An Australian network engineer Chris Pollock has developed a serial port extension for iPhone and iPad in order to access networking devices. The port extension connects your iPhone or iPad to serial devices such as medical or scientific devices, industrial process control equipment or networking devices to communicate with an application running on the iPhone or iPad.
Chris Pollock Said:
“For the last six years, I’ve been able to use SSH [Secure Shell] from my phone and so the idea of carrying a laptop into the datacentre has become less and less necessary,” Pollock said.“But we are carrying around a few kilos of laptop just to use the USB or serial converter to log into the consoles of routers and switches.
“I’m using Terminal and SSH on my phone already. The only thing that is stopping me ditching my laptop altogether is the serial port.”
Unlike Redpark, his device requires jailbroken iPhone, thus avoiding the need to seek approval from Apple to access the serial port. Don’t you worry; iPhone jailbreak is legalized by US government. You can head over to Chris blog to find the complete process of how to make a serial port extension. If it looks too technical for you and you want one, then you need to wait for sometime.
Chris Pollock is planning to sell the devices for about $50 through his site, IoNetworks. You can follow us on twitter or join our facebook fanpage to keep you updated on such iPhone and iPad hacks.
Via builder.au
