Story from Engadget about Apple's new ear buds. Here is the story below:

Remember those new in-ear headphones we heard about from Mr. Jobs himself back in September? Well, he promised them for October (see the giant slide behind him), and here we are, in December, and they've finally appeared. Each earbud's got its own woofer and tweeter, so be prepared for Master of Puppets to sound better than ever. They've got a built-in remote and mic -- yet curiously aren't compatible with the iPhone -- and they come with three sets of interchangeable silicone tips for small, medium, and large ears. Are you rocked to the very core of your existence yet? Well, the $79 price tag should finish the job.

I'll wait until it comes out in black.

yet curiously aren't compatible with the iPhone

= Fail

= Fail

x1000.

Doesn't work with the iPhone?

He should have gotten it to work with the iPhone and released it in October of '09.

= Fail

I agree. I don't understand why it doesn't work with the Iphone.

Aha! The mic does work with the iPhone. However, volume adjustment using the buttons on the cable does not. That's rather less of an epic fail.

Well at least it's not a total loss.

im so buying those when they come out. wonder how they would sound with the extreme

I love the FR spec tolerances. '5hz-21khz'. Then you look at their little graph and see that they are only -30dB at 21k...

Do we know who makes these for Apple?

naamanf - are you back in town? Do you wanna try my Nuforce NE-7M iphone IEM which I am going to assume will crush the Apple IEM. Sherwood and Blutarsky both tried them and each one pledged to buy a pair themselves after the short demo with mine.

I did more than pledge, Larry. I bought 'em that night and I've used them happily for like a week.

hm..why did they have a built in mic and yet have buttons that don't work with the iphone?

because the mic is for the iphone and the buttons for the ipod. Therefore that little pod thing helps both

The new 4G nano does voice memos using the mic too.

Also, I heard rumor the apple earphone buttons work but you just can't control the volume on the iphone with the buttons.

As for the Nuforce, Sherwood you should also try some Complys T400 foam tips with them although they lose some of that "electrostatic sound" with the foam tips.

Apple In-Ear Headphones hands-on, ears-on, and impressions - Engadget

Here is more impressions on the Apple Ear buds from Engadget with pics by going to the link above . I've pasted the story below (everything below is written by Engadget):

We've been wanting to get some extended face time with Apple's In-Ear Headphones (yes, that's the product name) ever since we spied them at the company's Fall "Let's Rock" event. Of course, they didn't exactly hit the scene on time, and we were starting to get suspicious. Tack on the rumor they wouldn't be compatible with iPhones, and we felt downright indignant. Imagine our surprise, then, at the discovery that they not only sound really, really good (warm lows and crisp highs, a distinct lack of that modern, pushy mid-range), but they do work with the iPhone (the 3G we've got here, at least). Regular playback is a charm, and we had no problem making and receiving calls with the buds and attached mic -- though strangely the remote doesn't seem operable on the phone, thus deflating our excitement ever-so-slightly. Regardless, the sound quality is pretty boss for the price (besting other, more expensive models we've checked out), and they're a huge step up from Apple's previous offerings. Check out some looks at the beauties in the gallery below.

Update: It looks like the remote can be used for answering and ending calls on the iPhone, as well as pausing, playing, and advancing tracks. No volume control though -- very odd!