For a non-jailbroken iphone, you have to join Apple's Made for iPod
hardware developer's platform to develop custom bluetooth
applications.  I understand that jailbroken bluetooth supports the
simple serial profile, so if your client can go that direction, then
you should be able to do this relatively easily.

A lot of people are going around this limitation using wifi, which is
unrestricted in terms of software development.

A simple iPhone development platform will cost a few hundred dollars
if you don't already have a mac, although it seems that one of the
virtual machine packages now supports OS X hosting on other computers,
so perhaps you can do this more inexpensively now.

Given that it has an RTC, I'd suggest having the device "listen" for
only a few seconds every 10-30 minutes.  Once communication is
established, it could stay on until the control session is complete,
but it would save significant power if your client doesn't mind
waiting for an open control period.  Similar savings could be
established for the GSM cellular link.

-Adam

On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 1:37 AM, David Duffy (AVD)
<david@audiovisualdevices.com.au> wrote:
> We're designing a PIC based board for a client, and he'd like a remote
> control for it. The remote needs to set and retrieve a few parameters as
> well as display some statistics.
>
> The board runs from a (15-20Ah ?) 12V sealed battery, so low standby
> consumption is important. =A0It currently lasts for 8-12 weeks between
> charges.
>
> The main current draw is a small motor that runs several (3 - 30) times
> a day, for about 20 seconds each time. The board will have an RTC, but I
> don't expect that to draw any significant current.
>
> He has had something like this designed for him in the past (by another
> company), but asked of the possibility of controlling the equipment via
> an iPhone using Bluetooth.
>
> He'd like (password protected) control from up to 20 metres away, but I
> think the distance is negotiable. There are no safety hazards involved
> in the equipment being remotely controlled.
>
> I've not delved into iPhone application development before, but do have
> over 10 years experience with Delphi (Windows) programming.
>
> How feasible does this all sound? =A0Has anyone here gone down that road =
yet?
>
> The other thing on his "wish list" is SMS reporting of equipment faults
> and tamper/abuse alarms. =A0I suspect this will blow the unit price out
> somewhat. =A0Has anyone in Australia used this type of service?
> David...
>
> --
> ___________________________________________
> David Duffy =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Audio Visual Devices P/L
> Unit 8, 10 Hook St, Capalaba 4157 Australia
> Ph: +61 7 38235717 =A0 =A0 =A0Fax: +61 7 38234717
> Our Web Site: www.audiovisualdevices.com.au
> ___________________________________________
>
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