Sound like its time to propose a universal usb in between device... Because I suspect there are already products that provide USB to Ethernet, but they likely wouldn't have the intelligence to present that as a virtual flash storage device... Others may choose to go wireless or bluetooth And the device could also be used to translate wifi to bluetooth which is a need for many peoples cell phones that don't have wifi capabilities yest but can browse the web or even install applications such as Skype. The device could also plug between a webcam and a wifi dongle or many other combinations that support USB but are not programmable enough or can't initiate USB traffic. You may have noticed my other post on the hacked UPB MP3 player, I have been wishing for some progress on this for a while... On Nov 20, 2007 1:40 PM, Picbits Sales wrote: > Excellent idea and one I've thought of before but I don't have the > time/resources/knowledge of USB/Ethernet to even begin a project like > that. > > I have a USB/DivX DVD player which I can plug my digital camera/external > HDD/memory stick into and it will stream off movies. > > My best alternative is an Xbox with a softmod and a wireless ethernet > connection which works amazingly well for doing this over a SMB share and > you can play games on it as well :-D > > If someone comes up with a way of doing this it would be great :) > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "A K" <00@case.edu> > To: > Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 8:46 PM > Subject: [PIC] Idea for a simple product: Virtual USB drive via Ethernet > > > > First disclosure: > > > > There are some products such as DVD players that are capable of playing > > movies and music from USB connected flash media and hard drives. Many > > users, however, have media storehouses on a fileserver computer on their > > network. The dvd player manufacturers don't wish to add ethernet > > capability because of the extra hardware, and difficulty of support of > > network infrastructures. > > > > Using two PICs (because there isn't one with ethernet and USB together) > > or a capable embedded processor/hardware configuration and minimal > > external components, a developer could design a device that works like a > > flash drive via USB, but has an ethernet port on the back that connects > > to a ftp, windows, or SAMBA share behind the scenes for the actual file > > storage. > > > > This virtual usb drive could have a root directory mapped to the network > > share, and could have a folder, called .CONFIG, mapped to a virtual file > > system stored on the PIC (using Microchip's free PIC filesystem.) The > > device could be configured by placing a text config file into this > > CONFIG folder, where it would be stored on the PIC. This file would > > contain IP/dhcp information, as well as the share location and > > attachment information. This file could be created by a configuration > > wizard on a host PC, before the device is plugged into the DVD drive or > > similar. > > > > This solution would allow media players that access USB attached > > storage to connect to and use network attached storage, for access to a > > much larger and more easily updateable library. The device would not > > have to be USB dependant, other versions could utilize Firewire/IEEE > > 1394 communications. > > > > Inexpensive DVD players that play Divx and Xvid and music with USB > > connections are ubiquitous, and this could turn them into an inexpensive > > media center like device. > > > > Comments welcome! > > > > -Andrew > > -- > > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > View/change your membership options at > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > > > > -- > > No virus found in this incoming message. > > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > > Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.1/1140 - Release Date: > > 19/11/2007 19:05 > > > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- Tobias Gogolin cel. (646) 124 32 82 skype: moontogo messenger: usertogo@hotmail.com You develop an open source motor controller at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoBox -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist