Ina Fried

Recent Posts by Ina Fried

Belkin Says It’s Lightning Fast With New iPhone Accessories

Apple’s move to a new connector isn’t just annoying for those of us with a million docks, speakers, car chargers and other add-ons.

It’s also a huge challenge for the companies that make those accessories. Although there are plenty of cases and other non-electrical add-ons for the new iPhones, iPads and iPods, the move away from the dock connector has all but stalled the market for plug-in accessories.

Until now, anyway.

Belkin said on Monday that it will have both a car charger and a dock that work with Apple’s new Lightning connector ready by mid-month. Both will sell for $30, about the same as Apple charges just for a cord that allows older accessories to work with the new connection.

When Apple made the move away from the old 30-pin connection, it said that it would work with peripheral makers to create officially sanctioned Lightning accessories. (Some unofficial ones have already cropped up, but given the highly sophisticated nature of the new connector, buyer beware on those.)

That Belkin is first out of the gate should not come as a surprise to Apple historians. As Belkin itself notes, the company was early with products that plugged into the original dock connector.

“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,” Belkin General Manager Martin Avila said in a statement.

But Belkin’s history actually predates even that. Belkin helped Apple with the first-ever iPod accessories. Even before there was a dock connector, Belkin helped Apple with a microphone that plugged into the top of the early iPod.

Latest Video

View all videos »

Search »

Just as the atom bomb was the weapon that was supposed to render war obsolete, the Internet seems like capitalism’s ultimate feat of self-destructive genius, an economic doomsday device rendering it impossible for anyone to ever make a profit off anything again. It’s especially hopeless for those whose work is easily digitized and accessed free of charge.

— Author Tim Kreider on not getting paid for one’s work