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TechSpot RSSApple
New iPod shuffle hides DRM chip?
Want to use headphones designed and manufactured by a third-party with the latest iPod shuffle? Well, Apple has decided to make that difficult. Not only because it decided to move the controls off the device itself and onto the headphones, but because a group of people have also found a mysterious chip inside these controls and believe that it might be the company's latest step towards a more strict marketing drive.
You see, headphone makers could normally just reverse engineer the interface to build their own compatible accessories. However, if this is indeed confirmed to be an “authentication chip,” Apple could squeeze a few extra bucks in licensing fees from third-party manufacturers or otherwise have the DMCA thrown at them. We will have to wait for the company to make an official statement but it nevertheless remains a fact that without the inline remote there’s no way to usefully operate the shuffle. So, users who prefer using third party headphones will at the very least be forced to buy an extra accessory.
You see, headphone makers could normally just reverse engineer the interface to build their own compatible accessories. However, if this is indeed confirmed to be an “authentication chip,” Apple could squeeze a few extra bucks in licensing fees from third-party manufacturers or otherwise have the DMCA thrown at them. We will have to wait for the company to make an official statement but it nevertheless remains a fact that without the inline remote there’s no way to usefully operate the shuffle. So, users who prefer using third party headphones will at the very least be forced to buy an extra accessory.
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User Comments (5)
Post a comment| mattfrompa on March 16, 2009 12:27 PM | Yet another reason not to buy the ipod shuffle (as if
another one was needed)
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| captain828 on March 16, 2009 12:42 PM | Great... besides the fact that Apple's headphones are crap,
they now want to force us use only that crap, or pay a lot
more for another pair
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| burty117 on March 16, 2009 2:14 PM | I'm not an apple fan, But i have recently stood up for apple
with there MAC OS X due to other manufactures taking there
OS which is unfair but this is stupid! no offense apple but
your headphones are absolute crap! and stopping other
headphones being plugged in means I now do not promote
anyone to buy an ipod shuffle. I say "bring back the
buttons!" =)
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| nazartp on March 16, 2009 2:18 PM | Gotta love 'em! Apple is going to be it's own undoing:
their earphones are reason enough NOT to buy a
device. Hope they are smarter then that, however, after their Apple Store debacle I'm not expecting much reason from them.
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| tengeta on March 16, 2009 4:52 PM | Apple loves DRM more than Microsoft, OSX has it far more
implemented than Vista does as well. The only reason they
took it off music exclusively in iTunes is because of the
public pressure they were facing and the fact that every
competitor was going that way. Its funny that after Apple adopted a UNIX like OS they started acting like Bell Systems.
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