Insanely Popular POP Kickstarter Killed Due To Apple Lightning Restrictions [u]

Remember POP? It was a very popular Kickstarter project that raised three times what it was looking for to create a mobile charging station. Unfortunately, Apple’s restrictions around the new Lightning cables means that the project has had to be cancelled, and the people behind POP are now having to find a new way of refunding all the money they gained.

The problem is that Apple refuses to allow Lightning licensing for any device that features any other sort of cable alongside the Lightning — that means no micro-USB or 30-pin dock connectors allowed. And the POP was going to have all three types of cable, so you can charge any device at all from it.

“We are pissed,” Edison Junior CEO Jamie Siminoff said to VentureBeat. “I think they are being a bunch of assholes, and I think they’re hurting their customers.”

The company plans to offer full refunds to all backers, and will absorb the more than $10,000 in fees that came from that funding. Since Kickstarter doesn’t have a mechanism for refunds, the company has now jumped on board with another funding company to help distribute the money — one called Christie Street.

This is a pretty sad day for the people who funded the POP charging station — but at least Siminoff is making sure everyone gets their money back.

UPDATE: Apple has apparently reversed their decision on this matter! We’ll be interested to see if the POP now happens after all.