Bluetooth Accessory for Iphone

We are trying to develop a bluetooth accessory to control some smartphone functions.
This is the board that we are planning to use:
http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardBluetooth

From the google searches and other information I am able to understand following things:

1.This supports Android phones(Devices)

2.Does not support connection with other Bluetooth accessories.

I want to know

  1. what are the ways in which I can make this compatible with Apple devices(iPhone) ?

2.Any software that we write for this would be deemed open source ??

The iOS SDK does not provide access to the bluetooth serial protocol, so there isn't really any way to use it.

dxw00d:
The iOS SDK does not provide access to the bluetooth serial protocol, so there isn't really any way to use it.

This kind of stuff is exactly why I have a phone that runs Android. Although very functional, at times even elegantly so, most Apple products just aren't tinker/hacker friendly.

svshenoy:
2.Any software that we write for this would be deemed open source ??

That would primarily depend upon if you decide to release the code. :slight_smile: Seriously though, the code you write could be treated just like any other Arduino sketch.

dxw00d:
The iOS SDK does not provide access to the bluetooth serial protocol, so there isn't really any way to use it.

So the problem is with developing the code using iOS devices , since SPP is only way to access the board ???
But once development is done can't we connect to iOS devices with other profiles like AVRCP/HFP.

I am new to both bluetooth/Apple accessory development , so excuse me if I am asking very basic questions !
Also it would be helpful if you can point me to any link where I could get more information regarding this ?

But once development is done can't we connect to iOS devices with other profiles like AVRCP/HFP.

Not using the Arduino BT, as it only supports SPP. If you had a different bluetooth device that did support AVRCP/HFP then you could use the limited facilites that they provide. It rather depends on what you mean by 'control some smartphone functions'. If you just want to control the media player, or initiate/answer phone calls, then you should be ok. iOS also supports PBAP, so assuming your bluetooth device also supported it, you could access the phone contacts.

It would appear that iOS5 and iPhone 4s (and later, presumbly) support bluetooth low energy (BLE), which should open up data transfer. This page (http://www.mkroll.mobi/?page_id=386) shows a BLE shield.

Also it would be helpful if you can point me to any link where I could get more information regarding this ?

This kind of stuff is exactly why I have a phone that runs Android. Although very functional, at times even elegantly so, most Apple products just aren't tinker/hacker friendly.

Yes, it's the reason I went from an iPhone 4 to an HTC One X (that, and the non-appearance of iPhone 5 at the time I was changing phones). It's a shame Android still can't provide the smoothness of operation that iOS does, though. Even on the Nexus 7, with jelly bean's project butter, there is always a perceptible lag between moving a finger, and a reaction on the device.

If you just want to control the media player, or initiate/answer phone calls, then you should be ok

Does this mean if we develop AVRCP/HFP profiles on this using non iOS based platfrom during dev phase ??
So this in conclusion means Apple does not support SPP , but any BT accessory with AVRCP/HFP should work with iOS(Apple) products ?

But List of Bluetooth profiles - Wikipedia
This article suggests that AVRCP is developed on SPP , so if SPP is not supported how can AVRCP be supported by iOS ??

if SPP is not supported how can AVRCP be supported by iOS ??

Because Apple have chosen to put support for AVRCP into iOS, but not for SPP. Even if the underlying transport is the same, they can choose what to expose in an API.