Arduino and Android ADK (Accessory Development Kit), and Open AndroidConference.

[SMS]

I went to O'Reilly's "Android Open" conference in San Francisco this
week. I was not enthusiastic about it, thinking it would all be about
app development, but I got a 100% off discount code so I went. In fact
there was a heavy hardware emphasis, especially in relation to Arduino.
Google has adopted Arduino as the platform for accessory development for
Android. <http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/usb/adk.html>.

For devices with Android version 2.3.4 or later it is very easy to use
Arduino to develop accessories that connect to the Android device via
USB for Arduino boards that support the ADK (there are at least two out
already, and Sparkfun showed a third that isn't out yet)
<http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005CIU14U>,
<http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10748>. If you're getting into
Arduino, buying one of the boards that supports the ADK might be a good
idea, they are only a little more expensive than the non-ADK boards.

It's a bit strange, but since few Android devices have host USB ports
(some tablets have them, but no phones that I know of), the accessory is
actually the host and the Android device is the target. This means that
the accessory also needs to provide 5V, 500mA to the device (which I
thought strange since there is an option for a host device to provide
less current).

The founder of Arduino, Massimo Banzi, spoke and was giving away and
signing his _Getting Started with Arduino_ book. Simon Monk, author of
_30 Arduino Projects for the Evil Genius_ was there so I brought the
book on the 2nd day and had him sign it. There was also a presentation
entitled "Arduino & Handbag: Create Android Accessories Without Android
Code," (slides not available).

They had a mini "Maker Faire" with a load of small companies showing
their hardware projects.

Massimo Banzi's slides:
<http://androidopen.com/android2011/public/schedule/detail/20962>.

Massimo Banzi's video:
<

>.

Simon Monk's slides of "Building Android Accessories using the Open
Accessory Development Kit and Arduino":
<http://tinyurl.com/simon-monk-arduino>.

Oh, and the food was exceptionally good, as was the open bar on Monday
night. Strangely, some of the food and booze was sponsored by Microsoft,
who you would think would not be an enthusiastic supporter of Android.

 

[SMS]

Thank you for your report on the Android Open conference and the links
to Massimo Banzi's and Simon Monk's slides. I have been piddling with
the ADK and eagerly waiting for Simon Monk's book.

He mentioned his new book, _Arduino + Android Projects for the Evil
Genius_. Really nice guy. He said that I was only the second person to
ever ask that he sign his Evil Genius book.

I also went to a session on the "Meme" IDE which his company is
developing. It's a development platform for Android and Windows Mobile
(will not be upgraded to Windows 8, but may add iOS). It's the kind of
platform I like because it's more to enable the development of
commercial apps and instrumentation than games. The MEME session was not
well attended as it conflicted with an open bar, sushi, and other
delicacies downstairs, and it was not part of the official conference
program.

<http://www.simonmonk.org/books>, I suspect the first few paragraphs
describe a lot of us in this Usenet group!

 

[SMS]

I am surprised you had a copy of the "Arduino and Android Projects for
the Evil Genius" book available for Simon to Autograph. I preordered
a copy from Amazon and they say the book won't be available until
December 30, 2011. The instrumentation side of the Meme IDE sounds
interesting.

No, I have his earlier book _30 Arduino Projects for the Evil Genius_.