By Stephen Schenck | November 5, 2012 4:57 PM
Apple’s move from its 30-pin connector to the new Lightning port on the iPhone 5, iPad mini, and iPad 4 may ultimately prove to be a benefit for compatible devices, but for the moment, it can be a severely limiting factor. Sure, Apple sells adapters to get some old 30-pin accessories working with new Lightning-supporting hardware, but there’s just not much of a selection available when it comes to new full-on Lightning gear. That situation may soon be improving thanks to Apple’s licensed third-party partners, upon news of Belkin’s first Lightning accessories shipping soon.
Belkin’s cooked-up a 12V car charger with a Lightning connector, as well as desktop dock. The car charger will sell for just about $30, which isn’t that bad when you consider that a spare Lightning-to-USB cable is already $20, which you’d then need to couple with a USB-supporting car charger.
The dock is a whole lot less impressive, since it’s little more than a shell that you still have to outfit with your own Lightning-to-USB cable. Still, this is at least a step in the right direction, and we expect to see a whole lot more Lighting-compatible iOS accessories arrive as we transition into 2013.
Both Belkin accessories should ship by November 15.
