Hey Kids, New iPod Shuffle Has A Surprise Inside!

Like a box of Cracker Jacks, the new Apple iPod Shuffle comes with a little something extra, but it might not be that great of a prize.

Here's some background.

When the iPod Shuffle 4 GB was released last week, Apple touted its tiny size and supposed ease of use with controls now built into the earbuds. What Apple failed to mention was that the new iPod was only compatible with these earbuds.

That little detail did not escape notice of techies, such as the folks over at the Web site iLounge.

In a critical review, iLounge found that when users plug in third-party headphones, the Shuffle will play music continuously but other controls are rendered useless.

"What Apple has done here [is] something sneaky and arguably terrible for consumers, especially if it continues with other iPod and iPhone products in 2009," according to the site.

iLounge went on to say that any new alternative headphones to the earbuds will need a new Apple authentication chip, "which will add to their price. Your only alternatives will be third-party remote control adapters," iLounge lamented.

The review piqued the interest of techies at the Web site Boing Boing Gadgets, which investigated further by dismantling the MP3 player's headset module.

Inside the module was a tiny chip mysteriously labeled 8A83E3, which was barely a millimeter square, the site said, and very difficult to detect.

However, no one seems to know what the chip is—whether it's an authentication chip or something else entirely. And Apple isn't talking.

As Boing Boing noted, if this is indeed an authentication chip, it could mean that third-party headphone manufacturers would be required to pay fees to make their headphones compatible for the new iPod Shuffle.

Or as iLounge put it:

"It's hard not to wonder if Apple, with its 70 percent market share, just tried to eat the headphone industry whole."

So far, two companies, V-Moda and Scosche, said they planned to make compatible headphones.

Scosche's earphones will have integrated controls that include Apple's new VoiceOver feature and a built-in microphone. The earphones will retail for $49.99 to $99.99.

Critics see the high price tag of the alternative headphones as evidence that Apple is trying to keep a stranglehold on its products by placing the mystery chip inside the new Shuffle's earbuds.

"This is, in short, a nightmare scenario for longtime iPod fans: Are we entering a world in which Apple controls and taxes literally every piece of the iPod purchase from headphones to chargers, jacking up their prices, forcing customers to repurchase things they already own, while making only marginal improvements in their functionality?" said iLounge. "It's a shame, and one that consumers should feel empowered to fight."