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Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

makershed.com

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Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#21

Post by seanp2k »

st3fan wrote: post #16
kylek wrote: post #8

> Supports communication at speeds up to 57.6 Kbps. Is that a technical limitation or typo? Many devices use 115.2 Kbps if I'm not mistaken

If I remember correctly, your device does not actually get full serial port access. Instead Apple provides a protocol made up of data packets that you can send to and from your device. These packets must be signed by a little crypto chip that you have to license from Apple. Yes, very tight control. A device like this is not simply a cable. It actually contains a little micro-controller that reads and writes Apple's s…

TL;DR "Apple is doing something silly to force you to use their proprietary stuff"

I run Lion in a VM just to spite them.

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#23

Post by tlrobinson »

geoka9 wrote: post #20
st3fan wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You pay the Apple tax if you make a device like this. You will also need to license a chip from Apple that does some crypto to validate your device and you will have to buy the connector from a specific vendor that is blessed by Apple. It all adds up. I love how Google is letting the market go crazy with their recently announced external accessory APIs. That is what Apple should have done. Of course it is highly inco…

You would think that at least geeks would be appalled by Apple and avoid their products because of this. But every geek I know (save one or two) is raving about their Apple gadgets.

It's a little like how people are aware that farm animals are often mistreated, but meat is delicious so they eat it anyway.

Yum.

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#25

Post by sebastianavina »

KeithMajhor wrote: post #14

Why is this better than Bluetooth? All the iOS devices have it and there are breakout boards with RS232. There are even some that are cheaper than this cable...

it's easier, and cheaper, and more accesible to play around with a RS-232 cable... I've like 4 USB-RS232 adapters, and it's very easy to implement the protocol even on the dirtiest and cheaper chips...

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#26

Post by sebastianavina »

marvin wrote: post #18
KeithMajhor wrote: post #14

Why is this better than Bluetooth? All the iOS devices have it and there are breakout boards with RS232. There are even some that are cheaper than this cable...

Forgive me if this is an ignorant reply, but I thought the point of this was to give developers the ability to make official, Apple-approved apps that interface with devices that communicate across serial. Things like industrial machinery, GPS loggers etc. I've actually been looking around for something like this in order to make an iPhone application to use as a flight computer with gliders, since all glider-approve…

is more an interface to play around with your ipod and Legos and alike...

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#27

Post by [deleted] »

marvin wrote: post #18
KeithMajhor wrote: post #14

Why is this better than Bluetooth? All the iOS devices have it and there are breakout boards with RS232. There are even some that are cheaper than this cable...

Forgive me if this is an ignorant reply, but I thought the point of this was to give developers the ability to make official, Apple-approved apps that interface with devices that communicate across serial. Things like industrial machinery, GPS loggers etc. I've actually been looking around for something like this in order to make an iPhone application to use as a flight computer with gliders, since all glider-approve…

[deleted]

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#28

Post by KeithMajhor »

sebastianavina wrote: post #25
KeithMajhor wrote: post #14

Why is this better than Bluetooth? All the iOS devices have it and there are breakout boards with RS232. There are even some that are cheaper than this cable...

it's easier, and cheaper, and more accesible to play around with a RS-232 cable... I've like 4 USB-RS232 adapters, and it's very easy to implement the protocol even on the dirtiest and cheaper chips...

Here is a Bluetooth breakout like I described: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10559

It's cheaper than the cable. You don't need to implement any protocols.

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#29

Post by ddw »

It would be interesting if Cisco will take advantage of this in any way to allow the control of their networking devices. Not that it's too hard to plug in with an old laptop, but still, the iPad is convenient.

It's a little confusing to me why Apple makes it so hard for people to use their devices in customer specific ways like this cable. I read a while back that TV networks like CNN and ESPN were using iPads to control on-air graphics in near real time. They're huge companies they can afford the custom engineering to jailbreak the devices and to write custom apps. But why doesn't Apple make it easier for everyone else?

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#30

Post by sahaj »

KeithMajhor wrote: post #28
sebastianavina wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's easier, and cheaper, and more accesible to play around with a RS-232 cable... I've like 4 USB-RS232 adapters, and it's very easy to implement the protocol even on the dirtiest and cheaper chips...

Here is a Bluetooth breakout like I described: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10559 It's cheaper than the cable. You don't need to implement any protocols.

did you check the price? it's around ~60USD.
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