I think it’s fair to say that the new Lightning connector used on the iPhone 5 has really gone down that well with users, after all they now have to buy a bulky converter which will allow them to connect the iPhone 5 to their current accessories.
Obviously Apple announced that they will start to sell an adapter which will allow you to convert from the new Lightning connector to the old 30-pin connector however this will set you back around £25. I suspect most iPhone 5 users wouldn’t have bothered paying that sort of money for an adaptor, and simply looked for ‘generic’ version instead. Well, that was until we heard the other day that Apple have included a special authentication chip which has to be included within the adapter, or other accessory in order for it to work correctly. This basically means that iPhone users would be tied in to using either the official Apple accessory, or one provided by an authorised partner. And therefore no more cheap generic ones from your favourite online auction site!
However, just a few days after everyone found out about this new authentication chip, some clever person/company has already managed to clone the authentication chip making it possible to create unofficial Apple add-ons.
In fact, Chinese manufacturer iPhone5Mod has just unveiled a new Flash Lightning dock which illuminates while your iPhone 5 is charging, and its believed to be the first fully functional third-party Lightning cable on the market!
And saying that, it’s quite possible that it will also be the last. After all, I doubt that Apple lawyers are going to allow this product to be on the market for much longer, considering that it has a cloned authentication chip.
However, at present, the glowing Lightning Cable which fully supports iTunes, Data Sync and Battery charging is still available for sale. And if you’re interesting, make sure you check out the video below for the dock in action.
UPDATE: it would seem that since news has spread about this dock, the company have already completely sold out of the dock and at present are quoting a waiting time of around 4 weeks.
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