Ridax first company to overprice Phone 3G charging adapter
By Nilay Patel 
posted Jul 30th 2008 9:40PM
posted Jul 30th 2008 9:40PM
Although the 30-pin Dock connector in the iPhone 3G looks the same as it has since it was introduced in the 2G iPod, it's different in one important (and maddening) way -- it doesn't support charging the older FireWire charging pins, only the newer USB method. That means a whole host of older chargers and docks don't work with the iPhone 3G -- and it also means that we'll be seeing a lot of adapters like this one from Ridax make the scene. Hopefully other manufacturers won't see fit to charge a whopping $40 for two connectors and a resistor like Ridax, but if you're desperate enough to drop two Jacksons on this thing, you'll also be able to charge through the built-in mini-USB connector on the side. We'll wait, though -- we expect to see some cheaper, smaller options on the table by the time this thing ships in September.
I could buy 8 USB chargers for the price of this. =P
I just bought the Kensington 4-in-1 car charger and it works well. The pass through port on the bottom allows me to play my iPhone 3G through the iSimple car kit for my BMW and still charge the phone. This is particularly good since I can't even make it through a whole movie on the darn thing even on a full charge!
I certainly hope a simple adapter is developed so I don't have to have multiple wires to achieve what one did on my first gen iPhone! And I do not want to spend another $150 or so for a new kit when mine is otherwise perfectly good.
Lucky that it is not Nilay at engadget that design hardware. Anyone with a little bit knowledge would know that a simple resistor would not work. But it is easy for unknowledgable people to make comments about everything...