iLounge

By Charles Starrett

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Tuesday, September 25, 2007
News Category: Mix

Helium Digital has announced the launch of its new HD-005 3.5mm Headphone adapter, which allows all headphones that use a standard 3.5mm headphone jack to be used with the iPhone’s recessed headphone port. The HD-005 adapter sells for $4.

Google has launched a new iPhone-specific interface for its Google Calendar application. The new interface can be accessed by visiting calendar.google.com from the iPhone or iPod touch.

iTunes competitor Virgin Digital has announced that it is shutting down next month. The online music subscription and download service said U.K. users with more than one month of outstanding subscriptions will get a refund, but unused credits for song downloads should be used and won’t be refunded. U.S. users will be able to use their credits on Napster’s music download service.

Richard Reinhardt, former drummer for The Ramones, has sued Apple and others for copyright infringement, claiming the companies lacked permission to sell downloads of six songs he authored. Reinhardt is seeking at least $900,000 in damages.

In a recent interview, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak criticized the timing of Apple’s decision to drop the iPhone’s price by $200. “Nobody expects a product to drop that much in price in such a short time,” said Wozniak. “Steve Jobs and everyone expects technology to drop in price. The first adopters always pay a premium. I am one of them. I am used to that. But that one was too soon, too harsh.”