Unauthorized Third-Party Lightning Accessories Begin To Appear
by Brent Dirks
October 9, 2012
Well that didn’t take long at all. Just weeks after we reported that Chinese manufacturers were hard at work cracking the Lightning connector authentication protocols, M.I.C. Gadget says company iPhone5Mod has produced the first working unauthorized accessory.
The iPhone 5 Flash Lightning Dock is made up of two parts – a glowing Lightning cable and dock that looks very much like Apple’s previous versions. The cable definitely looks interesting as the lights change speed based on the battery capacity of your iPhone 5.
And there is even a video to show the accessory in action. Click here if you can’t see the video.
The iPhone 5 sits at a nice 8-degree angle. And if the company is to be believed, the cable fully supports iTunes, data sync, and battery charging.
Before the company’s site was taken offline, either due to Apple’s influence or a rush of traffic, the entire solution was being offered for $39.99. The dock and cable could also be purchased separately for $19.99.
Interestingly, a representative of the company told MacRumors that they are using an official Lightning controller chip from one of Apple's suppliers. But the firm also said that cracked authentication chips have been produced as well. So it looks like we might be seeing a rush of unauthorized third-party accessories sooner rather than later.
The new development comes after news last week said that Apple is continuing to tighten its grip over how authorized third-party manufacturers create Lightning accessories. With the new Made for iPad/iPhone/iPod (MFi) policies, Apple must approve any manufacturing facilities of third parties before production can begin. And no facilities have currently been approved.
Source: M.I.C. Gadget
Via: MacRumors
