Slashdot Mirror
iPhone Opens Up Bluetooth For Data
WildNahviss writes "Apple has loosened its tight grip on the iPhone and allowed a third party to develop a health device that exchanges data with the iPhone and their hardware. Is this the start of a trend for Apple that will relax constraints on non-audio Bluetooth use, or is this an exception? Does anyone know of any other devices for the iPhone that allows non-audio Bluetooth transmission of data?"
Reader climenole points out an article about another health-sensor system, dubbed a "body area network," that is built to work with Android devices, but not via Bluetooth.
There is one really simple reason why Apple is now opening up their iPhone. They wont however do it fully, just a little bit. And the reason? Windows Mobile 7. From the announcement it looks like a real competitor for iPhone. You also aren't only capable of getting one kind of phone, you can get the one that suits you best.
WM7 will also have the app store and by the looks of the announemenet, intuitive UI and great user interface. It basically has everything that is good in iPhone, but gives you more freedom in choosing the type of phone you want.
If Apple doesn't start opening up things and let the kinds of Adobe and Flash on iPhone, people will move away to a superior platform. And by the looks of it, that is going to be WM7.
Any Made-For-Ipod certified company can design gadgets that talk via bluetooth back to the iPhone. So nothing new here.
They released autodetect APIs for wifi and bluetooth a long time ago. Their selling point was for ad hoc gaming connections, but this sounds like the same thing really...
IIRC, Apple announced that they would be opening the bluetooth stack up for devs as part of the iOS 3.0 release. A couple of minutes of lazy googling didn't find a reference, so again, IIRC.
"200 Quatloos on the newcomer!" "300 Quatloos against!"
can now be used with iphone, which qualifies as non-audio uses!
As was pointed out elsewhere, the iPhone can currently use a bluetooth connection for gaming.
However, there are other device uses too - the TomTom iPhone car dock uses bluetooth to send improved GPS data (the dock has a stronger GPS receiver) to the iPhone. In theory at one point they were saying other applications could make use of it, but I'm not sure if anything came of that...
The issue with bluetooth has more been the iPhone does not support some of the more popular bluetooth data profiles like file sharing - but ever since the SDK supported Bluetooth device makers have been able to do whatever custom protocols they liked.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It's like you have some bizarre version of Turrets Syndrome where instead of screaming obscenities you blurt out an endless stream of Microsoft marketing talking points.
You know, not everyone who posts something that isn't mindlessly, absolutely pro-Apple/Steve Jobs/iPhone/iPad etc works for Microsoft.
Some of them work for Google.
If I understand you, I could wait for a WM7 phone which has everything you mention, or I could just get it now in an Android phone.
So why should I wait, and why should I trust Microsoft over Google? And, for that matter, why would Apple be afraid of Microsoft's vaporware, when they can be afraid of Google's reality?
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
This is a non-story, at least how it is written.
As part of iPhoneOS (now iOS) 3.0, in June *2009*, Apple announced that hardware manufacturers would be able to have their hardware directly interface with their iPhoneOS applications, either through the dock connector OR through bluetooth. They have an official set of APIs built into the OS specifically to facilitate this.
I think it was cool that they did this over a YEAR AGO, but hey, that story doesn't make for as sexy a headline as "OMG Apple suddenly loosening their Death Grip on their iPhone hardware?!?!?!"
-- Nathan
P.S. -- No Apple apologist here; in fact, I'm generally very critical of the locked-down nature of the iDevices. But come on...let's strive for accuracy here.
...I get more and more happy i decided (even forgetting about them being late with 3g support) against buying one, as nice as it is (me = happy user of a E71/E63; the E71 could do a lot of things in 2006 which the iphone seems to learn slowly because Apple teamed up with the providers to fuck the users as hard as possible - sorry transferring contacts, appointments, data by BT and connectign to any BT device i bought or ever tested *is* a mandatory feature; not to mention that the E71 could communicate with my palm from 2003 by infrared.....).
Nike+ uses the same (unlicensed) frequency, but it is not Bluetooth. The Nike+ iPod adapter is not a Bluetooth adapter.
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
That Roving Networks product only gives you firmware to cover the Apple devices' "unique discovery and pairing sequence" - you still need to join the Made For iPod program to be allowed to buy authentication co-processors.
Personally I think that if you're smart enough to make a device that does something useful and communicates over Bluetooth, then you're smart enough to handle the Apple authentication sequence. I've done it, which proves that you don't need to be very smart at all!
I guess that this product might be for people who don't want to communicate over Bluetooth, but if they join the MFi program, then they can use serial or USB as they see fit.
So I vote a fail for Roving Networks - I just don't see who that product could be useful for.
Don't forget the iOS on the iPad & iTouch. That might make a little difference. You know, 20+million or so devices.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
TFA says: "Its health sensors will be one of the first devices, other than ear buds, that link to smartphones with Bluetooth short-range communications."
I find this fascinating given that I've had an app in the Android Market, called Heart Rate Monitor, that has been around for almost a year and does just that. It talks via bluetooth data to a bluetooth heart rate chest strap. My app is just one of many that can talk to these bluetooth devices, called Zephyr HxM.
I wonder if Apple will allow generic access or if this was a partnership. I only develop for Android but an iPhone developer friend says that bluetooth access for apps is still not available.
A fine specimen too - noun/verb agreement, excellent sentence structure, near perfect reproduction of the mimicked speech. I hope you all didn't frighten him away. We don't see them much in these parts any more. They weren't able to reproduce during the Vista campaign, and the remainder were hunted to near extinction during the short life of the Kin.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Eh, not so much - you might want to take a look at the pie chart here
Nokia still capture 40% of the market with Symbian.
You point still stands though I suppose. But the order is -
1. Symbian
2. RIM
3. Android
4. iOS
Umm no. Check your figures before calling people out like that. The worldwide smartphone market is led by Nokia, then RIM, then Android, then Apple, with windows mobile pulling in only 5% of sales.
And given Nokia has apparently been actually losing market share in recent years, any assertion of information on the state of either sales or install base that misses them out is just plain false.
Actually, I'm fairly certain that Nokia (Symbian) would be in first place there for world wide usage.Smartphones They even have a pie chart....
"To prevent this day from getting any worse, I'll just read ERROR as GOOD THING" 1GJU8xLuDKDxEs4KLf8fAGyptoDsqvEsBT
All the better to eat you with my dear.
RIP TRICERATOPS, YOU NEVER EXISTED
http://www.redpark.com/news.html
"connect an iPhone or iPod Touch to serial devices such as medical or scientific instrumentation, point of sale devices, industrial process control equipment, networking devices, and building automation equipment. The cable enables the attached device to communicate with an application running on the iPhone."
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Ho. Ly. Crap.
You Apple buyers actually think this is reasonable behaviour on the part of a vendor, and you accept this sort of abuse, willingly?
Care to explain why? Apple == ritual self-abuse, it seems. Are you people crazy?
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
Yup, I had to say it.
The Nokia N900 is a very open device.
Perhaps someone will finally make a proper bluetooth remote that works with the PS3? I find it hilarious that Sony doesn't allow you to use BD Remote with the most popular Blu-ray player on the market.
And just to provide real numbers to the discussion:
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1372013
Symbian, RIM, iPhone, Android, Windows in order of platform.
If he explores all forms and substances Straight homeward to their symbol-essences; He shall not die.
Apple is ramping up a .edu tour with bluetooth enabled sensors that test stuff and send to i
Pad and iPod for graphed data collection.
In response to the original article, the upcoming iControlPad (made by the developers of Pandora, no, not the radio) is bypassing the apple patent troll by making it controlled by bluetooth (Source). Also don't buy one until I have bought one, limited supply demands that I'm first.
And much of that was available on the Sony Ericsson T610 i got back in 2003/2004 (a featurephone). Bluetooth on US sold phones have been raped by carriers for ages, and is one reason why Nokia is a virtual no show in that market (they refused to let the carriers neuter phone features like voip and bluetooth).
And this is why i groan each time i read a US tech blog talking about mobile tech from a US == world perspective...
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
Gaawk (me choking on, well, opinions)... I am sure I am not the only one. That there are people interested is how Apple has implemented Bluetooth. For instance, I am rather sure HID [Human Interface Device] Bluetooth keyboards work w/iPods but SPP [Serial Port Protocol] Bluetooth keyboards (if there is such a thing) do not. While, I believe, SPP keyboards should work with RIM products. The Bluetooth keyboard I am using w/my iPod is 3rd party. Further, I would be very surprised if it had an Apple authentication chip inside. I am also rather sure A2DP [Advanced Audio Distribution Protocol] Bluetooth headphones work with iPods even with out a authentication chip. I bought A2DP headphones for a Sony phone and when iPod included this feature in a FW upgrade the phones worked with the iPod. What I (and I believe others) want to know is what Bluetooth devices work and/or how to get them to work with an iPod. (1) What Bluetooth protocols are supported? (2) Do you need an authentication chip for any of them? (3) Can an application gain access to Bluetooth SSP? (4) Can an application gain access to Bluetooth HID? (5) Will any Bluetooth keyboard work w/an iPod? [Let's keep this branch of comments restricted to the facts - sort of like the "wiki" branch off of this slash-dot story.] ...thanks
This is trusted computing. People wanted it, the industry pushed it hard, and now it's here. It's the same story you get with various other implementations of TPC.
A close inspection yields my phone is actually and e61. No wifi sounds disgusting.
The Nike shoe system transmits step information over Bluetooth, I believe. My iPod Touch 2nd generation came with an app from Apple called "Nike + iPod" that uses Bluetooth. The app can be enabled in Settings > Nike + iPod > On. There may also be a related Bluetooth remote out there to control music playing ( >|| , + , - , |<< , >>| ).
My T68i did transfer of data/contacts etc by BT and IrDA years before that. Prior to that I was sending email by phone/IrDA/palm in the mid 90s, too.
Are most US phones crippled deliberately?