I keep encountering devices like TVs and Blu-Ray players that can play virtually any kind of media from a USB stick, but will only play from network if you provide an utterly worthless, hamstrung, DLNA compatible server. I'm wondering if an arduino with a USB host and ethernet shield could look like a USB stick mass storage device, but really provide the files from a network share (unencumbered by stoopid DLNA media format restrictions)?

I have a feeling it might take the mytical DUE to provide enough horsepower for such a thing, but aside from the bandwidth requirements, does it seem possible?

My Motorola Triumph phone (in fact lots of people's Triumph phones) has this mysterious behavior where the green notification LED will sometimes flash (there are never any actual notices to be found when this happens). I'm wondering what the simplest way might be to detect it (and distinguish it from the red LED which does all sorts of legitimate flashing I'd want to ignore).

I'm thinking if I get curious enough someday, I might want to have an arduino watch for the green LED then tell my computer to capture the log from the phone as soon as it lights up :-). Maybe I'd be able to find a pattern and discover what is behind these mysterious green flashes...

Even cheaper than the Leonardo is the Teensy (http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/). I found it very handy to be able to use the USB and bluetooth connection at the same time.

I'm keeping my eye on solidoodle.com (which might actually be shipping real soon now :-). I'm thinking about getting a 3D printer, but I figure all the newcomers in the market will be shaken out a bit by maybe Christmas time, so I'm just waiting and watching at the moment.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/08/opinion/banzi-ted-open-source/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

So i'll need another device like an older phone with BT to check wether or not the BT module is broadcasting it's name and/or make connections?

I guess - I don't think iPhones are missing BT, they just refuses to talk RFCOMM because (for some reason) that's the way Apple wants it. My Android phone works fine talking to my JY-MCU modules as does my linux box with a cheap bluetooth dongle plugged into a USB port (mine was sold by D-link).

Then I type 'AT' and press send. An 'OK' returns. All fine and dandy, but other than that AT command, no other AT commands like 'AT+VERSION' work. The module is just sitting there, flashing a red light. My iPhone also can't find any Bluetooth device, no 'Linvor' is showing up.

Can anyone shine a light on this one?

Unfortunately yes: iOS won't talk simple serial bluetooth (RFCOMM) without you paying Apple a gazillion dollars and going through something like a Navy Seal training certification process :-). Either that or rooting your iPhone so you can install the stuff described at:

http://code.google.com/p/btstack/

I'm working on a fanatical IR remote project. You might be able to dig up useful info and/or code out of my web pages at:

http://home.comcast.net/~tomhorsley/hardware/arduino/aardremote.html

I use the arduino as a low level device I talk to with bluetooth or over USB and have a host system (my linux box or android phone) send commands and get back IR info.

I'm genuinely curious as to what their target audience is.

If it were to work reliably, I could see using it as a media PC with an big external USB drive for content. I have seen reports of mplayer operating at least a little on it.

By the way, I finished another prototype (using a Teensy board and a JY-MCU bluetooth module this time), and it is as different as night and day, but still kinda silly:



For the full story see: http://home.comcast.net/~tomhorsley/hardware/arduino/teensy.html

I keep looking at http://www.solidoodle.com/ and getting this urge to click on the "buy now" button though...

And most bluetooth modules (at least the cheap ones) are slave only and two slaves can't talk to each other. (I'm using bluetooth, not because I love bluetooth, but because I want it to talk to my android phone - which seems to work pretty well once I figured out all the nits to pick).

The serial monitor isn't a very good terminal. It may be sending a CR or LF or both at the end, my JY-MCU doesn't like those either. You need something that sends the last 'N' in version then stops sending :-). (Maybe the serial monitor can be set to no line ending? I forget).

when I type AT I get OK, but when I type AT+VERSION (or ATVERSION, like You said before) I get nothing.

Are you really typing keys with your fingers? If this is the same firmware my board has,
that will never work - it uses timing to decide when it has gotten a message, and no one
can type fast enough for long messages to satisfy it. Try using cut & paste into your
terminal app.

I got bluetooth updating to work (sometimes), but the timing is very tricky with the reset button. You need to be able to run avrdude in a command line so you can release the reset button at the same time you hit return (and even then it may not work).

You also need to be sure the bluetooth module is set to communicate at the same baud rate the boot loader uses, and that avrdude is also using that same baud rate. Down near the bottom of this web page is my success story using an ITead bluetooth module:

http://home.comcast.net/~tomhorsley/hardware/arduino/ITead.html

Are you sure all 3 of the bluetooth module, the mega, and putty are set to talk the same baud rate?