (Windows Phone 8 (AKA Apollo) is going to have Windows 8's core code governing it, so that Windows Apps can be ported to Windows Phone 8 with minimal alteration).

Not sure what the big deal about that is. The .NET Compact Framework has been out for a almost a decade. Any program written in .NET CF can run without modification on a Windows PC. Going the other way, the CF doesn't have all the libraries that the desktop version does, but if your mobile app "needs" one of those libraries, you're doing it wrong. Although, if you need your mobile app to be a webserver, I guess you can just roll your own.

The newer stuff, XNA, can run from the same source on Windows, X-Box 360 and Windows Phone.

Magorn: spacebar: Lol!! Nice troll subby. Yep, evil Apple did it just for CONTROL (cue scary, dramatic music...). Definitely not because...

...cables will dock with the port on the new iPhone magnetically, making it easier for users and ensuring a more durable cable. In addition, the smaller connector will allow Apple to make the device physically thinner. That leaves more room for an improved microphone and better sound quality, and also reduces the chance of water damage occurring.

No, this is obviously just another example of Apple evolving and innovating their products to CONTROL and LOCK OUT their legacy customers and third party vendors. WHEN WILL IT END?

Absolutely diabolical.

then why put a Chip at both ends?

Actually, there is as justifiable reason: Link. Thunderbolt uses a low-power transceiver on both sides of the cable. I'm not familiar with active cabling, but Link should give you an idea of why it's used.

They've got some upsides, but like you said, can be used for DRM and vendor lock-in. If they're going with Thunderbolt and they're going to try to work with Intel and others to standardize it (Like they did with FireWire), I've got little issue with it. If they're doing it just so ChinaCo Inc. can't make a replacement cable without a $20 markup? Fark 'em.

SkunkWerks: spacebar: Absolutely diabolical.

What? Using magnets in close proximity to magnetic storage media?

"Diabolical" isn't the word I'd choose...

What magnetic storage are you talking about? Flash is not magnetic.

TheAnvil: Disposable Rob: There's alot they've done that mirrors or is even worse what Microsoft was found guilty of doing. Microsoft got crap for including a web browser as part of their OS. For several years, you couldn't even use a web-browser besides Safari on iOS. I'm still not sure how they get away with a closed store like that, even in Europe. The anti-competitiveness is blatant.

They get away with it because they are less then 10% of the PC market share (maybe less than 5%). Windows is seen as a near monopoly.

Good point. I think their share of smartphones peaked at around 40% of the market.

InfamousBLT:
My 5 year old Zune died last weekend, and I'm looking for a replacement..

Which Zune did you have? I bought my 16gb ZuneHD (love the HD radio) a little over a year ago, and I love the living sh*t out of it... much better than the iPod my niece uses. The interface makes sense, battery power is great, the only proprietary anything it uses is the Zune software, it feels substantial in your hand and not flimsy, sounds better than the iPod and it doesn't have the microsoft logo plastered all over it. And no fanbois.
What killed yours?

Tobin_Lam: SkunkWerks: spacebar: Absolutely diabolical.

What? Using magnets in close proximity to magnetic storage media?

"Diabolical" isn't the word I'd choose...

What magnetic storage are you talking about? Flash is not magnetic.

This. And of course Apple would want to erase your data as part of their fiendish business model.

They're obviously evil incarnate.

slayer199: Shostie: slayer199: Well Apple, you just made my decision to go to Android easier for me. I've always purchased what I felt was the best device at the time I was looking. I've owned 2 iPhones and 1 iPad. I put up with your proprietary bs by jailbreaking my iPhone, and changing the root password, and other tricks just to have the flexibility I want in a device. Unless the 5 is totally amazing, I'm going to switch to an Android phone and I've been eying the Asus Transformer as my new tablet solution.

[Scene: A buzzing auditorium. The crowd goes briefly silent, and then breaks into enthusiastic applause as Apple CEO Tim Cook strides on stage, walking purposefully to the simple podium placed front and center. There is soft click, click, clacking of both professional and phone cameras as the crowd attempts to capture this moment for their live blog or Twitter feed. As Cook reaches the podium he slightly adjusts his tie and clears his throat and the crowd goes utterly silent to hear his response to slayer199's post on Fark.com about a the as yet unreleased iPhone 5. The anticipation is palpable. And Cook responds:]

[www.nationofblue.com image 299x156]

[Exeunt and applause]

LOL.

Point is Apple users put up with Apple's BS because they make a good product. The problem is that the competition is catching up and quickly. So what does Apple do? Add more proprietary BS.

Well making everything proprietary worked great for Packard Bell.