Have you always wanted to use higher quality ear phones with your Apple third-generation iPod Shuffle? Thanks to Belkin, now you can. One of the most common complaints about Apple’s third-generation iPod Shuffle is the navigation controls are remotely built into it’s headphone cable. That makes using third-party earphones, aka In-Ear Monitors (IEM) from other brands impossible because there’s simply no buttons on the iPod Shuffle unit to control playback functions.

Belkin recently announced its new $20 Headphone Adapter for Apple’s third-generation iPod Shuffle. With Belkin’s new Headphone Adaptor, you can finally use any earphones, more awesome ones I’m sure, with your 3rd-generation iPod Shuffle.

Belkin’s headphone adapter works the same way as the Apple’s own in-line adapter. You can:

• control play/pause with a single-click
• jump to the next track with a double-click or to the previous track with a triple-click
• hear the title and artist of the song playing (the VoiceOver feature) by pressing and holding the multifunction button
• move between playlists by pressing and holding, and then releasing, the multifunction button after you hear a tone (you click to select a playlist)

Belkin Headphone Adapter for Apple’s third-generation iPod Shuffle will be available in North America at the end of July 2009, and in Europe, Asia, and Australia in mid-August 2009.

[Source: ComputerWorld ]