iPhone 5 Lightning Connector to Support Direct USB Peripheral Hosting?

[firestarter]

The reason the new adapter (which lets you use old accessories with the new phone) is so expensive is not, because Apple wanted to inflate its quarterly revenue but because the old adapter is analog and the new one is digital, and so the adapter includes a tiny analog-to-digital converter, and those who have any experience with such things knows that they are typically very expensive.

I doubt it contains an A to D.

The iPhone 3gs is the last model to support analogue audio in - the original iPad onwards and iPhone 4/4s do not (look back to press releases from manufacturers like Blue microphones, who had to implement a digital interface from that point).

Apple don't have to implement A to D, because that feature was already dead.

 

[blackcrayon]

dark-scribbler - you don't get irony do you. The much vaunted iPhone 5 is not a revolution or even a great step forward. Its a repackaging and a speed bump - not exactly something to splash out $600 and possibly have to upgrade your mac because the phone only works with recent versions of iTunes.

Are you familiar with the people flooding the forums that really do believe the iPhone 5 has no improvements over the 4S? There's so much stupidity abound that without a sarcasm tag, there really is no way to tell anymore

 

[JitteryJimmy]

Not sure why.

I'm not sure why I'd want to use a USB keyboard and/or mouse with my iPhone. To ask my iPhone to power a USB bus seems silly, and it also seems silly to wire my iphone to an external devices. I'd be much more apt to use bluetooth peripherals.

I -do- seem some utility in having an iPhone act as a USB bus master, but that's a relatively minor benefit for specialty devices like a glucose meter.

Then again, it'd be way way more awesome for those external devices to talk LP Bluetooth 4.0!

As for USB3 support, that sounds wonderful. Then again, none of my computers actually support USB3, so it is a moot point for me.

All I want is power, USB sync, video, and analog I/O. Other than that, I don't really care, because WIFI + Bluetooth 4.0 should always be a better answer.

 

[ipedro]

Samsung Cyclone

Meanwhile, Samsung's next generation dock connector has been leaked:

 

[cubist]

How about a barcode reader? That'd be handy.

Yes, it is somewhat possibke to read barcodes with the camera. But it is slow and finicky, and commercial users will want to use laser scanners.

Besides that, the lightning connector appears more rugged and durable than the 30-pin connector. It's a good change.

 

[jasonelmore]

So here's why they did it.

I'm gonna first state that what i'm about to say is a educated guess and some of it is based on my opinion.

The Lightning Connector: Why'd they change? well 1st off they needed to make it smaller, That's a given.

Why not make it USB?

Reason 1: Because anybody can make usb/mini usb. Apple will not get any licensing money, and virtually any accessory made for andorid micro usb phones, would work with iPhones. Long story short, They want more money

Reason 2: USB/MicroUSB is well known, and easier for hackers to exploit it. This would allow hackers or modders to figure out a way to use MicroSD cards and Thumbdrive adapters that increase the iPhone's available Storage Memory, therefore negating the need to buy bigger capacity iPhone. Long Story Short, They want more money and they want to limit how much storage we have. Also i want to point out that apple buys it's memory from Samsung, and it's one of those relationships that apple would like to do without, but cant. Apple hates samsung, cuz they always rip off their product designs, but they need the memory they make. By keeping the max storage size at 64GB, they spend less money with rival samsung.

About Lightning: It's been stated that it's a adaptive digital interface. They went from 30 pins with the original Ipod Dock connector, to just 16 pins of Lightning. Each of those 30 pins had a purpose, so apple had to figure out a way to make a smaller connector with less pins, and keep the same functionality. So they make this adaptive interface that either A: has a chip in it, or B: uses the device to designate which signals it needs at that particular time. For example, your syncing your iphone, the chip would tell the interface to use 4 pins for data transfer, and the other 12 pins to charge the device. Then lets say, after you sync it, you hook it up to one of those stereo Docks to listen to some music. The chip or device would tell the adapter to use 2 pins for Charging/Power and use the remaining 14 for Streaming the music to the dock.

That's my theory on how it works. Apple figures that no user will need everysingle feature that the 32 pin connector offered, at the same time, so they make a adaptive one, that basicly uses only what it needs. It's worth mentioning that firewire used up about 9 out of 30 of the pins on the old connector, so it's likely firewire support is gone, or has changed somehow, with the iphone 5.

If the new Lightning cable/adapter has some small chip in it, that tells the interface what signal to use on each pin, then yeah, i can see them charging 30 bucks for it, but if the device/iphone is doing the processing, they are ripping their loyal customers off. Because basically what you have, is a plastic piece with some pins in it.

Only time will tell, I cant believe this phone has been revealed and comes out in 5 days, and nobody has gotten a review sample to tear down and look at the guts. Hell, i'm praying one of those apple engineers gets drunk in a bar again before friday so i can see the guts.

Thanks for reading.

 

[mfr1340]

keyboard for phone 5

Cant wait to add a Mouse and Keyboard to my iPhone 5

You can use the bluetooth keyboard now.

 

[iKing7]

usually if they don't mention it or hint at it, it's not happening.

That same white clean look they have for their advertisements is the same approach to their devices connectivity. Basic.

 

[jnpy!$4g3cwk]

So, can someone explain to me why Apple didn't just use the same micro USB connector that every other new phone in the world uses?

 

[flurffmeister]

It seems like most people are focusing on one side of this lightning instead of usb issue. I'm quite sure Apple is coming from the other side - that by using a connector they license, it's virtually guaranteed anything that plugs in directly will work the way it's supposed to. With a standard connector you'd have people hooking up all kinds of things that won't work the way they're supposed to - and then the phone gets blamed even though it wasn't intended to support, say, your old usb printer. You know better, but how about your Great Aunt?

If you want to use new gear with legacy peripherals, there are adapters which may or may not work great for your setup. You can still use your iPhone charger to charge all kinds of things if you have the right cable. This sucks for those who have recently bought expensive dock-connector based peripherals for sure. But that's about it.

This.

The licensing program is not necessarily a guarantee of quality products. I've seen many things supposedly licensed that are absolute crap. It takes a lot of development and testing and back and forth with Apple, so it's an expensive process that not every company will bother with. But I can say with 100% certainty that it's forced me to make a better product just to pass muster.