A flurry of news broke out over yesterday regarding the
proprietary headphones required by Apple's new iPod shuffle, and now that Monday's here and everyone's back in the office, some things are starting to get cleared up. For starters, both Macworld and Boing Boing Gadgets have confirmed with Apple and various third-party vendors that the
new shuffle headphones do in fact contain a proprietary control chip, and that would-be headphone makers have to pay to license it from Apple as part of the Made for iPod program. Yep, that's bad news, confirmed -- but all hope for inexpensive accessories isn't lost, as we're told that the chip isn't encrypted or otherwise locked down in any way, so it's easily cloned by companies who'd rather not pay. Still, eschewing Made for iPod certification pretty much dooms a product to niche status in the Apple universe, so it's a pretty weak consolation -- when this all shakes out, we're guessing only Apple-taxed headphones will be widely available for the shuffle, and that makes the value proposition somewhat hard to see. Just say no, people.
Read - Macworld
Read - BBG
posted Mar 16th 2009 4:09PM
nope, just sarcastic drivel.
I don't use earphones, I only use headphones... so, if can't use my favorite headphones with player then I don't see any reason why would I want buy this new iPod...
I don't think Apple is being very clear in letting potential customers know that headphones will not work with their latest iPod. I feel sorry for anyone that gets tricked into buying one and I think Apple should put a big fat label on the product informing customers that headphones and speakers will not work with it.
headphones work fine. just no controls. that will be fixed in a month as separate remotes come out.
Of course if your wearing headphones I don't really see a reason to get the smallest music player possible.
Tim Rosencrans, you can't listen to what you can't play, hence they don't work.
Don't buy it.
Tell all your friends not to buy it.
Let apple know you don't like it.
Maybe they'll stop doing stupid $#!%.
As soon as I heard about this idiocy, I went out and bought a Sansa Clip. It's cheaper, has a screen, and can actually use standard headphones. Who ever thought that those things would ever be considered "features"?
Apple confirms that my once indifferent attitude towards its products has now officially become pure unadulterated hate.
Yeah, that's rational decision-making.
"...the chip isn't encrypted or otherwise locked down in any way,..."
This is great news. I would have ASCII'd a big FU to Apple, but now that this is out, I can expect cheap $3 replacements from our friends in China ( or more specifically, http://www.dealextreme.com )
See: $29 (used to be $69, so I'm a little surprised)
- http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA814LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA1MA&mco=MTY1ODg2OA
V.S.
- http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13244 ( $3 )
They work great, and complement the extra-button functionality in iPhone + 3G / iPod Touch + 2G
This is just so blatantly asshole-ish. I really don't understand why Apple is doing this to themselves. You know, I've defended Apple against fanboys time and time again because I do think there are many things that Apple does correctly. But this, along with the App Store censorship, cutting ties with Adobe (huge mistake), phasing out matte screens (and charging extra on the 17" notebooks), removal of the keypad on their keyboards, lack of Blu-Ray integration, and the disaster that is MobileMe are all part of a string of disturbing eff-ups that really have me reconsidering the Apple brand. Apple really should watch themselves. I've tried out Windows 7, and I have to say that it's a nice experience. With Jobs gone, a lot of us Apple enthusiasts are wondering what will happen to the company. So far, things have looked downright bleak. Once my Macbook Pro's life runs out, I might be saying hello to a new PC.
Apple has other models
Well said.
> This is just so blatantly asshole-ish.
Please learn to read. There is no DRM or authentication. *Something* has to decode the button presses from the controls - this is it. You want to reverse engineer it and spew cheap knock-off crap (China), then nothing is preventing you. Oh and BTW - normal headphones work fine. You just have no way to control the Shuffle (duh).
> App Store censorship
Agreed.
> cutting ties with Adobe
Who's cutting ties with whom? If you haven't noticed, their last several updates to their core design products have been lackluster, to be generous. Air/Flex is going nowhere. Flash continues to be a CPU-intensive mess.
> phasing out matte screens (and charging extra on the 17" notebooks)
Agreed.
> removal of the keypad on their keyboards
Which you can get for no charge if you want it. Back to that "learning to read" bit.
> lack of Blu-Ray integration
Google "bag of hurt". This has nothing to do with Apple.
> the disaster that is MobileMe
Always has been, always will be. It's nothing new, and quite sad.
> I've tried out Windows 7, and I have to say that it's a nice experience.
As much of a Mac fan as I am - agreed. Windows 7 is a genuinely good upgrade that will give Apple some more competition. Lord knows Windows Vista wasn't it.
> Once my Macbook Pro's life runs out, I might be saying hello to a new PC.
Your choice. But please do so for real reasons, and not misinformation.
@ Joshua
"Oh and BTW - normal headphones work fine. "
How will you start it playing? It's not going all the time, you have to press play.
I like the idea of having a controller built into my headphones.
If that chip is required to make this happen, then 3rd parties should hop on the control bandwagon. I use the button on my "crappy" apple headphones all the time on my iPhone.
Plus, my Apple headphones work in my other devices too (it just doesn't control them)– it's not like they ONLY work with Apple stuff.
Everyone needs to calm down... it's an OPTIONAL thing for 3rd parties to support.
I don't think you really understand. Apple is - in fact - making it optional, BUT the catch 22 is that the device will be almost completely useless without this "third party" controller chip. Though allowing only "Apple only" proprietary hardware is the company's forte, so this doesn't surprise me one bit. Remember the first gen iPhone? The recessed 3.5 mm jack? To be fair, this is common among many brands.
I would be pissed if I knew the shuffle had a decent market demand. I worked in electronics sales at a fairly busy store, and I can tell you that in the year and a half I worked there, I sold TWO shuffles. Both people I sold them to were looking to gift them. The rest of our inventory sat on the shelf until they went on clearance (then sat for about six months longer). Personally, I think the shuffle is a joke. I can put an 8 GB microSD (which will run you only $25-45) in my phone and make it more functional than the shuffle (full color screen, more storage, ect.), for about half the price. Granted, not everyone has a phone with a music player.
The sharp truth is that Apple has reached a point where they ALMOST have a monopoly on the digital music player market. Think about it - I defy you to find at least two people out of the people you know who have a Samsung, iRiver, Sandisk, or god forbid - a Zune mp3 player! Nope, apparently iPods are the only way to go. And (of course) they're not going to give you what you want unless they know they'll have you by the balls for at least a year (until the next model line comes out). I can only hope that the cell phone manufacturers can increase the quality of their integrated digital players to boost competitive demand. I'm getting real sick of Apples shenanigans.
The world is DOOMED!! We all going to DIE!!
kgb waits for no one!
OK Read the article folks.
NO APPLE AUTHENTICATION CHIP - completely false rumor
NO requirement to have a "made for ipod" license to make headphones for the shuffle - also false rumor
Is just a custom chip to encode the button presses. While it is custom it is in NO WAY PROPRIETARY and is NOT DRM. It will easily replicated with few discrete components if you'd like(I'm betting a generic version is already in production somewhere in china). No nefarious plot, just Apple using custom parts to make things as small as possible.
PLEASE Fix Article title Custom does not equal Proprietary
And how many nice headphones do you currently own with that chip inside?
@bandigolo
How many headphones do you have that have controls on them?
The issue here is that the controlless Shuffle is stupid. The whole "headphone chip" thing is stupid, misinformed, bullshit. Seems Tim and I are the only ones here that understand this...
Hey Tim-
You seem to take this personally, posting here and at iLounge.
You don't happen to work for Apple PR, hmmm Tim?
No Tim and Joshua, I get it too. iLounge started the whole thing when they somehow managed to get upset about the fact that the controls are in the headphones and therefore 3rd party headphones don't - duh!!! - have the controls already in them and therefore won't be able to control your new Shuffle. To that they added some misinformation about proprietary chips and licensing fees which turned out to be false.
Nilay bought it - btw, Nilay, it's always possible to change your opinion, even now - and now this article corrects most of the facts but remains the overall negativity for some reason. Already pissed off, too late to change now, or something. Meanwhile there are probably three Chinese chip factories churning out cloned license-free iPod control chips by the millions right now.
@bandigolo
"And how many nice headphones do you currently own with that chip inside?"
The superior quality headset that came with my Nokia N95 have controls on them, but standard headphones plug into the controls after, so I can use any headphones.
Usually I just use my bluetooth headphones :)
*cough bluetooth bag of hurt iPhone*
@ Joshua and Tim
From what I can tell, when people here are lamenting the fact that their preferred headphones "don't work" with the new shuffle, they are NOT saying that you won't be able to hear sound through them.
By "not working" they mean "you can't control the player with them."
NOT "you can't hear anything through them"
To "start hearing something" you are forced to use the little remote to control the playback. In the absence of an adapter remote to be able to plug your own preferred headphones into, currently the only way to do this is to plug the supplied headphones in, start it up and set the volume, then unplug those headphones and plug your own preferred headphones in. Once you've done this, to be able to do ANYTHING other than listen straight through to what is playing (ie, change the volume, pause, stop, etc.) you must unplug your headphones, plug the shuffles headphones in, do what you need, then pug your own headphones back in again.
This, dear sirs, is a KLUDGE. And a pretty pathetic one at that. I don't now about you, but I do not want to be forced to carry two sets of headphones around just to do what I originally could with one. This could have easily been solved by offering up an adapter of their own which would basically solve all the problems from the get-go. However, if Apple ever does, I would be very surprised if they sold it for less than $20 when their basic earbuds are being sold on their store for $29, Apple is not exactly known for being price-generous. Even if the licensing fee for the decorder chip was only $1 or so, do you really expect other makers of a remote to charge that much less for their version you can buy in a store?
The player is already $79, any additional accessories start to bring the price dangerously close to a Nano.
If nothing else, would it have killed Apple to innovate further and put touch controls on the side of the new shuffle? While it may have added a couple millimeters to the thickness, the face of the shuffle has enough room to have had a play/pause, stop, etc. embedded. That would have made a phenomenal player IMO and brought much more to the table than "it's small!"
Unless an adapter comes out (which will likely happen, but why wasn't there one from apple at launch?), anyone who currently has a set of headphones/earphones they like and can use more comfortably is pretty much relegated to using a kludge.
It seems as you two are the only ones here who are not "getting it"
The 8GB Sansa Clip is $49.00 at most Wal-Marts. And it has much better sound quality. Plus, as an added bonus, SanDisk lets you choose your own headphone.
I think that just about covers it. Right, iEye? :D Punk ass fanboi...
I hate to say it but, this Shuffle must die! Apple must be slapped back to understand the bad dog they have been.
No sell, will not do it again...like a rolled up piece of paper on the butt of a pup.
This greed must not be rewarded folks. First video now audio......your Mac is next!
Just because you don't want it, other people do. There are other iPods models
Well, now someone can make an adepter for for apple headphones:
1. cut off the apple earphone wire from output of controller
2. connect to adepter to apple controller
3. connect any headphone to your adepter.
It couldn't be simpler.
Who cares. Apple has every right to bring out a product that may fit a niche. Don't like it, don't buy it.
If on the front of the box it reads in big bold letters
WARNING: THIS WILL NOT WORK WITH ANY OF YOUR CURRENT HEADPHONES
then yes, I'd agree with you.
This is all due to the absence of Mr. Jobs.
Now watch Apple come up with a macbook with a scroll wheel.
Do you really think these products come out in a month? Stuff like this is in the R&D department for months. Jobs new all about this long before his leave.
iLounge.com is reporting that the licensing fee for the authentication chip is $1, and another buck for the microphone.
And tell me why I should believe them after this whole debacle? They're the source of all this misinformation in the first place!
so stupid on Apple's part. Do they really think that they own enough of the market that this is going to work in their favor? In reality, it is going to piss off consumers and third party manufacturers...just one more reason among a list of many why I don't like Apple in general
This sucks.
Three years from now:
"Shuffle 4G released, wows retail zombie hordes
by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 11th 2012 at 3:14AM
Apple has released its fourth-generation Shuffle today. Hardly the size of a string bean, Apple has kept the proprietary 3.5mm (!) headphones with integrated play/pause/stop/forward/back/Twitter/latte buttons and embedded iShock chip that administers an electric shock if it recognizes you saying the words 'Sansa' or 'Zune,' and has managed to make its latest fashion statement even lighter by eliminating the ability to play music altogether. Sources say that early on you'll have to buy new 'phones straight from Apple in the event your Shuffle starts to play music, and a third-party adapter will be along as soon as licensing fees are ironed out. Expect to plunk down a Benjamin once you get through the queues at your corner Apple-Mart. Video of a dozen or so Faithful Fruits standing in water with a 4G shuffle, shouting 'Sansa!' in rapid succession, and using that iShock feature to produce a Hadron Collider-like effect after the break.
[Thanks, iEye]"
I needed a shuffle this weekend. So I ended up buying the previous version. I'm way glad I did.
"Need" and "Want" are 2 different things my friend...
You need oxygen. you NEED water...
His family was being held hostage and the only way to free them was by paying the ransom of one iPod shuffle. So I would say he NEEDED it. /Sarcasm
See, I can be a dick just like you iGoon#2
I hope they did that just for the shuffle and not for all their product line in the pipeline; say like the next gen iPhone
i spend good chunk $$ for my Ultimate Ears super.fi 4vi for iPhone they better work on the next gen iPhone when my AT&T contract goes poof!
RIP steve jobs
The Apple Control Chips start in the player.
move to the headphone cable
Next is the Headphone itself.
Then comes the Control chip Implants.
I wonder if this will spread to other iPod models and the iPhone.
DRM headphones! You need then if you want to listen to our players!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Yes. This is just the beginning.
Someone didn't pay attention to the fact that this is NOT DRM. It's a simple circuit that decodes the buttons presses. Or do you think electronics are powered by magic fairy dust that tells the electrons what to do?
Guess what Josh, I have a Nokia N95 with a 3.5mm headphone connection, and for some bizzare reason, both Apple's iPhone headphone remote, and Nokia's in-line remote (with 3.5mm connection so you can put your own headphones on after the remote) work with it.
Must be a very special chip in the new Shuffle headphones!