Feasibility Discussion for a Bluetooth Interface for the TI-99/4A to pair with an Android Cellphone

[Omega-TI]

Feasibility Discussion for a Bluetooth Interface for the TI-99/4A to pair with an Android Cellphone

 

Smartphones have storage capacity, more than you would ever need for the TI-99/4A.

Smartphones have Internet access capabilities via the cellular network.

Smartphones have WiFi capability allowing hopping to ones home network.

Smartphones have Bluetooth.

 

Most of us already own a smartphone, so what if we could harness ALL of our cellphones capabilities for use by a TI console with a relatively inexpensive device?

 

PRINTING

Many of us already have printer specific drivers for our printers on our smartphones, it may be possible to print to our modern printers using an “Android to TI-99/4A interface APP”.

 

INTERNET

Many of us have internet access on our cellphones, an “Android to TI-99/4A interface APP” could easily handle all the communication needs for preexisting programs, because the APP could be written to accept the protocols of the existing programs and do any translation necessary.

 

STORAGE

Our cellphones have internal memory which could easily be used to simulate disk drives or a hard drive.

 

DESIGN

Considering the low power requirements of modern electronics, it’s probable that such a device would obtain all it’s power requirements from the TI itself, and due to it’s design would NOT require any cabling whatsoever for I/O. Essentially this would be a simple self contained sidecar interface.

 

MEMORY

As a low cost expansion, onboard memory would be a requirement. 32K is a valid option, but while rarely used, it may be preferable to go with a SAMS 1M compliant arrangement (if the unit cost does not get out of hand).

 

Question(1):

There are a number of inexpensive Bluetooth assemblies already available on the market, many under $10.00, how much more support circuitry would be required to interface one of those chips with the TI?

 

Question(2):

Assuming only interface programming and circuitry is necessary to the TI side, would not all other aspects reside in the smartphones APP?

 

Impediments:

1) Finding a willing person capable of designing such a device.

2) Finding a willing person capable of writing the code for the cellphone.

 

Topic is open for discussion...

[Tursi]

I sort of think TIPI is a better solution for this than something new... what TIPI doesn't offer today is only a limitation of software, not hardware, and the coding effort would be fairly similar. In truth, if it were me, I'd do everything I could to leverage the existing TIPI code rather than create yet another ecosystem.

 

Adafruit has some simply Bluetooth modules like this one: https://www.adafruit.com/product/2479

 

It's a serial UART interface, meaning you'd need a serial port to talk to it - but these days that's not a huge deal. But once you have the hardware side up, you still need all the software on both sides of the link. Hardware is almost never the hard part.

 

Printing: All TI software, except that which prints only raw text, expects to speak to a printer directly. Usually it's an Epson compatible. A smartphone won't natively take in Epson's codestream, meaning you need to convert that native printer language into something generic that the phone can then run through its own printer drivers. Parsing a printer stream isn't impossible, but it takes some effort. There are only a couple of open source stabs at doing so - I don't know how good they are. Of course you need a DSR for the TI to talk to it at all.

 

Internet and Storage would be exactly the same as TIPI - I can't see any reason for it to be different. Of course, you need a DSR on the TI side and a handler on the phone side. Both would also require the application to get those permissions from the user.

 

And memory is memory is memory. Nothing new there.

 

[+OLD CS1]

How about HDX for Android?  Use a serial-to-Bluetooth adapter on the TI serial port connected to the serial port profile of the Android device.

 

I played with this a little bit with the UberGROM and a 232 Bluetooth device with my C905a.  It worked, I could send commands to the phone.

 

Anyway, I am not going to write it.  Just a thought.

[Omega-TI]

Hi Tursi, I understand your reticence on further fragmentation of the community, it's a topic I have some sympathy with.  The fact that this idea is similar in execution is part of the beauty of it.  I figured all aspects would be in software and easily upgradable in software alone over the coming years, so all translation would be handled in software to comply with the TIPI standard.  I love my TIPI and will continue to use it, but I don't want to lug my heavy P-Box everywhere.  I also thought this might be a lower-cost entry point for some users, even poor users who do not have home Internet access as an all-in-one solution.  I also figured something like this could be made at or near the Nano-PEB price point.

 

Yeah, the DSR once firmed up would never have to be changed, but in the smartphone is where all future evolution and enhancement would take place, even noobs can download an APP with no experience or setup hurdles.  "Plug-N-Play Baby!"

[+arcadeshopper]

1 hour ago, OLD CS1 said:

How about HDX for Android?  Use a serial-to-Bluetooth adapter on the TI serial port connected to the serial port profile of the Android device.

 

I played with this a little bit with the UberGROM and a 232 Bluetooth device with my C905a.  It worked, I could send commands to the phone.

 

Anyway, I am not going to write it.  Just a thought.

python for android can do hdx.. pretty easily 

[GDMike]

I'll put a tipi in my PEB one day when we get a few made, and I'll hopefully have a MK2.  Ooops there goes my dead phone..