First official third-party Lightning accessories announced by Belkin

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Belkin on Monday announced two new accessories designed for Apple's Lightning connector ? the first two official third-party accessories designed for the new iDevice port.

Belkin


Belkin's Car Charger for Lightning and Charge + Sync Dock will both be available this year, and will be the first Lightning accessories to hit the market.

"Belkin was the first third-party manufacturer to develop accessories for the 30-pin connector back in 2003, and we are thrilled to be first to market again with solutions for the new Lightning connector," said Martin Avila, general manager of Belkin?s core division. "People are eager for Lightning accessories and Belkin's give them a reliable way to keep their new iPhone 5, iPad 4th generation, iPad mini or iPod touch charged, protected, and ready to go."

Lightning accessories from Belkin are available for preorder now on the company's website. They will go on sale in mid-November.

The Belkin Car Charger for Lightning will cost $29.99, and is an updated version of Belkin's best-selling, slim-profile car charger. It features a hardwired 4-foot Lightning cable, and over-voltage to protection.

The Belkin Charge + Sync Dock is case-compatible with a foldaway auxiliary jack, removable magnetic base, and cable channel for easy cable feeding. The dock does not include a Lightning cable, but is intended to be used with Apple's official Lightning connector cable.

The dock also includes an audio out port for headphones or speakers. It is particularly noteworthy because Apple does not offer an official iPhone 5 dock.

The announcement of Belkin's new authorized accessories suggests that Apple's Made for iPhone conference may have taken place. The company was expected to hold an event this month to discuss the terms of the Lightning connector with third-party accessory manufacturers.

Though Lightning cables include an authentication chip, the technology has been reverse engineered by some companies in China that have begun making unauthorized Lightning cables. One cable detailed by AppleInsider last week was found to be compatible with Lightning devices, though it achieved a low price with poor shielding and cheap parts.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 66
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    No line out on the dock?
  • Reply 2 of 66
    I'm confused...you steal an image from Belkin's website, but don't even include a link to Belkin's website within the article or a source? *ouch*
  • Reply 3 of 66


    That dock is pretty bulky.  Maybe someone will make an authorized one that has the same size and look of Apple's docks for pre-lightning iOS devices.  

  • Reply 4 of 66


    Originally Posted by ghostface147 View Post

    That dock is pretty bulky.  Maybe someone will make an authorized one that has the same size and look of Apple's docks for pre-lightning iOS devices.  




    Or maybe Apple will get it through their heads that making their own dock is a good idea.

  • Reply 5 of 66
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member
    I'd buy this in a heartbeat if it didn't have "belkin" scrawled across the front in giant letters.

    When are companies going to realise that no one cares about their brand enough to want to display it like that? Why does every case maker ruin their product by scrawling their ugly logo across the front as if anyone cares?
  • Reply 6 of 66
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member


    The 3.5mm jack sticks out of the dock?  That's not pleasant.

  • Reply 7 of 66
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    No line out on the dock?


     ...simply dock your device with the AUX jack in the upright position and plug your EarPods into the Aux Port at the back of the dock.


  • Reply 8 of 66
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Crowley View Post


    The 3.5mm jack sticks out of the dock?  That's not pleasant.



    Or folds out of the way if you like.

  • Reply 9 of 66
    gustavgustav Posts: 827member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


     ...simply dock your device with the AUX jack in the upright position and plug your EarPods into the Aux Port at the back of the dock.



    Line out is not headphone out. I think the poster was asking why it doesn't get line out through the lightning connector. The answer is because the dock has no smarts - the headphone out is just passthrough.

  • Reply 10 of 66


    Originally Posted by Crowley View Post

    The 3.5mm jack sticks out of the dock?  That's not pleasant.


     


    image

  • Reply 11 of 66
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by joshb View Post



    I'm confused...you steal an image from Belkin's website, but don't even include a link to Belkin's website within the article or a source? *ouch*


    Clicking either product name will take you ..***OUCH***..there.

  • Reply 12 of 66
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member


    Why can't the dock output the audio from the lightning connector to a line out socket?  Is it because it's all digital now?  If so, that sucks.

  • Reply 13 of 66
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gustav View Post




    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


     ...simply dock your device with the AUX jack in the upright position and plug your EarPods into the Aux Port at the back of the dock.



    Line out is not headphone out. I think the poster was asking why it doesn't get line out through the lightning connector. The answer is because the dock has no smarts - the headphone out is just passthrough.



    I see. Apparently the dock has no power either. It just passes that through as well. I doesn't even come with the lightning connector. It says you have to use your own cable.

  • Reply 14 of 66

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post



    I'd buy this in a heartbeat if it didn't have "belkin" scrawled across the front in giant letters.

    When are companies going to realise that no one cares about their brand enough to want to display it like that? Why does every case maker ruin their product by scrawling their ugly logo across the front as if anyone cares?


     


    I hope you realize that will never, and should never happen. That's how you grow brand recognition. Why even have a logo if you're not even going to put it on your products?

  • Reply 15 of 66
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    image



    The shuffle doesn't have a dock or lightning connector though, it syncs through the headphone jack, right?


     


    Hardly the same thing then.  Though that's not a particularly pleasant solution either.

  • Reply 16 of 66
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post




    Or maybe Apple will get it through their heads that making their own dock is a good idea.



     


    I know it's a small thing really, but the fact that Apple doesn't make docks anymore is very very irritating to me.  


    They made the only good ones that had some class, now we are at the mercy of the "design" skills of places like belkin.  Ugh. 


     


    I hate having to lie my phone and iPad on a table like some kind of peasant and for Apple to stop making their own docks at the exact same time that they are messing with the licensing system and causing delays with the switch to the new lightning connector, was very poor planning indeed. 

  • Reply 17 of 66


    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    I hate having to lie my phone and iPad on a table like some kind of peasant…



     


    Oh gosh, I'm using this from now on.

  • Reply 18 of 66
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Crowley View Post


    Why can't the dock output the audio from the lightning connector to a line out socket?  Is it because it's all digital now?  If so, that sucks.



     


    Does your audio equipment have digital line inputs?  If not, then there's nothing to be gained from using the audio output via the Lightning connector vs the headphone jack.


     


    The point of digital audio via the Lightning port is to get audio to/from your iDevice without any loss of signal quality.  You need to be transferring audio to/from a device which can handle digital audio to take advantage of that.

  • Reply 19 of 66
    I'd love to hear Apple Insider or someone with the technical skills commenting on whether it makes sense of Apple to add a Lightning port to Mac laptops.

    For charging, it makes no sense. But it might make sense for peripherals such as audio/music/photography accessories and audio/video in/out devices to work with both iPads and MacBook Airs. Apple would get more sales. We'd get double value for what we buy.


  • Reply 20 of 66
    ahmlcoahmlco Posts: 432member


    The biggest issue I have with the Belkin dock using an existing cable is that the current Lightning connectors are all friction-fit with that little snap/click when they're seated.


     


    As such, it would seem to me that you're going to have to hold the thing down fairly hard when trying to remove the phone from the dock. Given the addition of the phono port, it would also seem that it's pretty dependent on the current phone's dimensions and placement of the jack.

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