Everyone is a-buzz with what Apple might do next with their dock connector. For about a decade now, we have had the same 30-pin dock connector for iPods, iPhones, and iPads. Now, we’re hearing of an 8-pin connector coming out of Cupertino.
According to two sources, Apple’s new Dock Connector features only 8 pins, seemingly contradicting claims of “16-pin” and “19-pin” connectors. Although the original Dock Connector contained 30 pins, reports of 16- or 19-pin connectors seemed hard to square with the port’s small size and Apple’s actual need for additional pins beyond what USB/Micro-USB offer. No images or parts for the connector have leaked out, either. Both of our sources concur that there are eight pins in a line within the new Dock Connector, which may well receive a different name going forward.
Provided the new dock connector allows Apple to move forward with super-fast Thunderbolt speeds, I’ll be very happy with a tiny dock connector. We really and truly need a plug that will last us a long time. A connector for a post-iPod world. We can’t wait to see what happens with this.
In the same article, Bluetooth 4 came to light as a potential avenue of innovation from Apple. Its fast and low-powered wireless tech allows for a much wider array of tasks than Bluetooth 2.x.
Our source also claimed that Apple is working on an as-yet-undisclosed iOS 6 feature that will act as a bridge between its Bluetooth 4-capable devices. The feature would enable, say, a future iPod nano to display iMessages received by an iPhone, record voice memos that could be shared via the iPhone, and even initiate phone calls through its own headphones. It could also conceivably let you make iPhone calls from your iPad (or possibly even recent Macs), assuming the iPhone was paired with the computer over Bluetooth. The core concept here might sound familiar to fans of HP’s ill-fated TouchPad, but our source claims that it’ll be more broadly and deeply executed by Apple.
These are really interesting rumors, and it might just become my favorite dark horse theory for Apple’s upcoming September announcement. Maybe Apple plans on skipping traditional NFC tech completely, and going to a Bluetooth 4 solution for local data transfer. We’ll be watching this closely.
Source: iLounge
