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Tag: lightning

  • EU Wants Unified Smartphone Chargers

    EU Wants Unified Smartphone Chargers

    The EU is following through on its interest in a unified smartphone charging interface, preparing to pass legislation requiring the use of USB-C.

    One of the more frustrating aspects of modern smartphones is the different chargers and cords that different manufacturers use. While many have already adoped USB-C, Apple still uses its Lightning port for most of its iPhones, as well as some iPads.

    The EU sees this as harmful and wasteful, not only to consumers, but also the environment, according to SFGate.

    “Chargers power all our most essential electronic devices. With more and more devices, more and more chargers are sold that are not interchangeable or not necessary. We are putting an end to that,” said Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner. “With our proposal, European consumers will be able to use a single charger for all their portable electronics – an important step to increase convenience and reduce waste.”

    Apple pushed back, saying the move would potentially stifle innovation, a claim Breton dismissed.

    “If Apple wants to continue to have their own plug, they will have the ability to do it. It’s not against innovation, it’s just to make the lives of our fellow citizens a little bit more easy,” Breton said.

    Apple already provides a USB-C charging brick that can be used with USB-C to Lightning cables.

    Companies will have two years to implement the changes once the legislation goes into effect.

  • Seattle Seahawks VS San Francisco 49ers Delayed

    Lightning crashes and a football game is delayed. Fans eager to watch the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington, were disappointed to experience a longer delay than expected. Within the first quarter of the game, a delay was announced due to severe weather in the area; however, the delay was not entirely unexpected as the National Weather Service had issued a warning earlier in the day.

    “Some thunderstorms could produce locally heavy rain amounts over an inch in a short period of time. This could result in localized ponding of water on roadways and may overwhelm drainage systems. In addition, frequent lightning may accompany storms,” read the warning released by the National Weather Service.

    The game was stopped and the delay announced with only three minutes and thirteen seconds remaining in the first quarter. While no points had been scored for either team, the game had really only just begun.

    While the game was delayed an hour due to the severe weather, the teams were able to resume play the same night. The Seattle Seahawks were first to score goals in the second quarter, proving that a little bad weather was not going to be the complete downfall of an otherwise thrilling game.

    Spectators of the game were quick to take advantage of the delay by posting pictures on Twitter, and commenting about the status of the game.

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons and courtesy of Doublezero]

  • Airport Lightning Strikes Injure One; Delay Many

    Lightning strikes ground about two hours of today’s Washington Metro region air traffic to a halt and injured one air traffic controller—as of last reports, the controller is not seriously hurt. The Washington, D.C. region was hit by severe thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and the area’s three major airports: Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall (pictured here in March), Reagan National and Dulles International suffered.

    The BWI website alert reports: “Airline flight operations have resumed at BWI Marshall. Travelers should check with their airline for updated flight status information.” BWI stopped all flights between approximately 2:30 pm and 4:45 pm after strikes were reported, according to airport spokesman Jonathan Dean. John Dunkerly, National Air Traffic Controllers Association president, reported to the Associate Press that he had just exited the air traffic control tower at BWI when lightning hit a runway. According to Dunkerly, a traffic coordinator was shocked when electricity traveled to the tower as the coordinator was turning on equipment.

    The storms affected more than just air traffic. Though ground transportation was not as significantly impacted, flooding in roads slowed commutes and D.C. police briefly closed two blocks of Virginia Ave., NW, in Foggy Bottom. Trees were downed in the metro region and a little over 17,000 power outages were reported at the apex of the storms.

    According to 2012 figures from the FAA, BWI handles an average of 734 operations a day, 688 of which are commercial operations. There are 36 total commuter, charter and cargo airlines operating from BWI and 27 commercial airlines.

    Storms delayed a number of travelers, not only in the Washington, D.C. area. Some Twitter users even posted delays from Phoenix, AZ.

    [Images via BWI Official Facebook.]

  • Guy Films Himself Being Struck by Lightning [VIDEO]

    Since the advent of YouTube, we’ve seen more and more regular people documenting insane weather – from tornados and hurricanes, to epic flooding and crazy lightning. It’s pretty cool that everyone has a camera on them at all times now, right?

    Well, the only problem with standing outside and capturing cool weather for the world to see is that you’re standing outside capturing cool weather for all to see. Enter San Diego resident Hans Nansen, who caught the actual moment of being struck by lightning on film. The incident, which took place at Lake Cuyamaca, is a friendly reminder from mother nature – “Hey, dude, I’m still really, really dangerous.”

    Nansen is just fine, having walked away from the strike.

    “Was hit by lightning yesterday,” he tweeted. “Crazyness…feeling lucky.”

    I’ll say.

    [hanssd1, YouTube via BuzzFeed]

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Chinese Company Reportedly Cracked Apple’s Proprietary Lightning Cable

    For years, Apple fans could rely on cheap Chinese accessories to take the place of the expensive cables Apple sold for their iOS devices. The 30-pin connector that was in use up until the new iPad has been replicated time and time again. Apple changed all that with the Lightning connector by requiring an authentication chip that would prevent third party accessories from working. That authentication may soon be a think of the past.

    The folks at iPhone5mod, a Chinese manufacturer, announced a new lightning cable that circumvents Apple’s own authentication chips. Their new cable is called the iPhone 5 Flash Lightning Dock. According to MacRumors, the current cables use Apple’s own authentication chips, but later models will use cracked chips. Even better, the third-party is way better than Apple’s simple cable.

    Check out the video below to see for yourself:

    The most impressive part about the new cable is how it lights during syncing or charging. The lights even become slower as the phone nears being fully charged. It’s a genius addition that even a company like Apple would be envious of.

    So how much is this third-party Lightning cable going to cost you? The company is only asking for $39.99 for both the cable and dock. Each component is sold separately for $19.99. It’s the same price as Apple’s cable, but can you put a cost on freedom?

    The cable is cool, but its implications are even better. This proves that Apple’s new authentication chip can be cracked. After this, we can expect to see a flood of third-party Lightning cable clones to hit the market at ridiculously low prices. Any clones should also be impervious to intervention on behalf of Apple as its hardware related. The only fix would be to implement a new kind of dock connector with the iPhone 6.

    iPhone5mod’s site is currently down due to the massive amounts of people clamoring to get ahold of their cheap, yet stylish, Lightning cable. The company’s YouTube channel says that the site will be back up in a few hours. At that point, you can grab your very own glowing cable.

    [h/t: M.I.C. Gadget]

  • iPad Mini Rumor: Images Of Device Leak Via Twitter

    The iPad Mini is officially Apple’s worst kept secret. It’s actually kind of amazing that Apple is able to pretend the tablet doesn’t exist after all the leaks and information coming out of China. Apple is reportedly sending invites for the iPad Mini launch event tomorrow, but some pictures showed up on the Internet today to once again confirm that the iPad Mini is real, and it’s coming soon.

    9to5Mac Researcher Sonny Dickson has been busy this morning on Twitter. He’s been posting numerous pictures of the iPad Mini that show off the backplate in incredible detail with a close up of the Lightning connector port. Check ’em out:

    He also posted a few images of the device via Instagram. Check them out if you want to see the new Lighting connector dock on the iPad Mini. Unfortunately, it appears that Dickson was only able to snag the back panel, just like everyone else. Unlike the iPhone 5, I don’t think we’re going to see a fully assembled iPad Mini until the event.

    [h/t: CNET]

  • iPhone 5 Lightning Adapters Begin Shipping

    Apple’s new Lightning connector is elegant, necessary, and was inevitable. The old 30-pin connector was bulky compared to the mini USB cords that are now ubiquitous for a variety of mobile and wireless devices. Don’t mention that to someone who has spent the past five years collecting iPod-compatible accessories, though.

    The Lightning connector means a period of transition for both Apple fans and for Apple accessory manufacturers. To help ease the transition, Apple has an adapter that will allow users to dock their shiny new iPhone 5 in their old 30-pin compatible stereos. At $30, the solution isn’t cheap, and given the incredible lengths to which Apple has gone to make the Lightning connector proprietary, it might be a long while until less-expensive third-party options are available.

    Today, MacRumors is reporting that the first shipments of the new adapter are being shipped out to customers. According to the site, some Australians have reported that their adapter shipments are now labeled as “in transit” by the online Apple Store and that delivery could be as early as tomorrow, October 9.

    Something to remember about the new adapter is that it won’t work perfectly with accessories designed for the analog 30-pin connector. Specifically, Apple’s product listing for the adapter states that it won’t support video or iPod Out formats. iPod Out is a format that allows some compatible systems (such as car stereos) to display content from an iPod. So, the iPhone 5 won’t play well with vehicles or a few other accessories, but it should work just fine for stereos and alarm stands.

  • iPhone 5 Lightning Cable Knockoffs Won’t Work

    iPhone 5 users who were hoping to get cheap third-party replacement or supplementary Lightning cables might be disappointed to learn that those cables aren’t likely to work.

    An employee from Double Helix Cables has told Apple Insider that the new Lightning cables have what appear to be authentication chips inside of them. During a teardown, the chip was found inside the connector, between the V+ contact and the power pin.

    What this means is that cables without an authentication chip are not going to work with the iPhone 5. Apple Insider points out that this “feature” might also be a factor in the higher cost of the Lightning connectors compared to the old iPhone connectors. A new Lightning cable from Apple costs $19 and takes 2 to 3 weeks to ship.

    The discovery isn’t surprising, as Apple has been known to include things such as tiny, non-standard screws in its products to prevent customers from taking them apart. The company wants to control every aspect of a user’s iPhone experience, including the cables that are inserted into it. No doubt third-party accessory manufacturers will eventually figure out how to create a Lightning knock-off, but it might be a while before customers will see less expensive iPhone 5 connectors on the market.

    In related iPhone 5 connector news, it was revealed last week that the Lightning to 30-pin adapter that Apple is selling for $29 will not support the iPod Out format, meaning some stereos and car systems will not be able to work properly with the iPhone 5.

    (BGR)

  • iPhone 5 Adapter Will Not Support Video and iPod Out

    After Apple’s big announcement event yesterday there were so many specs and scraps of minutiae to comb through that its not surprising a few details slipped through.

    When Apple announced it’s new 8-pin Lightning connector for the iPhone 5, it quickly followed up by debuting the adapter that will enable Apple fans to keep using all the iPhone accessories they’ve collected that use the old 30-pin connector. It’s $30, but that seems like a small price to pay to not have to buy an entirely new lineup of accessories. Too bad customers might have to buy new accessories anyway.

    Today, CNN Money pointed out that Apple’s product listing for their new Lightning to 30-pin adapters states that the product does not support video or iPod Out* formats. That means the adapter isn’t likely to work with some existing iPod docks.

    Some stereos with iPod docks that use the iPod Out format won’t work correctly with the adapter. Certainly, entertainment systems will not be streaming video from iPhone 5s. Also, many adapters built into the sound systems of cars may no longer work with the adapter.

    For Apple, the situation isn’t much to sweat about. It will still sell millions of iPhone 5’s, whether or not those customers are actually aware that their video accessories will not work with the phone. At that point, a second revenue stream will kick in, with customers either buying the expensive adapter, replacing their accessories with Lightning-compatible ones, or both.

    For customers, on the other hand, this could be seen as a lesson in just how expensive proprietary formats can end up being in the long run.

    *NOTE: The iPod Out format is not analogous to Audio Out

  • iPhone 5 Does Indeed Get Smaller Dock Connector, And It’s Called “Lightning”

    There were rumors that Apple would release the iPhone 5 with a smaller dock connector, and the company has proven the rumors to be true, with an 80% smaller one.

    Full rundown of new iPhone 5 features here.

    It’s called “Lighting,” and it’s reversible.

    “A lot has changed, and it’s time for the connector to evolve. Our new connector is called Lightning. So we have Thunderbolt and Lightning,” said Apple’s Peter Schiller, talking about the device. The Thunderbolt has been referred to (by Apple) as the “fastest, most versatile I/O ever.”

    “Making iPhone 5 thinner and lighter required a pivotal change: replacing the 30-pin connector with something newer, smaller, and better,” says Apple. “Introducing the Lightning connector. It features an all-digital, eight-signal design that’s significantly more durable than the 30-pin connector. Another brilliant feature of Lightning: It’s reversible. Which means there’s no wrong way to plug in the cable.”

    With the rumors of a smaller dock connector, there was concern about accessory compatibility, but Apple also said it has an adapter to convert existing dock connectors.

    “Soon many iPhone accessories will be Lightning compatible,” the company says. “But if you have one that depends on the 30-pin connector, you can still connect it to your iPhone 5. Simply use a Lightning to 30-pin Adapter (sold separately).”

    More iPhone 5 coverage here.

    More Apple Event coverage here.

  • Lightning Strikes New York’s Empire State Building

    Lightning pictures are always a great sight to see, especially at night or in low-light scenes. Today, Twitter user @KeithOlbermann shared a picture with the rest of the world that is so captivating, it is starting to become viral around the Twitterverse. Have you ever seen a bolt of lightning strike the top of the Empire State Building in New York, NY? If not, look below!

    (image)

    Many Twitter users have been posting reactions to this awesome photo capture: