USB data input use on a non USB Host smartphone

[zzl]

Hy everyone,

First of all, thanks for this great forum which never fails to impress me.

I have a question which some of you might help answering: I'm wondering if it's possible to use the mini-usb port of my smartphone to get some data input.

Let me explain myself a bit more: I know that smartphones (HTC Touch for me) aren't USB hosts. However, the data connexions are still present.

Here's what I'd like to do: even though the smartphone can't control another peripheral, I'd like that external peripheral to send data to the smartphone, and the smartphone to use that data to control the screen. That would give an alternative way of controlling the screen.
The input would come from another touch surface, so my guess is that using the data to control the screen shouldn't be much of a problem.

So? Any idea if it's possible? What kind of platform/language would be nice to do that? C#?
(I have JAVA development experience, but I'm quite a newbie as far as Win Mobile devs are concerned. I'm willing to learn though :)

I think I searched this forum (and others) quite extensively before posting. If by any chance I missed a related post, I'd be glad to know about it :)

[zzl]

No ideas? Anyone?

[zzl]

Last up before I stop...

[lifecheater]

i dont think that is technically possible. i think one has to be the host, and that host provides power. so to power the input device(im thinking keyboard) it would need the smartphone/ppc to be a host....
but i have no clue in this area...maybe someone could prove me wrong?

[zzl]

Hey, thanks for your answer.

The powering issues could be overcomed by cutting the cables and giving power from an external power source (I think several people have tried doing it, I need to find the links again). By the way, the peripheral itself is plugged on 110V, so there's plenty of available power :)

I'm not seeking here to "control" the device, just to aquire the signal it's sending... Does that seem feasible, or does the peripheral need to be somehow "activated" by a Host before sending anything?

[nathrinder]

Well, in order to get data, the host must ask the slave each time it needs some. Other things must be done by the host, like usb enumeration. That means there has to be a host or it won't work, unless you use usb on-the-go, but I do not know many devices that support it.

[dan-htc-touch]

according to the qualcomm website, the msm chipsets support otg