Making an iPhone accessory?
April 8, 2010 12:42 PM   Subscribe

iPhone "works with iPhone" hardware accessories, where do I start?

I'm looking to develop a iPhone hardware accessory that connects to the dock connector and interfaces with an application.

I realize most people/companies who do this are experts in their field, but I do have an electrical engineering background (I recently graduated, but work in IT). I have seem several ways to go about developing the accessory (just a basic sensor, let's say a thermometer), such as using an Arduino microcontroller and add-on shields or using the development kits from Cypress or Atmel. My problem is once I get something working with those setups, how do I simplify the design into a reasonable size for an iPhone accessory. In other words, how does someone turn an breadboard design into an reduced, integrated circuit? I realize this can be a very complex thing to do, but on the other hand Chinese companies seem to crank out piece-of-shit type electronics all the time.

I'm going to try to join the "made for ipod" / "works with iphone" program for hardware accessory developers. I have heard that it has become easier to join as an individual since the initial launch of the iPhone.

Does Apple supply any development hardware? I assume they "let" you purchase special chips to identify the accessory as "Works with iPhone".

Really, ANY insight is appreciated. This is one of the most un-documented things I've tried to do. I'm also willing to spend some money on the project.

Finally, I am looking to make a legitimate accessory and not just jailbreak my phone to access the connector's interface.
posted by anonymous to Computers & Internet (1 answer total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Here you go.
posted by lodev at 2:12 PM on April 11, 2010


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