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Google Slashes Prices of Its USB-C Headphone Dongle Following Minor Outrage (mashable.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the change-of-heart dept.

At its hardware event last week, Google unveiled its two new flagship smartphones: the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. While these devices feature high-end specifications and the latest version of Android, they both lack headphone jacks, upsetting many consumers who still rely heavily on wired headphones. To add insult to injury, Google announced a USB-C adapter for a whopping price of $20 -- that's $11 more than Apple's Lightning to 3.5mm adapter. This resulted in some minor outrage and caused Google to rethink its decision(s). As reported by 9to5Google, Google decided to slash the price of the dongle by over 50%. It is now priced at a more reasonable $9.

4 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Has anyone figured why they dropped support by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 5, Informative

    Big Media wants to close the analog hole. If there's a purely analog channel, such as a 3.5 mm audio jack or a RCA video output on a PC, it's trivial to make recordings of copyrighted content.

    This story is about Google lowering the price on something that provides that analog hole, so I'm not quite 100% certain that your logic holds up.

  2. Re:It's the principle that counts by squiggleslash · · Score: 3, Informative

    It should probably be under a dollar, those adapters cost nearly nothing to make.

    Also does the dongle have a pass-through? Because if you can't charge and listen to music at the same time then the dongle is only dealing with part of the problem.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  3. Re: Dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Apple AirPods are $150.

    Youâ(TM)re probably thinking of Beats or something else.

  4. Re: Dumb by supernova87a · · Score: 3, Informative

    No they're not, they're $159. What are you talking about?