Why Google Choosing Arduino Matters - Slashdot
Paul D. Fernhout
"Earlier this week at Google I/O, Google announced the Android Open
Accessory kit which uses the open source hardware platform, Arduino.
MAKE magazine has an in-depth article about why Google choosing the
Arduino matters, why Google picked Arduino and some predictions about
what's next for Apple's 'Made for iPod' as well and what
Microsoft/Nokia/Skype should do to keep up."
And from a link there:
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/usb/adk.html
"The Android 3.1 platform (also backported to Android 2.3.4) introduces
Android Open Accessory support, which allows external USB hardware (an
Android USB accessory) to interact with an Android-powered device in a
special "accessory" mode. When an Android-powered powered device is in
accessory mode, the connected accessory acts as the USB host (powers the
bus and enumerates devices) and the Android-powered device acts as the
device. Android USB accessories are specifically designed to attach to
Android-powered devices and adhere to a simple protocol (Android
accessory protocol) that allows them to detect Android-powered devices
that support accessory mode. Accessories must also provide 500mA at 5V
for charging power. Many previously released Android-powered devices are
only capable of acting as a USB device and cannot initiate connections
with external USB devices. Android Open Accessory support overcomes this
limitation and allows you to build accessories that can interact with an
assortment of Android-powered devices by allowing the accessory initiate
the connection."
Another referenced link at Make Magazine:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/05/why-google-choosing-arduino-matters-and-the-end-of-made-for-ipod-tm.html
"In this week�s column, I�m going to talk about Google choosing the open
source hardware platform (Arduino) for the �Android Open Accessory� kit,
and why this matters. I�m also going to talk a little about how Google
could make it better. And then, I�m going to do what I always do in many
of my columns: make predictions (Why The Arduino Won And Why It�s Here
To Stay). 1) Google will have a �Kinect-style� surge of creativity for
the Android + Arduino; 2) Apple will start to abandon their restrictive
�Made for iPod�(TM) program and adopt the Arduino in some way for
accessory development, 3) Microsoft/Nokia/Skype are likely paying
attention to all this, and they should look at the Netduino for their
accessory development for Windows Phone 7. "
So, is this going to make an Android phone an important part of a lot of
open source hardware projects (including RepRap perhaps)?
Note also:
http://faircompanies.com/diy/view/make-your-own-open-source-android-smartphone/
"Flow DIY is an open source hardware platform so anyone can make a
smartphone with the Android operating system and the exact capabilities
one is looking for. Its components as well as the final creation by the
user are open source, a first step toward the generalization of DIY
devices. Interest is growing in personalizing not only software and web
applications, but in everyday devices. A legion of DIYers are demanding
tools to create increasingly more sophisticated devices. ..."
As I've said elsewhere, with the turnover rate of Smartphones, in two or
three years, today's generation of smartphones will be
free-as-in-discarded. :-) So, it can make sense to build stuff for them,
especially since if they are free-as-in-discarded-beer then they can be
free for kids to use for educational things. Reference:
http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/2009-November/006250.html
That's one reason I started working on Android software (and under a
three-years-and-its-free-under-the-GPL model that I am still conflicted
about). Still, sadly my Google Developer Smartphone died several after I
got it and I never got around to sending it in for replacement, so I
guess there is an amount of old phones that will not be usable for
similar reasons (but I doubt that will be the majority). Also, as people
have pointed out, the Smartphone batteries tend to go, making them less
useful as they age (although I guess you could hack in some alternative
power if you were motivated).
Still, I'd suggest that if one is making an open manufacturing project
that requires computing, integrating an Android Smartphone might be an
interesting idea.
--Paul Fernhout
http://www.pdfernhout.net/
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The biggest challenge of the 21st century is the irony of technologies
of abundance in the hands of those thinking in terms of scarcity.