Following a handful of fatal electrocutions in China due to the use of unauthorized chargers, Apple unveiled a new USB Power Adapter Takeback Program earlier this month to "enable customers to acquire properly designed adapters."
The program, which allows folks to turn in their third-party adapters for recycling, or trade them in towards the purchase of an Apple-branded adapter, officially launched yesterday, and it's now available in 30 countries around the globe...
Earlier this month Apple launched Takeback Program, a trade-in initiative encouraging buyers to dispose of third-party (especially knock-off) USB power adapters and buy Apple's chargers at a discount.
The sudden and unexpected offer is in response to relentless reporting by China's state-run media describing a fatality involving Chinese stewardess who electrocuted herself after using a knockoff charger to power her iPhone.
Takeback Program started on August 9 in China and will roll out to United States this coming Friday, August 16. While it was initially thought the offer was US and China only, a reliable blogger has learned that's not the case as Apple is gearing up to launch the trade-in program in its other key markets, including Canada, France, Germany and United Kingdom...
Folks looking to pick up a new Lightning charging cable might want to check out Scosche's latest iOS accessory. The California-based company introduced the 'boltBOX' today, a new colorful USB charging cable for all of your Lightning devices.
What makes the boltBOX better than your average Apple USB Lightning cable? Well, aside from the fact that it comes in a variety of different colors, it features an innovative retractable design that neatly stores its 3-foot cable when not in use...
Running out of the house with an empty iPhone battery can be catastrophic. We have all been there, stuck in the office, out of town, on a long car ride, when the low battery indicator pops up begging for more juice. Despite many 21st century successes, smartphone batteries still weigh us down. Unfortunately, this causes me to keep a Lightning cable near my nightstand, at the iMac, around the office, and in my car.
To prevent such problems, Kero developed the Nomad cable. Cleverly designed as a keychain, Nomad is a 3", fully Apple certified lifesaver. The seemingly simplistic resolution to an everyday problem prevents charging headaches...
Determined to provide renewable power for all USB powered devices, SolePower transfers walking energy to a wearable storage unit for on-demand charging. While away from AC outlets, charging becomes increasingly difficult, even when toting around large solar panels. Similarly, battery backup cases only provide a specific amount of renewed life for a smartphone. The team of young engineers with SolePower insists on carrying a charging station all the time, in a shoe!
Walking motion capacitors are not new to the gadget scene, but an interchangeable sole is the new attraction. Adding SolePower is simple, just pull out the existing shoe insert and replace with a new iPhone charging version. Once the conversion is complete, walk between 2.5 and 5 miles to fully charge an iPhone...
Satechi just released a new USB 3.0 hub for the Mac enthusiasts. Long have we waited for a quality USB port extender that would match the design and look of the brushed aluminum. The new 7 port hub is smooth and compact, offering ample high speed connections for your various devices. As a powered unit, it offers up to 5Gbps over the 3.0 connection and comes in either black or white options...
Since my visit to CES 2013, a quest for a backup portable iPhone charger began. Running around the world's largest trade show peddling for power was pretty ugly. New Trent was kind enough to send one over for review and it fitted the bill for my charging woes. A simple, travel size device, the iTorch IMP52D provided a full charge in just under 2 hours for my iPhone 5...
Apple is probably looking to add compatibility with high-speed USB 3.0 interconnect to its new Lightning connector. The tiny Lightning I/O debuted on the iPhone 5 in September 2012 as a replacement for Apple's decade-old 30-pin Dock connector. The controversial move has introduced incompatibilities with legacy accessories that now require an additional $29 or $39 adapter from Apple, even earning a funny Joy of Tech treatment...
Just as Scosche launched its new wall and car Lightning chargers earlier this morning (in addition to the world's first official retractable Lightning-to-USB cable), Apple has made some tweaks to some of its own accessories.
Surprisingly enough, the new and shorter 0.5-meter Lightning to USB cable costs the same nineteen bucks as Apple's 1-meter Lightning to USB cable, making the purchase of the latter a no-brainer. The shorter Lightning cable arrives just as Apple last month unveiled the new $29 0.5-meter Thunderbolt cable. Also new: a tweaked In-Ear Headphones...
One of the features I've missed from the classic iPods is the ability to plug the devices into a computer in order to directly access their hard drives or flash memory. When I was in school, I didn't carry a USB key around with me because I always had my iPod and everyone had the cables handy. While there is software that can transfer files between an iPhone and a PC, we're generally not permitted to install programs on shared computers.
One solution is roqyUSB, a jailbreak utility that allows users to create virtual hard disks which can be accessed by USB. This isn't the first virtual USB drive we've seen for jailbroken devices, but it is the first we've seen in a default repository...
Lightning-flavored accessories were fairly scarce in the first few months following Apple's September iPhone 5 launch. But over the past few weeks, we've started seeing more of them surface.
The latest batch of supplements comes from Griffin. The third-party manufacturer announced yesterday that it would be launching a handful of new Lightning-to-USB cables next week...
Apple is expected in early November to lay down the law to its developers on producing Lightning connectors. Among the Apple edicts: Lightning pins will be strictly controlled by the iPhone maker, which will provide them to "approved [developers] with production quantities of the pin once their product is determined to have met its standards and specifications," according to TechCrunch.
As for potential knock-offs, the blog cites a source who warns lawsuits and import confiscations could be in their future. Without providing details, the source described as being "close to the program," suggests the Cupertino, Calif. company will provide "additional security against low-quality copies" of the new iDevice connector...