Is it possible to transfer files of a bluetooth device, lets say a digital pen (e.g. Nokia or Logitech io2) to the iPhone? I am interested if I could do a native application that could somehow get that binary file sent by the digital pen and do something with it. I am used to rfcomm and obex but I can only find inconclusive results when I search for that and the support in the iPhone SDK... Any ideas?
A:
To my knowledge, no – the iPhone OS does currently not support filetransfers via Bluetooth. I think you will have to jailbreak the software to get enough access to the Bluetooth stack to pull it off.
It is very telling that even if you have Bluetooth turned on in your iPhone, it does not show up on other devices when searching for units to transfer files to. I suppose it's saying something in its Bluetooth signature that tells other devices that it doesn't receive files.
mikl
2009-07-22 13:37:31
+1
A:
No, on a normal iPhone you are totally unable to do this.
However, it is totally capable and the functions most likely exist, but Apple doesn't want people using them so you aren't going to find anything in their documentation. An extremely large number of these functions exist. If you wrote an app containing one of these functions, Apple wouldn't let it into the app store.
They're extremely and reasonably concerned about safety. Bluetooth isn't exactly known for being secure in any form.
Sneakyness
2009-07-22 13:43:26
Thanks for the replies! I actually just tried to at least pair the pen with the iphone and it worked! But it is listed as an imaging device and sending data does not make the iphone react in any way. I was hoping I could implement some app that is listening to that bluetooth request and grabs the data that is then being sent...It's a pity they restrict it so much and jailbreaking is out of question...
Dimitri Wetzel
2009-07-22 14:20:32
It really isn't though, multiple times examples have been brought to light of people walking around or sitting in a cafe and ripping all of the data off cellphones via bluetooth. Bluetooth sniper antennas have also been demonstrated which can pick out specific targets over very long distances. Apple is being extremely "better safe than sorry" for their phones, as any sort of security blunder would really ruin it's chances as a corporate cellphone.
Sneakyness
2009-07-22 14:48:34
I don't know about that argumentation line... I have been developing applications on other mobile phones and never had any problems with data ripping, there are other ways to secure your device. Take the Blackberry as an example. And at least it should be possible to programatically accept data...
Dimitri Wetzel
2009-07-22 14:56:33
Sneakyness
2009-07-22 15:35:54
A:
Look at the EAAccessory reference.
It seems like it should be possible to write a custom app that talks to any bluetooth device - you'd have to implement the file transfer protocol yourself, but now that apps are free to talk to bluetooth devices I don't think the API will prevent you from doing what you stated you want to do.
Kendall Helmstetter Gelner
2009-07-22 15:26:46
Thanks, that's good to hear, at least it seems that it's worth a shot and try it out...
Dimitri Wetzel
2009-07-22 15:41:47
Actually, the device will need to be part of the Made for iPod program and will need to contain special hardware to decode the Bluetooth data stream. You'll need to wait for the manufacturer to put out a version of the Bluetooth device that has these capabilities or build your own. No current devices support this, to my knowledge.
Brad Larson
2009-07-22 17:49:51
Hmm, thanks for the update - I had thought if you simply looked for the protocols associated with any device trying to connect, you would see something you could respond to...
Kendall Helmstetter Gelner
2009-07-22 19:16:23