从Made for iPod到Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad再到2010的MFi，苹果公司（Apple）的外设认证计划在那之后就再没有传出多少新闻。

    近十年来，那些可以插入火线接口、30针接口、4圈金属iPhone耳机插孔以及闪电接口等等苹果专有接口的设备制造商心不甘、情不愿地向苹果支付高达10%的版权费（后来减少至每件外设4美元），为的就是在自家产品打上苹果“Made for …”的标识。

    现在，中国的海尔集团（Haier）也加入了MFi俱乐部——海尔是白色家电（这是英国叫法，美国称为大型家电）的主要制造商，2005年曾试图收购美泰公司（Maytag）。根据周三发布的一份新闻稿，海尔集团的天樽空调是全球首款获得MFi认证的白色家电。

    这款空调是海尔“智能家电”家族的一员，这个家族中还包括一款云端控制的智能酒柜、一款云端控制的洗衣机以及一款云端控制的智能冰箱。

    它到底只是个噱头，还是先发优势？我和大家一样不清楚。（财富中文网）   

    Apple's (AAPL) peripheral certification program hasn't been in the news much since Made for iPod morphed into Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad and then, in 2010, to MFi.

    For nearly a decade, makers of devices that plug into Apple's proprietary ports -- FireWire, 30-pin dock, 4-conductor iPhone connectors, Lightning, etc. -- grudgingly paid up to a 10% royalty (since reduced to $4 per connector) to Apple for the right to carry Cupertino's "Made-for..." logos.

    Now China's Haier group -- a major manufacturer of what the Brits call "white goods" and Americans "major appliances" (Haier tried to buy Maytag in 2005) -- has joined the club. According to a press release issued Wednesday, the company's Tianzun air conditioner is the world's first major appliance certified to carry Apple MFi logo.

    The AC is one of a family of Haier "smart appliances" that includes an Intelligent Cloud-controlled Wine Celler, a Cloud-controlled Washer, and an Intelligent Could Refrigerator.

    A gimmick or a first-mover advantage? Your guess is as good as mine.