Thats some lazy reporting.
These news writers are assuming it affects audio because it has the term "ipod" in the name of the feature not realizing it's a technology for displaying information on a car or sterio while the audio is playing. Do your own research on the feature if you like but "ipod out" is an API and hardware spec that was added in verion 4 of IOS. I can assure you the iphone running version 3 and below of the IOS operating system was doing audio output with the speaker docks and car kits of the time so it's not an audio feature.
If you want to construct a hardware kit that is compatible you would have to apply for the Apple Made for ipod hardware developer program to get access to the technical details on how it's built and that same program will give you access to the technical details on how the new lightning port can do these things.
Apple says a lightning to HDMI and Lightning to VGA adapter would be available in the coming months according to some other things I have read so I guess video output is still possible but just not in a way that made sense to integrate into the way video happened on the old dock connector.