(I've searched for similar threads but couldn't find any with thread titles indicative of similar content so here we go.)
On my iPod touch I have an application that, when combined with a server on a Windows or OS X box, allows me to use the iPod as a WLAN-attached gamepad. Yes, it's as unusable as it sounds but hey, it's still a nifty concept.
Now I wondered: The Pandora has an entire Bluetooth stack. Does the BT spec allow us to use it not as a host but as a peripheral attached to another device? If yes then we could attach the Pandora to a PC and use it as a Bluetooth keyboard, gamepad and touchpad. I certainly wouldn't mind that.
We could go even further if we go the client/server-over-WLAN route – essentially we could turn the Pandora into a G15 clone with built-in gamepad, displaying all kinds of information on the Pandora's screen while remotely controlling the PC. I'm not sure whether BT gives us enough bandwidth for the fancier tasks (plus, it sounds CPU-taxing enough that turning off BT to save power might be a good idea).
On a semi-related note, there should be some kind of standardized way of getting information out of games. So far, the G15 and its siblings are only useful for a handful of games that directly support them. It'd be nice if there was a standardized way of querying games for information (even if only FOSS games support it) so if we want to support a certain game we can just ask it for what it thinks to be relevant information and build our info applet from that without having to write any game-specific code other than that needed to format the data we received.
I'd suggest something simple that can easily be implemented. For example, the game could listen on port 4860/tcp (randomly chosen non-IANA-registered number unlikely to be used as an ephemeral port). If the game receives a message on that port, it discards the message (so the feature can't be used as an attack vector) and replies with a newline-separated list of values. Maybe one could allow the game to interpret the message it was sent (if one wants to display several sets of data) but I'd make it optional as I don't want to enable a worm to work by exploiting exposed game information ports.
If this made it into the mainstream, users of applet-capable keyboards like the G15 would also profit. Of course it won't but it'd still be kinda nice.
On my iPod touch I have an application that, when combined with a server on a Windows or OS X box, allows me to use the iPod as a WLAN-attached gamepad. Yes, it's as unusable as it sounds but hey, it's still a nifty concept.
Now I wondered: The Pandora has an entire Bluetooth stack. Does the BT spec allow us to use it not as a host but as a peripheral attached to another device? If yes then we could attach the Pandora to a PC and use it as a Bluetooth keyboard, gamepad and touchpad. I certainly wouldn't mind that.
We could go even further if we go the client/server-over-WLAN route – essentially we could turn the Pandora into a G15 clone with built-in gamepad, displaying all kinds of information on the Pandora's screen while remotely controlling the PC. I'm not sure whether BT gives us enough bandwidth for the fancier tasks (plus, it sounds CPU-taxing enough that turning off BT to save power might be a good idea).
On a semi-related note, there should be some kind of standardized way of getting information out of games. So far, the G15 and its siblings are only useful for a handful of games that directly support them. It'd be nice if there was a standardized way of querying games for information (even if only FOSS games support it) so if we want to support a certain game we can just ask it for what it thinks to be relevant information and build our info applet from that without having to write any game-specific code other than that needed to format the data we received.
I'd suggest something simple that can easily be implemented. For example, the game could listen on port 4860/tcp (randomly chosen non-IANA-registered number unlikely to be used as an ephemeral port). If the game receives a message on that port, it discards the message (so the feature can't be used as an attack vector) and replies with a newline-separated list of values. Maybe one could allow the game to interpret the message it was sent (if one wants to display several sets of data) but I'd make it optional as I don't want to enable a worm to work by exploiting exposed game information ports.
If this made it into the mainstream, users of applet-capable keyboards like the G15 would also profit. Of course it won't but it'd still be kinda nice.
