Support Our Site
Get Better Gear!
- Notability For iPad: Much More Than A Note Taking App from Ginger Labs, Inc, US$0.99
- Scosche’s RH656m Headphones With Microphone Are Wonderful from Scosche, US$129.99
- IPEVO’s Typi Folio Case & Keyboard for iPad is First-rate from IPEVO, US$79.99
- Scosche’s boomSTREAM BT Speaker: Features & Compromises from Scosche, US$99.95
- FX Photo Studio HD: iPad Painting of Effects Made Easy from MacPhun LLC, US1.99
Top 5 Free Apps
iTunes New Music Releases
Top 5 Paid Apps
Discover New Music
- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
When I first got hooked to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the only place I could get their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, was through the band's Web site. I listened to the two tracks a
Bowie at Beeb: Best of BBC Radio 68-72
- David Bowie
The companion CD to a BBC television concert, BBC Radio Theatre has some of the best renditions of many of Bowie's best songs throughout his career. "I'm Afraid of Americans" is substantial
- Powderfinger
- Guitar-driven rock out of Australia, Powderfinger has not seen much exposure in the States, but should get a nod for their toe-tapping songs. Building off their previous release, "Internationalist" (
- Billy Miles
- Take the voice of a young Billie Holiday and stuff it into a svelte, petite body with the face of an angel, and you have some idea of what it's like to experience the music of Billy Miles in her self-
- Chicago
For those of you who don't know, Chicago didn't always suck, and everyone in the band didn't always play a keyboard. When the band started off they were pioneers of rock and jazz fusion, and guita
Reader Specials
Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!
News
Mystery Chip Raises iPod shuffle DRM Concerns
Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 10:12 AM - by Jeff Gamet
Apple's new third generation iPod shuffle apparently has some people up in arms over a mystery chip that's packed away inside the diminutive music player's earbuds because they fear it may be designed to lock out third party developers from making add-ons. So far, it appears that the concerns are based on nothing more than rumors and speculation.
The chip in question is less than a millimeter across and has "8A83E3" stamped on its surface. So far, no one has identified exactly what the chip is for, although iLounge claimed that the new shuffle's earbuds include an "authentication chip" has many people assuming that's what the mystery chip is.
iLounge stated in its iPod shuffle review "This is, in short, a nightmare scenario for long-time iPod fans: are we entering a world in which Apple controls and taxes literally every piece of the iPod purchase from headphones to chargers, jacking up their prices, forcing customers to re-purchase things they already own, while making only marginal improvements in their functionality? It's a shame, and one that consumers should feel empowered to fight."
The Electronic Frontier Foundation picked up on the iLounge comments, but made the leap from opinion to fact with the site's statements. Fred von Lohmann said on the group's blog "The 'authentication chip' is there so that Apple's lawyers can invoke the DMCA to block those efforts. So this shows us, yet again, what DRM is for -- not stopping piracy, but rather impeding competition and innovation."
While it's possible that the chip is designed to lock out third-party developers or to impose product licensing fees, it could also simply be part of the circuitry that controls the player's remote buttons. The controls for the newest iPod shuffle are on the player's earbud cord instead of the unit's body, which let Apple leave the player body smooth and button-free.
Apple hasn't said exactly what the little chip is for, and labs haven't had enough time yet to test it to see what it does. Unless Apple reveals what the chip is for -- which isn't likely -- or labs discover what it does, comments about the chip's function are just speculation, and not fact.
Recent Headlines
- Reading, Writing, & Saving the World
- Free Retro Gaming for iOS - Activision’s Kaboom!
- Apple Adds Chomp Bits to iOS 6 App Store Discovery
- Notability For iPad: Much More Than A Note Taking App
- Scosche’s RH656m Headphones With Microphone Are Wonderful
- Tim Cook & Larry Page Reportedly Discuss Patents
- Analysis: Amazon Kindle Fire Sold Out, Kindle Fire 2 Pic Leaked
5 comments from the community.
You can post your own below.
Lee Dronick said:
Quote
Tiger said:
Quote
geoduck said:
Quote
Tiger said:
Quote
deasys said:
Quote
Post Your Comments