Things That Go Well With iPhones

Planning on trading in your old worn out first generation iPhone for a brand new iPhone 3G? Well you might as well post your old case and other accessories on Craigslist because many of them won’t work on the new iPhone. Because the new iPhone is a little thicker in some parts and thinner in others and shaped slightly differently around the edges many of the old cases and docking stations won’t work. On the other hand if you're one of the many people who showed up at the AT&T or Apple store on July 11th and are now a proud owner of a new iPhone 3G (despite our cautions), here's a list of iPhone accessories we like:

Headsets

Although the iPhone headphone jack is no longer recessed you still can't use most off the shelf headsets (earphones with microphone). You need to either use an adapter for your earphones that adds a microphone and controls like Griffin's SmartTalk or use a headset made for the iPhone like Griffin's $39.99 Tunebuds. For a little more audio fidelity Etymotic's hf2 headset + earphones also works with the iPhone, will cost you around $180 and gets high marks for reviewers for audio quality.

You can still use your favorite headphone with the SmartTalk from Griffin. The SmartTalk includes a noise canceling microphone with a control button that lets you play, pause, or skip forward or backward while you’re listening to your music or podcasts. You use the button to answer calls or send them to voicemail.

Griffin Tunebuds	Griffin SmartTalk

Extra Battery Pack

One complaint about iPhones is that you can't carry around an extra battery to use when you run out of juice. The current mophie juice pack is a popular product that adds many hours of talk time, listening time, and standby time. Unfortunately the current version doesn't work with the iPhone 3G but mophie promises to have an iPhone 3G version out soon.

Cases Galore

iPhone case come is all styles. Belkin offers a wide variety for iPhone 3G cases including the Silicone Sleeve and the Armband Plus.

Belkin Silicone Sleeve	Belkin Armband Plus

Griffin announced a line of iPhone 3G cases including a hard shell case called the nuForm which allows you to dock your iPhone without taking it out of its case.

The new TopSkin and Flipp cases from PDO are made specifically for your iPhone 3G. ezGear has two new ezSkin cases made with a dirt repelling silicon outer covering that allows easy access to iPhone connectors. They also include a protective covering for the iPhone screen. The Landau model sells for $14.99 and the Plus model for $19.99.

Griffin nuForm	PDO TopSkin	PDO Flipp	ezSkin Plus

Speaker Systems, Who Knows?

We're not sure which first generation iPhone speaker systems with iPhone docking capabilities will work with the iPhone 3G but chances are they won't since the old Apple docking station doesn't even work with their new phone. Although the connector is still the same even though the shape of the iPhone has changed.

One speaker system we like is the new Altec Lansing T612 which provides 60 watts of power through 4 speakers. One nice feature is that it doesn't play that annoying GSM cell phone noise. The Altec Lansing T612 costs around $200.

iHome makes an interesting clock radio for the iphone called the iP99BR. It sells for $149. It's also immune to GSM noise. As of the time of this report we don't know if iHome has plans to make their current iPhone products compatible with the iPhone 3G.

Altec Lansing T612	iHome iP99BR

New Apple Dock

The iPhone 3G doesn’t come with a dock and the old iPhone dock won’t work with the new iPhone so if you want an Apple iPhone 3G dock you'll need to buy one. The new dock will include USB charging, syncing and audio out. It will cost $29.

Products Mentioned in This Report

Griffin Tunebuds, reasonably priced iPhone headset with microhone, earbuds, and controls

Griffin SmartTalk, an adapter that lets you use your own earbuds

Etymotic hf2 Headset + Earphones, a higher end iPhone headset

mophie juiced pack, adds extra battery life to iPhone. Not yet available for iPhone 3G

iPhone 3G Cases; Belkin, Griffin, PDO, ezGear

Altec Lansing T612 Speaker System, may only work with original iPhone

iHome iP99BR also may only work with original iPhone

Apple iPhone 3G Dock, old dock won’t work with iPhone 3G

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