News New iPod Shuffle locks out third party headphones

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/03/16/ipod-shuffle-locks-out-third-party-headphon/1

Reportedly, the new iPod Shuffle will only function with the required first party headphones.

 

I think the title is misleading actually. Do they really reject the headphones or is it that third part headphones are incompatible and require the inline controller which is why they get stuck at a specific volune (probably the last one you were using) and cant skip tracks because the buttons are simply not present anyway.

 

Oh for goodness sake, the first thing most folk people with any sense of sound do is plug decent phones into those things, the apple ones were rubbish last time i used an ipod (last year, brothers video one) but i can't see them sounding any better any time soon. Besides that they seem to be the worlds worst for tinny noise pollution on the bus, need legislation to force people to use closed cans in public

Edit: just read the article and can't see a picture of the remote but it doesn't sound like the in-line remote has a 3.5 jack as i imagined it would so yeah i think biosnipers right, its not that the ipod won't accept third party devices but that third party devices can't control the ipod.


'nother edit: just reread the article and yes the remote is hard wired to the cable. The controls for the ipod are part of the headphones thus why third party devices. Whether that vindicates them or not depends on your point of view i suppose.
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/apple-ipod-shuffle-third-generation/P1

 

just hack them up....

http://techspank.com/?p=215

 

Step 1: Produce Shuffle with headphone chip
Step 2 ???
Step 3: PROFIT!

 

Pretty sure they really reject them. It's just like with the iphone and it's accessories. You can't use a 3rd party AV cable for the iphone because it requires a chip to authenticate itself. Although now there is a software hack you can do if your iphones jailbroken, but that's beside the point.

I guess all this nonsense apples been doing is to keep prevent cheap knockoff accessories.

 

The new shuffle has a touch sensitive volume control on the earphone cable. The shuffle is a pretty niche market anyway, I wonder if there are any stats on how many previous gen shuffle users use third party earphones. I'm sure third party earphones will appear on the market, it's just new tech that nobody has had a chance to support yet.

I think this is a pretty biased article, bit-tech != Daily Mail.

 

My mother, the only person i know with one but she hated the apple ones she found them uncomfortable so she got a set of the rubbery sit in your ear canal ones that she prefers. Course the battery on her 2g one has gone and i was going to get her a 3g for her birthday but i'll not bother now. Only reason i care tbh.

 

This is just plain rubbish. Authentic hardware? What a load of rubbish!

 

What, is anyone actually surprised? This is Apple we're talking about here, milking idiots since 1976.

 

Headphone FAIL

 

If it turns out to be true about the chip, then I hope the EU smacks Apple with a fine like they did to MS.

Putting an auth chip in is nothing short of trying to monoplise the headphone market for that device.

Kimbie

 

Apple fails again

If you're buying an apple, you buy into the zombo.com way of life. Everything's there and don't go messing with it.
Really now, how many real techies use an iPod? Everyone knows Cowon/Sony does 100x more for the same or a lesser price.

 

The EU might actually fine Apple... in 2020, judging by the speed they normally show.
I think that's a pretty lame move by Apple but then again, I'm not too surprised. They're getting better with third party hardware support, very slowly and I think they should hurry.

 

hacky hack hack,

its all because of the built in remote.

Of course the best mod would be to cut the wire after the remote and solder in a 3.5mm inline jack, so the ear phones used can be switched out when needed, rather than destoying the cable.

i tend too break ear phones

 

iPod headphones suck arse, and Apple know that they can sell their overpriced silicone bud ones if they lock 3rd parties out, this is like microsoft not allowing 3rd parties to make wireless peripherals (knowing that their D-Pad is rubbish).

Really what have Apple got to lose they sell the iPod bundles with headphones, and the buyer chooses to upgrade, where is the issue?

 

£35 on replacement headphones when you eventually need a replacement set.

 

No surprise here, except it's taken Apple this long to realise they are missing a quick buck.

I mean, come on, for years Apple has been engineering the need for 'proprietry' accessories into their units. Why change a successful marketing strategy?

 

What a joke.

Apart from the (IMHO) obvious design flaw of having the ONLY controls in the headphone cable, locking out 3rd party headphones is just plain stupid! I know apple fanboys will hail it as the greatest idea ever but surely this is a step to far? Even the target "gym-goer" of the shuffle isnt going to be impressed with this i wouldn't have thought.

Sansa clip for me everytime!
- Cheaper.
- Use my own (decent) headphones.
- Not really much bigger.
- Doesn't have a stupid in-line remote that will bounce around and generally be annoying.
- I dont have to learn eleventy billion combinations of button presses just to pause the damn thing.

 

Exactly what I was thinking