There are plenty of accessories for the iPhone that can enhance our experience with the device, such as the huge variety of musical docking stations, fancy protective cases with built-in bluetooth keyboards, in-car chargers, stylus pens, the new Square credit card reader, and even guitar connection kits.
But what about the accessories that are yet to be invented? Here’s a list of 8 accessories that we wish were real, including an electric shaver attachment, a laser pointer and smudge-proof screen spray:
TV Tuner
There might be applications in the App Store that allow you to catch up with your favorite TV shows, such as Netflix and Hulu, but there aren’t many ways to watch live TV on our iPhones. The iPhone TV Tuner (pictured above) would allow us to do just that, with no data connection required.
USB Printer
AirPrint is a fantastic feature that was recently introduced to iOS to enable users to print documents and photos directly from their device. But it currently only works with a handful of printers. This iPhone USB Printer plugs into your device’s dock connector and is ready to use straight away.
Tire Pressure Gauge
How often do you look at the tires on your car and wonder whether they have enough air in them? How many of you actually own a tire pressure gauge? The iPhone Tire Pressure Gauge will ensure your tires are never without the air they need: simply plug it in, hook it up to your tires and get an instant psi reading. I can also envisage an iPhone-powered pump as part of this accessory that allows you to blow up flat tires when necessary.
Electric Shaver
Leave your large, heavy shaver at home the next time you go on a business trip and take the iPhone Electric Shaver attachment instead. It’s pocket-sized and lightweight and attaches to your device’s dock connector to provide you with the closest, most comfortable shave wherever you might be.
Binoculars
These binoculars connect to your iPhone via data cable or Bluetooth and turn your iPhone into a digital viewfinder. Instead of staring down the binoculars and blocking out your surroundings, just look at your iPhone to see what’s in the distance. The accompanying app also allows you to take recordings of what you see and share them with your friends – it’s a peeping Tom’s dream.
Nintendo Wii Controller App
This one’s more of an app than an accessory: rather than taking your Wii remote over to a friends’ house when you want to enjoy some multiplayer gaming, just take your iPhone and load up the Wii remote application. It connects to the Wii via Bluetooth and provides a fully-functioning Wii controller using the accelerometer, gyroscope, and virtual buttons.
Laser Pointer
While there may already be some dodgy laser pointer accessories for the iPhone, this one comes from a reputable company and has an accompanying app. It’s perfect for pointing out details in presentations, and the app lets you change the pointer to a wide variety of different shapes.
Smudge-Proof Screen Spray
One of my biggest bugbears with the iPhone is how mucky my screen gets from greasy fingerprints. This smudge-proof screen spray is to be applied once a month and messaged in with a clean microfiber cloth. It will keep your iPhone free from greasy smudges, oily stains, and 99.9% of all known bacteria.
What Would You Like?
What kind of accessory would you like to see for the iPhone? Let us know your wish-list in the comments and we’ll publish the best ideas at a later date.
Note: the idea for this feature and the pictures within it are taken from ‘10 iPhone Accessories We’d Love to Have‘ by Business Insider.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
22 responses to “8 iPhone Accessories We Wish Were Real”
Tire pressure gauges are a dime a dozen, no need to jack the price up by making an app and pressure sensor. Gauges are pen sized and fit in just about any storage area in any car.
Solution to the TV Tuner? Slingbox or eyeTV.
Solution to USB Printer? I don’t know… TruPrint from Cydia?
Solution to the Wii Controller? Jailbreak. We already have that.
i like the tv tuner, just that, really…
I like the TV tuner and the anti-smudge coating the best.
iPhone and iPad are *sorta* like TV’s already (as long as you stay home). I can play anything on iTunes wherever I am in the house, so when you are out in the yard or in the basement or wherever you still have all your media and can listen/watch it.
The japanese (who else) already have the tv thing sorted out: http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/iphon…
I’d settle for a controller, especially for those platform games.
This might be one of the most ridiculous articles I’ve read on this site. What would be the point of the tire pressure reader? Instead of using a tire pressure reader that shows the pressure on an LCD screen, I’d have to purchase a (probably $60+) accessory for my iPhone? No thanks.
You can also get some that are magnetic and can stay inside your gas tank flap/latch thingy – assuming one has a gas tank that either locks or is opened from inside the car.
What about an app for metal detectors that could revolutionize the info we get from the metal detectors “VCR” displays today. Win-Win situation. We would get cheaper metal detectors and the experience would be awesome!
What I would really like is to be able to control my music and photos without that monster of annoyance that the iTunes App is
an am/fm tuner would be nice…..