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Apple Kills a Kickstarter Project - Updated
Nerdfest writes "Venturebeat is reporting that a successfully funded Kickstarter project for a portable phone charger that works with both Apple and Android devices has been canceled because Apple wouldn't let the creators license its Lightning connector. Quoting: 'Edison Junior, the technology and design lab behind the POP portable power station, is returning the full $139,170 in funding it received from Kickstarter backers to develop the device. Unfortunately, Apple has refused to give the project permission to license the Lightning charger in a device that includes multiple charging options. ... "We didn’t get a yes or a no up front," Siminoff said. "But as we kept going back and forth it was clear that it was getting harder. Then, when we saw that they weren’t even going to allow a Lightning connector and a 30-pin connector together, we knew it was over." He also said that, while Apple is a private company and can do whatever it wishes, it should watch out. "When you do things that are bad for the customer I think it will be bad for them.”''"
Update: 12/21 22:16 GMT by S : Apple has relented. A spokesman for the company told Ars, "Our technical specifications provide clear guidelines for developing accessories and they are available to MFi licensees for free. We support accessories that integrate USB and Lightning connectors, but there were technical issues that prevented accessories from integrating 30-pin and Lightning connectors so our guidelines did not allow this. We have been working to resolve this and have updated our guidelines to allow accessories to integrate both 30-pin and Lightning connectors to support charging."
They cancelled it because without the lightning connector, although still useful to many people, it would not be the device people pledged money for.
How could they pledge money for a device promising the Lightning connector when the connector had not been officially announced when the project began?
Were they pledging for a rumoured product? I guess they can receive a rumour in the mail after paying up.
Other than the new iPod nano and the iPad, you can replace all of the batteries in Apple products. Sure there's no battery door, but it's as easy as popping the back off with a screwdriver and swapping out the battery. I've done it in about 10 minutes on a couple of iPhones, a MBP, etc.
Nothing I own that has batteries in it takes more than ten seconds to change and none need any tools whatever to do it.
You mindless fanboys (shills?) amuse the hell out of me! You make excuses for a goddamned faceless corporation! WTF? It's a bad design and there's no rational argument to the contrary.
So, 10 minutes every 2 or 3 years vs 10 seconds.
For that I get a machine with no battery door and a bigger battery? Worth it.
No "excuses", simply a different design philosophy.
You haters simply can't exist without something rage against to define yourselves. It must be exhausting.