Way back in March, Apple announced that the latest and greatest build of the iPhone OS would open up a whole new world to third parties: richly featured accessories, complete with tie-in software. No longer would accessory makers be limited to headphones, cases, and FM transmitters with hardware controls – now they could make glucose meters, guitar amp controllers, and FM transmitters with onscreen controls! The possibilities were endless.
8 months later, what is there to show for it? There’s a $120 car cradle that boosts the GPS accuracy of the iPhone, some fancy running shoes, and.. er.. well, that’s about it. Maybe we’re just expecting too much; maybe the design/review/approval process is even more of a chore for the hardware guys than it is for app store developers. At this rate, though, we’ll be seeing a fourth generation iPhone before we see any more accessories.
Partly for the sake of inspiring would be hardware-makers and partly because we just like to think about this sort of stuff, we’ve come up with a list of 5 (plus) iPhone accessories we’re not-so-patiently waiting for. Feel free to add your own in the comments.
A Detachable Physical Keyboard
After spending two years blasting away at the iPhone’s virtual keyboard, I thought I’d grown past my desire for a physical one. Then I spent a week with the Droid and fell in love again. That’s not to say the Droid’s keyboard is all that great — in fact, it’s kinda crummy — but for those of us that prefer to touch something real, there’s just nothing that compares with mashing down on an actual button.
It’s almost ridiculous that this one hasn’t been made yet – and that even when it is, support will likely be so limited that it’ll suck something fierce. That is, of course, unless Apple lends a hand. If a third party does it alone, app devs will need to manually add support for the keyboard, one-by-one; if Apple provides the character input API as an alternative to their virtual keyboard view, compatibility would be nearly universal.
I don’t care it makes my iPhone so thick it makes it look like I’m smuggling bricks in my pants – I just want to be able to type an e-mail longer than 10 sentences without getting thumb cramps.
Gamepad:
![Screen shot 2009-11-02 at [ November 2 ] 12.31.28 PM](http://www.mobilecrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Screen-shot-2009-11-02-at-November-2-12.31.28-PM.png "Screen shot 2009-11-02 at [ November 2 ] 12.31.28 PM")
The iPhone platform has already proven itself to be an incredible stage for on-the-go gaming. Graphics? Check. Tons (and tons and tons) of games? Check! Awesome controls? Che .. er, wait, nope.
No one wants Apple to bulk up the iPhone by adding more game-friendly buttons – but for gaming sessions longer than 5-10 minutes, having an alternative, physical gamepad of some sort would be a godsend. There are already at least two projects striving for this – namely, the GameBone Pro and the iControlPad. Unfortunately, both of these have seen a bunch of delays and have gone more or less silent in the past two months.
Bonus Accessory: Console-to-iPhone converters for old-school controllers. Would I look silly as hell plugging an SNES controller into an iPhone? Sure. But I’d gladly do it. Come on, X-Arcade, whip something up.
Universal Remote: 
You know what shouldn’t need to exist anymore? The remote control. It’s a wonderful idea – but it’s one that hasn’t really changed all that much since it went wireless in 1939. Apple could destroy the entire high-end remote (think Logitech Harmony) market by simply strapping the iPod Touch with an RF/IR transmitter.
Apple’s not about to do that – but in the mean time, a third party could get the ball rolling. Build a transmitter into a dongle or a case, throw together a user-customizable remote application for sharing control layouts and codes, and bam! You’ve got a remote for every controllable device in the world, in your pocket at all times.
Dog Training Tools:
As the owner of what I’m quite confident is the world’s most stubborn dog, I’m always on the lookout for new training tools. It always blows my mind at how clunky the solutions are.
Along the same lines of the Universal Remote dongle above – why not one for the dog-lovers out there? In fact, it could just be an alternative model of that dongle; let the RF transmitter communicate with whatever training tools might be in place (such as a citronella spray collar, for example), but slap in a high frequency loudspeaker to emulate a dog whistle whenever the collars are back at home.
Credit Card Payments:
Mobile payments haven’t taken off in the US the way they have in other countries, so most of our handsets aren’t equipped for such things. There’s no reason the iPhone couldn’t do it, however.
Here’s how we see it: many credit card companies already have RFID chip readers in place wherever they’ve got a credit-card reader, which allows for that tap-rather-than-slide payment system (that no one really seems to use) to work. Why not make use of that?
American Express or Mastercard could make a case (or a dongle) that has an RFID built in, just like your credit card – but with the benefit of software tie-ins, the RFID could be erased/locked on the fly. Just swiping the case wouldn’t work – but once you’ve hopped into the Pay app and punched in your pin, your case acts as a credit card for 30 seconds.
Those are our ideas, for better or worse. With that, we turn the reigns over to you, dearest reader: what accessories are you hoping come out sooner than later?
The only thing which interests me out of these ‘accessories’ are the Credit Card Payments and the Universal Remote.
The rest really arent needed. Dog training tools? You having a laugh???
Sure – that idea is a bit off the wall. At the same time, the dog-owning market is an absolutely massive one, and they tend to be one with money to spend.
Not an idea without its faults, but I wanted one slightly irregular one for the sake of sparking some creativity.
Now, if you had a cat controller that worked, THAT would be amazing
I really like the dog training idea, actually. I’ve got a pug that’s just asking for a beep-beep-spray combo.
It’s this sort of idea — that seems too obscure until you really do the math — that makes the big money.
I think the keyboard and gamepad could be cool too. I would enjoy using my iphone for email a lot more with a detachable keyboard.
I don’t really care about the gamepad but Apple keeps trying to say the iphone and touch are gaming platforms so it’s weird they haven’t brought a gamepad into play somehow.
We expect to have our PoS terminal/ credit-card reader commercially available in January 2010.It is actually working with live transactions right now. You can see it on the following site: http://www.pos4iphone.com/ezpos.html .
The video is a little bit rough, but you can get the idea. It works with CARD-PRESENT accounts on Authorize.Net, but not limited to any particular merchant. The price listed may be a bit high…the actual range is $149 to $199.
The guys at SNIF TAG might might be able to help you out. They’ve got the cool RFID dog tag.
An iphone with a keyboard…hmm, lets see. Palm – have any ideas on that one??
Is it possible that sinking money into developing an APP + Peripherals that may very well be rejected by Apple’s questionable approval process scaring developers away?
+1
Maybe, but if they can sell 1MM physical keyboards (they could) for 100$ each (they could), that’s a 100MM$ opportunity.
More realistically it’s the issue of app support AND that native apps wouldn’t be able to make use of this.
My gut says it’s Jobs just saying “nope, virtual keyboard is THE WAY (cause I said so), so suck it”.
Yeah, nice one. And if they sold $10 Billion at $1000 they would be the richest people in the world.
These guys http://www.airremote.com/ say they are creating a remote.
The problem is that they have been saying this for over a year.
Yeah. We’ve met with a few companies who have been aiming for the same thing. Most of them were going at it with a big, clunky, stand-alone hardware solution that undoubtedly got turned on its head when Apple opened up HW/SW interaction.
The airmouse joint is incredible though… not really an accessory… but great nonetheless. You also forgot to mention that OWL camera adapter… that thing looks incredible.
Maemo and the Nokia N900 have the universal remote control functionality already. It’s just a small open source software and the IR transmitter.
It’s funny because an IR adapter that plugs into the headphone jack has been around since 2003. The problem is it was so far ahead of it’s time (4 years before the iPhone) Griffin doesn’t make them anymore.
The tech obviously exists, somebody just needs to market it again.
http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/news/show/40615/griffin-mobile-s-total-remote-v1-01-reviewed.html
How about a blender? I could use a good cool drink now and then.
after the droid, the iphone will be very marginal within 6 months, so lets talk android instead
Go away troll
“One time darling of the industry, remerges from the brink of death behind a “revolutionary” new phone, with a “revolutionary” new multi-tasking OS and a physical keyboard to finally challenge the iPhone”
Yeah, I’ve seen that movie already buddy. And it sucked.
Is it possible that sinking money into app + peripheral development just to possibly have your product rejected by Apple’s questionable approval process, scaring developers away?
That you Steve Ballmer?
That you, Steve Jobs? Are you really unaware of Apple’s supremely fucked up approval process? The author even alludes to it in the opening paragraph, albeit in a half-assed manner.
I don’t think Apple is crazy about a physical keyboard because they feel they’re leading us into the great glass-smooth future.
And I have a hard time arguing with that. I thought I’d hate the un-keyboard on the iPhone, and I don’t. I’m just ambivalent.
I suspect the next evolution won’t be a big ol’ stick-on keyboard, but some sort of haptic technology. I hope.
Anyone know what that hasn’t happened yet?
Apple might well be holding off till the 4th gen handset. There are a few companises that seem still under NDA about accessories that haven’t been greenlighted to be released. Heck, TomTom took it’s time…
I’d say they’re taking their time. Add Heart rate monitor to the list – a BIG useful sports accessory, that likely a fair few are waiting/would like to buy.
What makes http://www.wantowle.com/Welcome.html interesting… Seems someone’s reverse engineered the dock before Apple’s opened up the Made for iPod and works with iPhone group…
A multi-touch mouse for your computer. I like that on my MacBook Pro I can scroll just by dragging two fingers around on the touchpad, or I can double click just by tapping with two fingers. And there are other handy multi-touch shortcuts as well that I could take advantage of on my ThinkPad if the iPhone presented itself over USB as a mouse and translated those gestures to the proper mouse controls.
By “double click”, I meant “right click”, but I suppose you could have a double click gesture as well.
Have you seen Air Mouse?
iTunes Link: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=289616509&mt=8
Not sure if thats what you’re getting at, but it’s an awesome app. Works over WiFi, requires you to run an app on your computer.
In reference to the fifth accessory, isnt that basically what Jack Dorsey is about to release with Squirrel?
Sort of, but backwards. AFAIK (based only on hearsay), Square/Squirrel is for taking payments from CCs. This one would be for making payments.
How about a pepper spray or tazer attachment for the iPhone as well?
People need to defend themselves; why not simply make an attachment that is able to deliver a deadly shock to an unsuspecting criminal trying to rob you in a dark alley? It would probably use less battery than Bejewelled 2 does, which is a bonus.
A dog training attachment isn’t a very good one. You can get an application already called Dog Whistler and it works well.
How about a personal security alarm as well while we’re at it? I’m sure someone could make an attachment and application to go with it that produces a high pitched sound to alert people to the fact you’re being raped, not that anyone would be rushing to help you anyway.
Rowmote Pro is much better than Air Mouse. my iPod touch already is my remote control – at least for everything I watch digitally via Mac mini. an IR solution would be really nice.
What really pisses me off is they have systematical broken perfectly good older charges with the current firmware. This Apple at it’s worst breaking after market stuff cause they didn’t get a piece of the somebodies pie, then acting surprised that nobody wants to shell out for the permission and lock in to build stuff for their after market.
Watching Apple endlessly try to reinvent themselves as Sony from a decade back is just dam painfull.
“[Apple has] systematical broken perfectly good older charges with the current firmware.”
Could you clarify that comment?
I’ve been waiting for a physical keyboard since I first got my iPhone. Yes, the on-screen keyboard is good, but there are times when having a physical keyboard is better.
I’m still trying to recapture the PDA zen I had back in 2004, when I had a Palm T3 and a folding ThinkOutside keyboard in my briefcase. I could type pages even sitting in a cramped seat on a regional jet, and the battery allowed me to work as much as I could stand on a transatlantic flight in coach.
As good as the iPhone is, I sometimes still miss those days…
How about a multi-pixel camera with a flash and a zoom.
There isn’t an app for this….
One thing I want to do with my iphone calendar, is enter a recurring meeting of the form “first thursday of the month”. Palm can do it, if you want to stick to apple products, the Newton could do it 15 years ago…
If anyone has heard of an app that adds this feature, please reply.
You can do that on the iPhone, I do it all the time.
How? Its easy to do the 5th of every month, and to do every tuesday or even every other tuesday, but I (and others including various FAQ’s) haven’t seen a way to do first tuesday of the month. (no you can’t do “every 4th tuesday, as some months have 5). If you have a way, please let me know, it will be most helpful.
This can be accomplished with Google Calendar (which has the “first Tuesday of month”, etc., option and by syncing your Google calendar account as an exchange account (http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=138740&topic=14252) the appointments will appear. I find Google Sync extremely useful and generally add appointments with Google rather than the iphone.
I call kludge – I want to use the built in calendar directly, not have to interact with some outside application… Its a simple thing for a calendar app to do, as shown by all the other calendars that provide it. They have done both a major and a minor release of the software, and one of the hardware since I got hold of my phone, they don’t have an excuse for leaving it out.
The whole point of gadgets like the iphone is convenience. Carry and interact with a single object, and a single UI, etc. A calendar is one of the core apps for digital assistants, it should be as feature inclusive as it can be.
Anyhow, thanks for confirming that the calendar lacks this as a native feature. Brian, can you say how you manage. (and using google’s calendar isn’t a valid answer)
I’m more interested in function (though I thought you were too! “If you have a way, please let me know, it will be most helpful”)…
I don’t consider keying in appointments on my iphone practical in any case so I think Google Calendar is a perfectly valid solution. You seem to have more of a fundamentalist interest, but to each his own I suppose…
But most of all, frankly, bugger off you ungrateful sod…
Had a detachable keyboard for my Palm Treo which was my PDA before iPod Touch: it was a waste of money and a total battery vampire, so no rush there.
What I’d love to see it a cordless headset. Given how wireless everything else is, it’s time to cut the cord. Saw on AI last week a patent applicaion for something being developed in this arena, so fingers are crossed for this technology to come along soon.
well, apparently Symbol has a credit card reader (magnetic swipe, not RFID) because the Apple stores are dropping the old mobile consoles and going with iPod touch units with credit card processing. Unless the kids in fancy t-shirts are just going to type in the number, but I doubt it.
Instead of a crazy IR dongle for the phone, why not a WiFi to IR adapter? Just plug it into your network (or join wirelessly) and whatever commands go into the phone go over the network, then an IR blaster shoots the command to the stereo… seems more practical.
Someone’s working on it: http://www.squareconnect.com/
An Autoblower!!!
bluetooth connectivity with a radar detector that sends radar trap gps location to the cloud to warn others
That’s clever as hell. I’d imagine there’s a good bit of overlap between the radar crowd and the iPhone crowd, if only because there is some element of geekiness to both.
Good luck getting Apple to put their “Made for iPhone” stamp of approval on that one, though.
An universal card reader (SD, MMS, Memory stick, etc.)
There is virtually no doubt in my mind that Facebook can/will power a mobile wallet. RFID may not even be necessary…
Digital audio interface for on-the-go MULTI-TRACK recording would be quite awesome for musicians.
Along this vein, I’d love to see a MIDI cable so I could use my many music apps as playable from my controller keyboard…
Data probes: eg Temp. pH, Oxygen level, humidity etc. Big market in education.
Blood Glucose Meters as you suggested would be excellent.
Forget the remote. The iPhone should be able to stretch out and become a 60 inch LCD TV. How cool would be that.
But it would consume too much battery power. This is the only reason why Apple has not launched it yet.
Finally unlock for iPhone with baseband 05.11.07 is coming today 03 November. http://www.zjtechlive.com/blacksn0w-coming-today-03-november/
The idea of the Credit Card Payment module has been implemented with help of new generation SIM which has NFC (near field communication) function. Thus, theoretically any mobile phone with this SIM can process contactless payment without the need of an extra hardware module. It’s solely up to banks to deploy the solution: partnership with carriers to include this application for mobile subscribers and replace current card reader by new ones.
I think the iPhone should have an engine, seats, and a MUCH larger battery so I could use it as an electric vehicle. Sucks that Apple won’t assist developers in making that a reality.
Agree. :D
3 of the 5 items have been available for some time.
Duh.
The iphone needs to add 1 of those sugarcube sized LED projectors to the next model.
Project your screen, picture, or video… on any white wall… for an “instant 50 inch TV”.
I hope the next iphone has its entire back as a high-powered any-light solar panel.
The battery charges while you talk… or just lay it facedown on any desk in any office in the world… and charge your battery.
Unlimited standby time!
The Universal Remote may happen sooner rather than later on the iPhone without any extra accessories needed. Wi-Fi Direct was just announced and they say it can work with existing devices with just a firmware upgrade. Assuming your TV, Stereo, computer, DVD, etc come with a Wi-Fi chip, you could use your iPhone as a remote control via this new peer-to-peer Wi-Fi standard. I would imagine this technology will become pretty big in the next few years.
http://www.wi-fi.org/news_articles.php?f=media_news&news_id=909
How about a camera attachment that connects to the docking port and swivels. That way it could be used as a front facing camera for video chatting and also bring a long overdue camera to the iPod Touch? Even if it was only possible to enable on jailbroken phones/pods it could still sell well.
i’m down with a SNES or Genesis to iPhone cable converter. silly looking, but the increase in controls would be SO worth it. NHL 94 on my iPhone? WIN!
Apple needs to allow bluetooth accessories for credit card processing like the printer/reader combo for the blackberry. This saves businesses almost 1/3 on debit cards because their customers can sign the sales draft. I had to keep my BB Bold because it would have cost me more to key in all those transactions.
http://www.mymerchantdirect.com/products/Blackberry-Credit-Card-Application-With-Printer-%26-Card-Reader.html
my favourite out of these is the control pad thingy
You’re going to ask for an external THUMB keyboard??huh? The only major thing this device is lacking is the ability to plug in one of those foldable full siz keyboards from the PDA days. That would truly make it usable and is what most people I know are holding out for. FULL SIZE.
Also an external midi controller.
they could have a home and/or portable console, preferably bluetooth.
It could act as a netbook with larger screen, larger physical keyboard and touchpad, card reader, front facing camera, good speakers, extra ports etc. Portable version can have extra battery.
I have seen a prototype of something similar, but it was not as good and it was vaporware.
I think it’d be cool if there was a connector that allowed you to connect to the ECU control port of your car. Then people could make apps that let you check “engine light” error codes, and aftermarket vendors could release software to let you tune your ECU to support the parts you purchase from them… superchargers, cold air intakes etc. It’d be cheaper than all the different stand-alone devices on the market to do this job.
http://www.viper.com/SmartStart/
Taxi Magic on the iPhone enables users to book and electronically pay for taxis. You simply register your credit card through the app, then text in your payment amount at the end of the ride. The driver gets notification to their computer in seconds and you get an electronic receipt emailed to you.
I’m an iPhone developer and also applied for the hardware program, which involved a somewhat lengthy list of questions.
That was months ago and never heard anything back.
So, the dearth of add-ons doesn’t surprise me. Either somebody at Apple is asleep at the job or the arrogance level is so high that they approve a tiny handful of companies and don’t feel they have to even respond to the others.
I’d like to see a case/screen protector that doubles as a clamshell with keypad so I can flip and dial a number old school style. Also keep an eye on phonehalo.com — very cool bluetooth enabled iPhone accessory coming soon.
I’d love to see a zigbee radio built-in or as a dongle. Then your iPhone becomes the control panel for your home automation stuff (and some high-end a/v gear).
Maybe I am the only one who thinks that I can live with whatever iPhone has right now, it is a phone and I would like it to stay that way.
I would be happy if Apple would just enable the keyboard profile in bluetooth…..