The full story may not be quite as straightforward.

Update December 24: the project is back on

I had contacted Apple for comment, but Apple was only able to respond today to offer its side of the story. A few minutes ago, Apple released the following statement:

Our technical specifications provide clear guidelines for developing accessories, and they are available to MFi licensees for free. We support accessories that integrate USB and Lightning connectors, but there were technical issues that prevented accessories from integrating 30-pin and Lightning connectors, so our guidelines did not allow this. We have been working to resolve this and have updated our guidelines to allow accessories to integrate both 30-pin and Lightning connectors to support charging.

From Apple’s perspective, it had released the Lightning spec as soon as the new connector was announced. Everything that was possible and not possible was clearly in the open in a published and freely available spec, for licensees in its hardware developer/integrator program. That happened well back on Sept. 12.

More importantly, Apple is saying that it is simply due to technical reasons — not political, economic, or strategic — that the old 30-pin connectors and the new Lightning connector could not be combined. That’s a somewhat different story than I heard from Edison Junior CEO Jamie Siminoff, who said that the group worked with Apple for months on this with inconsistent and confusing answers.

“We didn’t get a yes or a no up front,” Siminoff told me. “But as we kept going back and forth it was clear that it was getting harder.”

That’s now a he-said-she-said situation, but perhaps more importantly, in this statement Apple is announcing that it has resolved the technical challenge and has found a way to use both 30-pin and Lightning connectors on the same accessories … which means that the POP power station project could actually now continue, and build the universal charging device that Edison Junior wanted to make in the first place.

So I chatted with Siminoff today about exactly that. First, I asked him for a comment on the spec being freely available since September.

“Bullshit,” Siminoff answered. “Sure, they’ve had the spec out for a while, but there’s no way it talks about what we’re doing.”

Siminoff then confirmed with me that he and his team had multiple conversations with Apple and heard multiple stories, including that it was possibly a problem, probably OK, and that Apple was going to tighten the spec to make what Edison Junior was trying to do impossible.

Of course, it turns out Apple did the opposite: opening the spec up.

Which begs the question: Was it really a technical challenge in the first place? Just changing the spec doesn’t, after all, magically change millions of shipped devices. And no iOS system update has been issued in the past weeks with a release note specifying new compatibilities. So Siminoff doesn’t buy the “technical issues” argument at all.

“It’s pretty simple that you could build to separate power sources on the same device,” he told me this afternoon. “I don’t see how that’s a technical issue.”

Either way, however, Siminoff is happy. ”I’m thrilled that this happened,” he told me. “I think that it makes sense for the customer.” So does this mean the POP portable power station project is back on?

“Probably. Now I need to confirm between their PR and the actual MFi group that this is possible. If this is the case, for sure … if we can make the product that we promised, it’s back on,” he said. “If Apple lets us do this, we’ll make that product and we’ll make it fast.”

Whether it will be on Kickstarter or not is another question. But there’s one other piece of good news that Siminoff shared:

“We have not actually processed the refund yet … luckily!”

photo credit: unten44 via photopin cc

POP was billed as “the intersection between charging and design” and featured connectors to charge iPads, iPhones, and yes … Android devices. Its four retractable cord reels would have powered anything using micro-USB charging connectors.

That’s a problem with Apple. In fact, even combining Apple’s new Lighting connector with the old 30-pin connector in a charging device was verboten; Apple would not approve, forcing the team to abandon the project.

“We are pissed,” Edison Junior CEO Jamie Siminoff told me on the phone today. “I think they are being a bunch of assholes, and I think they’re hurting their customers.”

Apple finally speaks — here’s their side of the story

Another update (December 24) — the POP project is back on

The team will provide full refunds, meaning that it will absorb credit card fees and Kickstarter fees, totalling eight percent of all the funds collected — over $11,000. Edison Junior is asking Kickstarter for the five percent Kickstarter fee back, however, which would limit the loss. Whatever Kickstarter does, however, an Edison Junior representative informed me that all backers will receive 100 percent of their money back.

“We would have loved to have made the product,” Siminoff told me. “At the same time I feel like we’re making the correct decision … I’m not willing to compromise on the product.”

The dispute has been ongoing since September, when Apple announced the Lightning connector.

“We didn’t get a yes or a no up front,” Siminoff said. “But as we kept going back and forth it was clear that it was getting harder. Then, when we saw that they weren’t even going to allow a Lightning connector and a 30-pin connector together, we knew it was over.”

He also said that, while Apple is a private company and can do whatever it wishes, it should watch out. “When you do things that are bad for the customer … I think it will be bad for them.”

Siminoff issued this letter to all project backers:

I’ll never forget the moment when our campaign passed the $50,000 goal and our dream of powering dying batteries became tangible. Our promise was simple: provide a portable charger that was capable of charging ALL of your devices including the anticipated iPhone 5, which at the time, had yet to be released.

When Apple officially announced the move to Lightning we determined the best course of action was to incorporate two Lightning chargers, and two 30-pins (along with the four micro-USB’s). After applying to Apple (which is now required for Lightning), we learned that they are no longer willing to approve a product that uses the Lightning charger alongside any other charger (including their own 30-pin — seriously). Just like that, POP could no longer fulfill its true promise.

As we struggled with Apple we realized that Kickstarter did not have a mechanism for refunding everyone their money. Since we are not willing to compromise and build a crappy product, refunding the money is the only acceptable thing to do.

This sparked the idea that crowdfunding of physical products needed a place that was built around the intricacies they present, so a few weeks ago we launched our own crowdfunding site, Christie Street. Built from the ground up around product, Christie Street is designed to handle needs that can arise from products — such as refunds — in order to prevent compromised products from being delivered.

In order to process your refunds efficiently we are going to set you all up with Christie Street accounts, and there, you will be able to process your refunds. Since payment processing has little to no room for error, we still have some final testing to do before we can send out the instructions, so the plan is set for mid-January. Conversely, had we manually sent out the refunds to all 1,000 backers the process would probably have gone longer.

Providing full refunds means we will have to absorb a hit for both credit card (3%) and Kickstarter fees (5%) totaling over $11,000. Today we asked Kickstarter for the 5% fee they collected based on the circumstances, however regardless of their decision YOU WILL RECEIVE 100% OF YOUR MONEY BACK.

We don’t believe in selling a substandard, compromised product that only satisfies the needs of a few backers, as that was not our promise. So we can’t thank you enough for your incredible support and awesome feedback – we hope to collaborate again with you soon. If you have any issues please email me directly.

All the best,
Jamie

P.S. If you know anyone at Apple please send them coal for their stockings, on behalf of us

I’ve asked both Apple and Kickstarter for a statement or comment on the matter. I’ll update this post as I hear more.

This is not necessarily the end of the Edison Junior’s portable power project. Siminoff told me that the team will be re-focusing on a device that supports Android phones, tablets, and Apple products, if backers wish to use a Lightning-to-USB connector, or an older 30-pin connector. They’ll only build that device, however, if the crowdfunding community wants it.

Which is why refunding everyone’s money — including credit card and Kickstarter fees — was the right thing to do to retain the community’s trust.

Here’s the original POP video: