iPhone and 360 Chatpad hacked into a wireless mess of need

This hack isn't for the faint of heart. In fact, it's more a demonstration of Dr. Ralf Ackermann's technical badassery than anything practical. But its as good as it gets until Apple achieves a state of sanity and flips the switch on its Bluetooth stack to finally allow us the option of pairing a Bluetooth keyboard to the iPhone. The setup starts with a cobbled together Xbox 360 Chatpad and XBee wireless module. The good doctor then takes a Jailbroken phone (naturally) and attaches another wireless XBee module to the iPhone's jury-rigged serial port housed in an Akku enclosure. A work in progress, it will ultimately rely upon a VNC server running on the iPhone to feed keyboard input to any application of your choosing. See Apple, this is the corner of desperation that you've backed us into.

Update: Video added after the break.

[tanais @ Nov 11th 2008 5:37AM]

its "faint of heart" not "feint of heart"

[Intrepid @ Nov 11th 2008 6:12AM]

Unless your heart is plotting against you...

[MM @ Nov 11th 2008 7:04AM]

The comments here just light up my day!
@Intrepid - very clever

[Mr.Ironic @ Nov 11th 2008 7:23AM]

Not if I get it with Cheese burgers first!!

[Nihility @ Nov 11th 2008 5:40AM]

I had to explain to my girlfriend last night why my super awesome phone can't send pictures to her phone and why it also can't send stuff over bluetooth. I felt like an idiot. Why apple? Why?

[LordFarkward @ Nov 11th 2008 5:50AM]

Get a new girlfriend.

[Anthony @ Nov 11th 2008 5:50AM]

lol i kno right .... sigh

[dante @ Nov 11th 2008 5:51AM]

because it is a bag of hurt

[Christopher Wilson @ Nov 11th 2008 5:54AM]

You can send messages to her by sending them to [e-mail]. She should be able to send them to you via email.

[Think different @ Nov 11th 2008 6:15AM]

apple "think different" still

[7on @ Nov 11th 2008 8:41AM]

@LordFarkward

No he should keep her, for knowing exactly what Bluetooth is and what it does.

[DirtyVegas @ Nov 11th 2008 12:42PM]

Isn't the "bag of hurt" meme getting old?

[Ron @ Nov 11th 2008 12:51PM]

Good thing my girlfriend also has an iPhone, and she had a Blackjack 2 before that.

[erwin @ Nov 11th 2008 5:55AM]

Nihility is right...i have an iPod touch. but i miss the same feature: send pictures over Bluetooth. Okay you might say the iPod Touch has no Bluetooth(actually it has one but the chip is crippled and used only for Nike+iPod) but even my PSP can send pictures through WIFI...again: Why Apple??? Why???

[underwhelmed @ Nov 11th 2008 5:56AM]

Great. Another lame, bulky, impractical iPhone keyboard hack.

What, were there no tacky homebrew PS3/360 case mods to feature today? No swarovski crystal MP3 players? No gold plated ? No giant game controller coffee tables?

I liked Engadget better when it had some taste.

There is such a thing as too much content.

[ijyt @ Nov 11th 2008 6:06AM]

Then don't read the post?

[Esat Dedezade @ Nov 11th 2008 6:10AM]

I think there's also such a thing as: 'it's a freaking gadget blog' and more importantly there is also a thing known as 'scrolling past articles that do not interest you".

[reisa @ Nov 11th 2008 6:22AM]

"Gerry-Rigged" or "Jerry-Rigged" not "jury."

It's a slam against Germans from WWII

[Jyn @ Nov 11th 2008 6:59AM]

No it isn't. Jury rigged is a term which dates from the 17th century, and referred to lashed up repairs to sail rigging.

[Jyn @ Nov 11th 2008 6:59AM]

Further, the term you're referring to, Jerry-built, dates from the late nineteenth century.

[BobFromVegas @ Nov 11th 2008 6:33AM]

Bingo.

[nakedrobot @ Nov 11th 2008 6:55AM]

I was under the impression it was a nautical term - the jury rig being a makeshift mast + sail after you broke the first one.

[BobFromVegas @ Nov 11th 2008 6:57AM]

Yep-your right Naked:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_rig
Jury rigging refers to makeshift repairs or temporary contrivances, made with only the tools and materials that happen to be on hand. Originally a nautical term, on sailing ships a jury rig is a replacement mast and yards improvised in case of damage or loss of the original mast.

It fits too.

[NakedRobot @ Nov 11th 2008 6:58AM]

In fact, wikipedia agrees:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_rig

[reisa @ Nov 11th 2008 7:34AM]

Well, I'll stand partially corrected -- but hold to part of my statement (also from Wikipedia):

# The phrase "jerry-built" has a separate origin and implies shoddy workmanship not necessarily of a temporary nature.[6][7]
# The term "jerry-rigged" is a relatively recent mingling (or perhaps garbling) of "jury rig" with "jerry-built".[8]

and www.phrases.org.uk

Jerry built

Meaning

Built in a makeshift and insubstantial manner.

Origin

The phrase has been around since at least 1869, when it was defined in the Lonsdale Glossary:

"Jerry-built, slightly, or unsubstantially built."

By 1901, the term began to be used figuratively - a sure sign of acceptance into the general language. For example, The Daily Chronicle, in August that year printed this opinion:

"In an age of jerry-built books it is refreshing to come across a volume that has taken forty years to compile."

The derivation is unknown. What we do know is that the term has nothing to do with the UK slang term for German - Jerry/Gerry. This is of WWI origin and the citations above pre-date that. As always when a phrase's origin is unknown people like to guess, so here goes. It is possible that the term derives from the slang term jerrycummumble or jerrymumble. This was defined in the 1811 version of Francis Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue:

"JERRYCUMMUMBLE. To shake, towzle, or tumble about."

[reisa @ Nov 11th 2008 7:37AM]

Oops. Actually I misread the info. I stand totally corrected and apologize for this apparently very interesting comment.

[OneLove @ Nov 11th 2008 11:25AM]

That's how OJ won the first time

[Carpet @ Nov 11th 2008 6:56AM]

Jury-rigged is acceptable.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jury-rigged

ju·ry–rig : to erect, construct, or arrange in a makeshift fashion

jer·ry–rigged: organized or constructed in a crude or improvised manner

[compufxr @ Nov 11th 2008 7:20AM]

Don't you people have anything better to do than argue over the use of language? This guy, who probably had WAY too much time on his hands, goes and hacks together a cool wireless keyboard for his iWhatever and you people can't look past the term the author uses to describe it.

What is this world coming to?

[Romequez @ Nov 11th 2008 5:06PM]

Dogs and cats living together. You know, mass hysteria.

[NakedRobot @ Nov 11th 2008 7:39AM]

Wait, you're right compufxr. I apologise for wasting the internet's precious space. I shall go find something more useful to do.

Actually, all snark aside, I doubt I would have bothered writing anything had I not been avoiding studying in a fairly major way.

[erwin @ Nov 11th 2008 8:19AM]

the use of language is very importantant in some cases.so yes, i think it is important to argue about the use of some terms.

[kal326 @ Nov 11th 2008 9:08AM]

Would it be better if they were arguing over punctuation? Because as everybody knows, commas can make a world of difference. Take this for example.

"I helped my uncle, Jack, off a donkey."

Take out the commas and its a whole different story.

[dudeman @ Nov 11th 2008 9:30AM]

yeah but if you do:

"I helped my uncle, Jack, off a transvestite."

it still sounds wrong commas or no commas..

[JuggleNuts @ Nov 11th 2008 9:56AM]

Now - for something useful - how about an IR dongle so as to use the iPhone as universal remote?

[Sentax @ Nov 11th 2008 10:03AM]

Let me guess, that would be considered revolutionary because no phone has ever done that before...

[Dan "the Man" @ Nov 11th 2008 10:20AM]

So many contentious people. No, I just thought it would be useful (especially compared to a wireless keyboard).

[absinthe party @ Nov 11th 2008 12:35PM]

haha, "dongle"

[Sentax @ Nov 11th 2008 10:01AM]

What?! VNC Server to feed keyboard input?

He could learn something from Android, they have a nice keyboard input feature built-in.

[vvtopkar @ Nov 11th 2008 10:10AM]

Why would anyone want this?
Keyboards are just a bag of hurt anyways....

[toysandme @ Nov 11th 2008 11:56AM]

A smartphone without an optional bluetooth keyboard IS a bag of hurt. Fortunately, the Blackberry Storm is around the corner. And it can be used as a modem to boot.

[Ray @ Nov 11th 2008 10:49AM]

How do you fix an impractical keyboard? With a second impractical keyboard!

[Cassini @ Nov 11th 2008 3:13PM]

An iPhone and a 360 Chatpad? This is just sad.

You could always go out and buy an HTC Touch Pro (aka the Sprint Touch PRO, or The Fuze as AT&T calls it when they finally offer it) and have a phone that has it all.

[Matt Etchells @ Nov 11th 2008 6:20PM]

what i don't get is how it it possible to get the xbox 360 chatpad working with an iphone, but still no body seems to have any interest getting it to work on the actual controller within windows? come on thats not fair

[gb @ Nov 11th 2008 10:47AM]

because if you are using it with a computer, the assumption is that you are also near a regular keyboard?

[Xristyfer @ Jan 3rd 2009 5:41AM]

They can get the chatpad working with a iPHONE, yet we still cannot get a hacked together driver to work under windows xp or vista
WTF! >_