A small suggestion for Pyra

[szr]

Hello everyone. I'm kidna new around these parts and have been thus far am very amazed at what I've fofund out so far about both the Pandora and the future Pyra handhelds. The proposed specs for the Pyra are, imho, extremely drool worthy.

If there is one suggestion I find that I could make, assuming it's not already on the list, is using a 3.5mm headphone jack with four conductors, much like how many smart phones (iPhone and many Androids and Windows phones) and music players, that use headphones that have an integrated microphone and in some cases also buttons (usually used to answer/hangup a call, pause music, and skip to next/prev song on some that have three buttons.)

I'm not all that sure if this would be worth-while but could be useful with the proposed cellular module perhaps, or for pausing media playback or even maybe pausing emus or any other mappings.

I'm really curious what others think about this. Thanks.

 

[comradekingu]

The pandora already has that, the real question is do you want the standard, or support apples antistandard. A topic oft ablaze. So far looks like standard and adapters for whoever buys apple headsets.

I would solder it around on both ends to avoid the apple way

 

[szr]

comradekingu, to be honest, I had been under the impression for sometime that four conductor 3.5mm headphones w/ microphones were all the same (I know that Apple did not create the first one) but at the same time it wouldn't surprise me on bit if Apple did it "their way" instead.

That said, yes, one of the headphones that did come to mind was the kind that come with iPhones.

I also didn't realize that the Pandora already had that, which is good to know. Thanks.

 

[Granitehead]

comradekingu, to be honest, I had been under the impression for sometime that four conductor 3.5mm headphones w/ microphones were all the same (I know that Apple did not create the first one) but at the same time it wouldn't surprise me on bit if Apple did it "their way" instead. That said, yes, one of the headphones that did come to mind was the kind that come with iPhones. I also didn't realize that the Pandora already had that, which is good to know. Thanks.

Yeah, they aren't the same. It's also a completely idiotic change, it doesn't add any features or make it better in any way, Apple just switched the position of two lines around.

 

[TrashyMG]

It's also a completely idiotic change, it doesn't add any features or make it better in any way, Apple just switched the position of two lines around.

^ But man they did profit on it.

 

[comradekingu]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_%28audio%29#TRRS_Standards

 

[TrashyMG]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_%28audio%29#TRRS_Standards

seeing how they made that a standard still pisses me off and every other company just got strung along..  

 

[mindlord]

I hate to play devils advocate, but Apple did change it for a reason. As you pull an Apple standard headset out of the socket the ground pin hits the mic pin and gives the phone an audible pop on the mic line. This lets music players detect the disconnect and pause. This also allows the phone to detect the disconnect and switch to the internal speaker. So, despite what people think, there was a technological for Apple bucking the standard.

 

[szr]

I hate to play devils advocate, but Apple did change it for a reason. As you pull an Apple standard headset out of the socket the ground pin hits the mic pin and gives the phone an audible pop on the mic line. This lets music players detect the disconnect and pause. This also allows the phone to detect the disconnect and switch to the internal speaker. So, despite what people think, there was a technological for Apple bucking the standard.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but what difference would it have made if the Apple had followed the standard where the mic/control and ground lines are reversed? They would still contact each other, would they not?

 

[TrashyMG]

I hate to play devils advocate, but Apple did change it for a reason. As you pull an Apple standard headset out of the socket the ground pin hits the mic pin and gives the phone an audible pop on the mic line. This lets music players detect the disconnect and pause. This also allows the phone to detect the disconnect and switch to the internal speaker. So, despite what people think, there was a technological for Apple bucking the standard.

Woah whoah.. my old Droid could do this without having it wired up backward.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

I hate to play devils advocate, but Apple did change it for a reason. As you pull an Apple standard headset out of the socket the ground pin hits the mic pin and gives the phone an audible pop on the mic line. This lets music players detect the disconnect and pause. This also allows the phone to detect the disconnect and switch to the internal speaker. So, despite what people think, there was a technological for Apple bucking the standard.

Woah whoah.. I don't want my music to pause when I pull out my Apple headset!  What make they think I want to pause my music? 

 

[mindlord]

@szr: Well... I don't pretend to be an Apple engineer, but that is why they did what they did.

@TrashyMG: Maybe your Droid used some other (possibly more convoluted or costly) method to detect the disconnect.

 

[TrashyMG]

@szr: Well... I don't pretend to be an Apple engineer, but that is why they did what they did.


@TrashyMG: Maybe your Droid used some other (possibly more convoluted or costly) method to detect the disconnect.

Like a little spring switch built into the 3.5mm connector that closes a circuit when the jack is plugged in.. This is how it has been done for years.


Something similar to this, except not stereo and not necessarily hitched to the audio jacks.. 

A mechanical switch is considerable less complicated.

 

[Null]

@szr: Well... I don't pretend to be an Apple engineer, but that is why they did what they did.

No that's the reason they gave for doing what they did, which knowing what Apple is like may not strictly be the truth.

 

[Grench]

I would like to see the Pyra be able to switch back and forth between the two types. It really shouldn't be that hard - it's a switch swapping two lines.

 

[God Ginrai]

I would like to see the Pyra be able to switch back and forth between the two types. It really shouldn't be that hard - it's a switch swapping two lines.

It's giving in and introducing an extra point of failure.

-God Ginrai

 

[PokeParadox]

I would like to see Apple stop being so successful in their douchbag brainwashing factory...

 

[szr]

@szr: Well... I don't pretend to be an Apple engineer, but that is why they did what they did.

I understand that that may be what they said is their reasoning for it, but I still don't understand what difference it would have made which one is ground and which the microphone/control line, as both lines physically come into contact when the connector is pulled out.