[NEWS] Droid Connects to Printers and More via USB Hack

[Matth3w]

http://www.crn.com/mobile/222700695;...OSKHWATMY32JVN

Need your Droid to do even more stuff? A blogger has made public instructions on how to connect a Motorola (NYSE:MOT) Droid to printers, video cameras -- basically to any USB-enabled device. Mike Kershaw from Kismet and Mike Baker of OpenWRT authored the USB hack. The detailed instructions are on Chris Paget's blog.
The basic concept is to build one connector using three cables: a micro USB cable, the Droid's car-charging cable and a USB extender cable. Splicing those together following Paget's detailed instructions will result in a cable that will allow the phone to be plugged into any USB hardware that runs on Linux.
From the look of things, it's pretty easy to pull off. Once the cables are together, the Droid is powered down, restarted, and the devices work with each other. Of course, if you want to switch from a video camera to a printer, for example, the Droid needs to be turned off and restarted. And, notes Paget, the standard Android kernel doesn't have much driver support for USB peripherals; for instance, he could not mount a USB key.
Still, it's a quick and easy way to increase the versatility of the Droid by leaps and bounds. As Paget wrote: "Expect to see a whole new generation of Android hackery to start soon."

[natediddy1120]

Aww....this could be very useful!!

[Matth3w]

For me as well...

[Big Lou]

This means you can connect the Droid to a USB interface Car Stereo and (hopefully) control the Droid and hear music through USB!

What about gamepads??????

[agent42o]

This could make for some really interesting features to future mods.

[Matth3w]

If they actually go through with it, that is. If it's just some house basement modification that never goes anywhere then it's completely worthless.

[Big Lou]

If they actually go through with it, that is. If it's just some house basement modification that never goes anywhere then it's completely worthless.

It won't be. This is premium stuff here. They will eventually make it so that switching between devices won't require a reboot... further yet, hopefully they make it unecessary to use the shorted MicroUSB dongle.

I could see this usher in a new wave of Droid hacks!!!