Jan 25 2011
Faculty and students at the University of Michigan have designed a new open protocol called Project Hijack that could allow companies to produce affordable iPhone accessories. Through the new protocol, the headphone jack can be used as an accessory port.
iPhone accessory
In the past, Square transaction adaptors use the adphone jack. According to Ars Technica, generally a 30-pin connector is required to produce iPhone accessories and manufacturers spend a significant amount of money on licensing fees. The new technology plans to use the accessory port in the same manner and can change a 22 kHz audio signal into 7.4 mW of power. It is targeted at those companies who are looking to manufacture low-cost sensor-based accessories.
Project Hijack eliminates licensing fees and saves significant amount of money. Till date, Project Hijac has been utlized to develop moisture and humidity sensors, motion sensors, potentiometers and EKG monitors.
Source: http://www.umich.edu/