Building iPhone and iPad Electronic Projects: Real-World Arduino, Sensor, and Bluetooth Low Energy Apps in techBASIC

Really good book.The Web page for the book with examples does not seem to be available at the URL provided in the book.

well done and useful with just the right amount of background

Surprisingly, when Iphones were still magical devices with no real competition from android phones, this book captured the sense of possibility of the device - as if you really owned a tricorder and could launch homemade rockets. It's okay. I felt that it was introductory about getting your feet wet and it also indicated how powerful the device is for people with the engineering education and awareness of how to ... weaponize the iphone. But it is just a glimpse. You still need to be educated to really use it as this book hints that the device is very powerful. In my opinion, most people are going to download apps and that's it. But x number of years ago, there were not as many apps hence this book. It does not really tell you how to whip something up. It only tells you it is possible.

I've always thought Apple missed a major opportunity by not releasing an SDK for the iPod nano 5G when it first came out. It's kind of a moot point now because the BeagleBone Black and Raspberry Pi are a lot cheaper and aren't tied to an ecosystem that's designed to enforce stability at all costs, but iOS still has a fair amount to recommend it. So, if you need a book for that... this isn't quite it. (But it'll probably serve your purpose anyway.)See, this book is mistitled. It's actually a book about the TechBASIC environment and how to use it to interact with the outside using something other than the Lightning port. The language itself is a commercial product available through the App Store, but it happens to interface with a number of peripherals, including the HiJack (a serial interface for the headphone port) and the TI SensorTag via Bluetooth Low Energy, as well as the sensors built into iOS devices. There's also some vehicle automation, including packing an iPhone into a model rocket for data gathering and controlling a model truck via Arduino and Bluetooth LE, and an iPad Pong game using two iPhones as controllers. (The tricorder bit is basically the up-and-running chapter at the beginning, covering datalogging basics.) I want to criticize the use of third-party commercial software in a book meant for makers, but to be honest, the realities of the iOS environment mean this is probably about the best way to go about using iOS for maker projects.So... if you know what's actually in the book, it will do its job fairly well. It's just not quite what its title claims it is. Enjoy.

The book has lots of great examples of programming your iPad/Iphone using a language called techBASIC.techBASIC is used to avoid the need for a full-blown development system using Objective C and does not require payment to Apple to join the developer program. The first few projects are based only on the iOS devices internal sensors such as accelerometer and magnetometer.Some caveats:1. The most projects require external hardware that must be purchased separately. For example, some use a $25 sensor from Texas Instruments. Others use a model rocket.2. The book only gives you access to pre-made techBASIC programs. To write your own or modify the ones in the book requires the purchase of the full-blown app for fifteen bucks on the app store.My other issue is that the techBASIC language itself is a little cumbersome or maybe ugly is a better word. I wished it was cleaner and more Python like and I think that would make it more approachable for the newcomer to programming.Overall it is a good book with very good projects.

UPDATED REVIEW: with reference to the comments to this review, it appears this book remains relevant with iOS 8.Are you a hobbyist of the sort from which the original computer developers (Wozniak, et Al) we're cut from? If so, or if you want to experiment with the unique abilities of you iPhone or iPad to use your device to seek treasures, control remotely your cars, or whatever, you will want. The book, Building iPhone and iPad Electronic Projects - a well-written, easy to grasp text for computer/electronic hobbyists.What I greatly appreciate is that the author did not try to be cute or funny. Mike Westerfield stayed straight and true to the serious nature of instruction, without getting preachy or mundane.I highly recommend Building iPhone and iPad Elctronic Projects: Real-World Arduino, Sensor, and Bluetooh Low Energy Apps in techBasic.

Even though O'Reilly are the go to books, this one was not what I was looking for. I was expecting native development IOS and instead this book is about a 3rd party development. If you don't mind a 3 party development packet, then this book is fine for that.

This short book opens your eyes to the fun (and, let's face it) goofy ways you can expand your iphone using techBASIC.Westerfield's book serves two functions. It shows you how to do stuff such as "put your iPhone on a small rocket to collect acceleration and rotation data." And this, after all, might be something you'd want to do. More importantly, it opens your eyes to the ways in which techBASIC and an iphone can be cadged to create some interesting results.

Thought the code used in this book is functional there is little or no explanation of how functions work. This is dissapointing as it is still necessary to trawl the manual for explanations. Save money and just read the free manual.

El libro está escrito en lenguaje accesible y con ejemplos prácticos de diferentes aplicaciones con sensores interno y externos. .

No one need "TechBasic" when we have so many really working alternatives. This book is overprized, all in all a joke. Thank you for nothing.