Click to enlarge |
People who had the first generation of iPhone are complaining that the expensive accessories they bought for it are giving out warnings that their new iPhone 3G model must have its phone feature turned off in order to work correctly, and more importantly, that it does not charge their new iPhone when connected.
In order to recharge first-generation iPhones or iPods, consumers used either USB connectivity or a 12V connection that works through the Firewire portion of a pin connector. The new 3G iPhone only has USB connectivity, which means several accessories do not charge, making them virtually useless. Roe says there are two reasons why this could be happening; the manufacturer has made the product with no USB connectivity when they were warned well in advance by Apple that this was the only way the 3G iPhone could be charged, or they are still selling old stock, which do not meet Apple's current specifications for the new 3G unit.
To understand the situation a little better, you have to take a step back, says Roe.
"When third-party manufacturers made applications for the iPod, they had to belong to the Made For iPod group. Once you belong to this group you can then apply for your accessory to be certified to the Works With iPhone standard, which means the iPod products can then be approved for use with the iPhone or 3G iPhone. Just because a product is iPod certified, doesn't necessarily mean that product will be certified for the iPhone. In others words, not all iPod accessories can be used fully with the iPhone, however all that work with iPhone accessories will work with the current iPods."
If an accessory goes through the Works With iPhone process it means it has passed stringent tests to make sure there is no interference with the signal and makes sure that emissions meet current standards.
