Is it just me, or did the 5 use cases proposed in the article immediately give you the reaction "Yuck, I'm kind of glad that none of those things actually broadcast that crap (yet)."
I'd go a step further and say that the 5 use cases proposed in the article give me the reaction "good thing no one does that yet, because it would probably kill the technology." These crazy would-be advertising innovations that rely on people cooperating with advertisers to look at more ads... what are they thinking??
(Wait. They're thinking "money money money", and apparently not much else. Duh. There's the problem.)
But you wouldn't even see those broadcasts without something listening for them, right? Not too many years ago a lot of these same use cases were talked about for irDA and didn't really go anywhere.
Indeed. CSR has a nice-sounding SoC for this, but their dev program sucks for hackers. $10k for a seat? Blegh.
TI is a bit more friendly in this regard, see video in below link.
I'm interested to see if anyone could potentially implement a lightweight data format for send/receive to create an open system for communicating from app-to-mote. Right now, any iPhone receiver app on the store wouldn't be allowed to download any drivers, however a common application-layer protocol transmitting JSON would probably work. After all, it wouldn't be code, just rules on how to interpret it.
Talking about iPhone and Bluetooth: is there any app that would make it easier to switch BT on and off? BT and WiFi are major power drains, so I always switch them off as soon as I can, but it's a major pain.
By default you have to go to Settings -> General -> Bluetooth -> on/off -- 4 taps, which is ridiculous. It's slightly better for WiFi, "only" 3 taps.
Ideally I'd be able to get buttons on my home screen that will quickly switch these on or off with 1 tap.
This guy made some shortcuts usingthe new urls to individual settings. It's not 1 tap (it's 2!), but it's a bit better if you need to use any of the settings a lot.
I use a jailbroken and unlocked iphone 3gs. I installed SBSettings on it, and I have a slide screen that shows many hardware options. I can toggle airplane mode, 3g, wifi, bluetooth, ssh, brightness, data and a user agent faker (and more).
I highly doubt that Bluetooth 4.0 is going to remove the biggest obstacle to these sorts of applications on the iPhone, which is Apple's review process.
Right now if your Bluetooth device corresponds to one of the handful of profiles with blanket approval from Apple (headsets, keyboards, certain accessibility hardware) you're fine, but if you're trying to do anything as exotic as serial communication with a third-party device you're shit out of luck unless you join Apple's MFI program.
And the MFI program won't even talk to you until you've lawyered up, so it's pretty alienating to anyone who wants to build something as a side project.
The same goes for serial communication. You can buy a nicely-built RedPark cable and make a stunningly beautiful app to talk to whatever device is on the other end, but your app won't make it into the store unless Apple has put the MFI stamp of approval on your device.
Since Apple controls what goes into their App Store, it would require a major shift in their approval policy before we see any significant expansion of apps that talk to arbitrary Bluetooth-enabled widgets.
(If anyone has heard of examples of approved apps using serial or bluetooth communication to talk to unapproved devices, I'd love to know!)
I can't say much since I'm still under NDA, but I can tell you that my co-founder and I got all the way through the MFI approval process, without any kind of "lawyering up". Apple was great through the entire process—very eager to help us get our small project started.
The MFI program isn't the easiest process in the world, but it isn't impossible. Definitely doable as a side project if you're motivated.
this API is it. no approval process as far as is known. the CB api treats devices no differently than web sites as far as Apple is concerned.
the reason that there are no apps yet is that only iPhone 4S has the heardware for CB and no CB chipsets out there yet in devices. chicken and egg problem which hopefully will be solved with the iPhone 4S adoption.
Some things that are not possible yet (though it would be super cool if they were on Apple’s todo list):
- iPhone to iPhone CoreBluetooth communication
This is a killer. All of the ideas suggested in the article would require custom built hardware- if we could do user-user connections then I think a lot more would be possible.
Apple has just revamped their hardware partner program, supposedly providing easier access to BL4 chipsets. Other hardware makers will certainly follow. I bet (and hope) this will be bigger than RFID.
As Timothee notes, peer-to-peer already exists, it was one of the big bullet points in iOS3, as part of the push towards improved gaming experience (which also yield GameCenter in iOS4).
I've yet to see an application make use of peer-to-peer communications at all (as well as in-game chat, though I'm pretty happy about that one).
The only problem with all of these use cases is very few people walk around with their bluetooth on all the time! Cool technology but I don't see this getting picked up in the way you're imagining.
My guess would be they have some cool (hardware) stuff waiting to be released when iPhone 4S sales start to slow down and people start to consider holding out for the next iPhone.
What about audio? I'm incredibly frustrated that I have 4 different devices capable of exporting Bluetooth audio, but I have to go through a bug-ridden and annoying pairing process to hook one up to my car or home stereo, so I don't even bother.
pak|14 years ago
fennecfoxen|14 years ago
(Wait. They're thinking "money money money", and apparently not much else. Duh. There's the problem.)
ja27|14 years ago
jws|14 years ago
It could be useful for easily interacting with devices, e.g. thermostats, exercise monitors, televisions, cars…
There don't appear to be (m)any devices using it now. But it is in the phone, waiting.
sudont|14 years ago
TI is a bit more friendly in this regard, see video in below link.
I'm interested to see if anyone could potentially implement a lightweight data format for send/receive to create an open system for communicating from app-to-mote. Right now, any iPhone receiver app on the store wouldn't be allowed to download any drivers, however a common application-layer protocol transmitting JSON would probably work. After all, it wouldn't be code, just rules on how to interpret it.
http://www.ti.com/tool/cc2540dk-mini#Related%20Products
mahyarm|14 years ago
http://www.wahoofitness.com/wahoo_blue/
toyg|14 years ago
By default you have to go to Settings -> General -> Bluetooth -> on/off -- 4 taps, which is ridiculous. It's slightly better for WiFi, "only" 3 taps.
Ideally I'd be able to get buttons on my home screen that will quickly switch these on or off with 1 tap.
fishtopher|14 years ago
http://brdrck.me/settings/
TheAmazingIdiot|14 years ago
So.. it takes a slide and a tap.
frankus|14 years ago
Right now if your Bluetooth device corresponds to one of the handful of profiles with blanket approval from Apple (headsets, keyboards, certain accessibility hardware) you're fine, but if you're trying to do anything as exotic as serial communication with a third-party device you're shit out of luck unless you join Apple's MFI program.
And the MFI program won't even talk to you until you've lawyered up, so it's pretty alienating to anyone who wants to build something as a side project.
The same goes for serial communication. You can buy a nicely-built RedPark cable and make a stunningly beautiful app to talk to whatever device is on the other end, but your app won't make it into the store unless Apple has put the MFI stamp of approval on your device.
Since Apple controls what goes into their App Store, it would require a major shift in their approval policy before we see any significant expansion of apps that talk to arbitrary Bluetooth-enabled widgets.
(If anyone has heard of examples of approved apps using serial or bluetooth communication to talk to unapproved devices, I'd love to know!)
kainosnoema|14 years ago
The MFI program isn't the easiest process in the world, but it isn't impossible. Definitely doable as a side project if you're motivated.
robspychala|14 years ago
the reason that there are no apps yet is that only iPhone 4S has the heardware for CB and no CB chipsets out there yet in devices. chicken and egg problem which hopefully will be solved with the iPhone 4S adoption.
davidcann|14 years ago
neuroelectronic|14 years ago
[deleted]
thurn|14 years ago
masklinn|14 years ago
benvanderbeek|14 years ago
untog|14 years ago
- iPhone to iPhone CoreBluetooth communication
This is a killer. All of the ideas suggested in the article would require custom built hardware- if we could do user-user connections then I think a lot more would be possible.
Timothee|14 years ago
One way is to use GameKit (http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/Networ...) but I believe you can just go with a BlueTooth connection.
Are you thinking about something else? Is it some specificity of GameKit that's limiting you?
ricardobeat|14 years ago
masklinn|14 years ago
I've yet to see an application make use of peer-to-peer communications at all (as well as in-game chat, though I'm pretty happy about that one).
robspychala|14 years ago
article is also mirrored on tumblr @
http://dedegroup.tumblr.com/post/14177518904/bluetooth
unknown|14 years ago
[deleted]
bijanv|14 years ago
MrMuslin|14 years ago
joezydeco|14 years ago
robspychala|14 years ago
smackfu|14 years ago
jeffclark|14 years ago
Seems like a really good technology for, say, an Apple TV remote.
rickmb|14 years ago
ctz|14 years ago
(Me: Chrome 17.0.963.2 dev-m on Windows).
robspychala|14 years ago
sebbi|14 years ago
[deleted]
gcb|14 years ago
Maybe fine for tv remote if you still want to be vulnerable to tv-be-gone. But since even tvs now have powerful cpus, not even it is worth
lukifer|14 years ago