“Apple’s official line of headphones and earbuds have always been pretty lackluster in my eyes, but a secret acquisition might mean that Cupertino is planning on changing all of that: according to reports, Apple might have quietly purchased a small Bluetooth wireless headphone designer a couple of months ago, and are hard at work in their labs on a new pair of totally wireless cans,” John Brownlee reports for Cult of Mac.
“The company is called Wi-Gear, and their showcase product was a line of Bluetooth headphones called iMuffs,” Brownlee reports. “According to 9to5Mac, the company very quietly put an “out of business” notice up on their official site two months ago, even as Wi-Gear co-founder Michael Kim moved on to a position as the iOS Bluetooth Engineer at Apple.”
Read more in the full article here.
Seth Weintraub reports for 9 to 5 Mac, “A source tells 9to5Mac that Apple scooped up a small Bluetooth wireless headphone designer [Wi-Gear] in San Francisco two months ago for an undisclosed sum.”
“Apple plans to build its own stereo Bluetooth headphones for future iOS devices and MacBooks with technology and expertise from Wi-Gear,” Weintraub reports. “As you’ll recall, Apple didn’t have a great amount of success with its own Bluetooth mono headset and instead of building in-house for their new stereo product, decided to pick up the small Wi-Gear outfit.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Jax44” for the heads up.]
iMuffs would be natural fit for iPads…
It’s the little things, Norton…
No thanks on the wireless earbuds front, I’ve already lost two bluetooth earpieces.
A little iWax as an accessory for the iMuffs?
TowerTone: Great start to my day!
@TT
Oh my.
I know there are some pretty interesting technologies for hearing aids presently being offered and developed. Maybe Apple will continue to help that community with some of this stuff. . . . But a superior music listening product will probably give Apple another field to dominate.
I never got the impression that Apple was trying too hard in accessories, just making the bare minimum, but leaving lots on the table to develop the ecosystem.
“The current line”?
Apple has the normal earphones that come with the iPod (as shit as any free earphone) and those new in-ear ones, which were praised for its sound but criticized as having a fragile look.
One free earphone and one in-ear. Is that enough to be called a “line”?
Oh, forgot about the bluetooth earphones.
Don’t forget your iMittens!
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@ lukeskymac,
“and those new in-ear ones, which were praised for its sound but criticized as having a fragile look.”
?!?!?!?
The $79 Apple in-ear phones may be the most comfortable earbuds I ever tried and I love the volume controls, but the sound is terrible! Tinny and no bass, I don’t know what Apple was thinking.
It’s not just me, the feedback from people are saying the same thing.
I hope Wi-Gear can fix this.
In 2 months, Apple has probably already replaced the cash in savings account that they spent on this acquisition.
Maybe they can utilize the full functionality of bluetooth now, and get my pause and track selection features on my Motorola Bluetooth phones to work when I’m jogging.
iMuff and iPad.
There’s got to be a joke in there somewhere.
@qka
more like 3-5 days at most. Remember they are making a billion dollar profit each month.
I would be impressed if Apple had bought a company that had a better wireless technology than Bluetooth.
Has anyone ever liked the stereo sound quality from Bluetooth headsets? Not enough bandwidth, along with its other problems.