Comment AFAIK, these kinds of headphones are not new (Score 1) 264
They aren't non-standard either. 3.5mm contact with 4 contacts on it and buttons on the lead have been around for ages, I have no idea who started them or how interoperable they are. I had a pair that came with my Nokia N95, play, stop, forward, reverse, volume, on a standard sized 3.5 mm plug with one extra contact. That actually terminated in the remote which had a socket for any normal 3.5 mm three contact headphones, so you could use your nice sennheisers with the phone instead of the shitty nokia buds.
So has anyone tried the Apple ones with other equipment like phones that support remotes on 3.5mm jacks? I know for a fact Etymotics have a pair of headphones with remote and mic on a 3.5 mm contact.