We did the great step! We finished the porting of complete Bluetooth stack (SPP, OBEX and Audio Headset and Gateway) on a Microchip PIC 24F processor.

This opens a new era of applications for us and for our customers since the processor runs Bluetooth stack and application layer.

We are the first at world now. The Bluetooth module cost is reduced (since the module is now without Flash memory, like a USB dongle) and the processing power is 16 Mips.

Our goal is to go deeper into the technology, to open a brand new era of the wireless. Lower cost and higher possibilities. The wireless short range module will be not just the radio part, but will also work as main processor of simple/medium level applications (sensors, automation, serial...)

It's a great step for us and we are really proud of the result! ;-)

This weekend was 43 degreeds in Rome, something incredible...the sensation is like you can't hide from this enemy, night and day. And the air conditionary is broken,nice!

So I slept from 7.15 to 8.15 this morning. But I was happy because this monday is not another monday. Yesterday the guys were working on the software development of the Picus WIFI "flyport" and finally we connected it and the webserver is running!

This means that this week will be full of new developments, ideas and news. This is exciting, not like every monday, expecially every monday when there are over 40 degreeds!

We'll pubblish on the openpicus blog the code and the starter guide for the new release of the module, with much more memory and the new TCP/IP stack 5.25   http://openpicus.blogspot.com

Here's a picture of Rome in the night, the color is red, yes, because it's like fire!

July, hot! we are working hard for the official presentation of our new product....will be italian design and manufacturing and we hope people will like it.

We just made the video, 13 hours on the set, for me was nice experience since it's far away from my everyday work. Great job, we are excited like never before....a new product is always a new energy. It takes energy to make it, but it gives you energy when people appreciate it.

Here I am on the backstage!

We had half day hands on meeting on the way of PICUS programming. I'm pushing all the time people to think about who's gonna use this and what he can do and what he cannot.

So basically the Code for the Picus module programming will be C++, but with some features like a smart way to control I/Os.

For example to turn digital output 3 you will write: set(out3)=1 and to turn off set(out3)=0

To check the status of an input pin set(in1)

In case of PWM is a little bit longer, but easy anyway: set(out3,50,100) and you get a PWM waveform, 50% duty cycle and 100Khz frequency.

I think we are going to the right direction, make programming easier!

The openPICUS project is opening new era of remote control of embedded device. Until now the only way to remote control an embedded device (without operating system) was a GPRS module. This system works, but the cost is quite high and needs also management of SIM cards and so on. Let's say that the GPRS system is very suitable for open field applications, where an internet connection is missing.

The 90% of our customers devices are working in industrial or home hambient. Normally an internet connection is active (dsl) and very often a WI-FI network is also present.

The limit of WI-FI until now is that you must setup net parameters (such as IP addresses, ports and so on) and sometimes it's a problem with proxy and firewalls.

So with the openPICUS WIFI module we'll develop a new application running on WI-FI: wireless control by email. The module will be able to receive and send emails to avoid the creation of complex TCP/IP tunnelling and sockets.

The idea is easy: You send an email to your device, the module will intercept the email and "translate" the test into commands. For example you can write to a temperature sensor: "SendTemp,SendLog6,NewAlarmLow=15,NewAlarmHigh=40") and the sensor will answer ("24;13;14;17;14;18;24;ok,ok"). It's easy to understand: you want the temperature now and the log of the last 6 measures and you want to set the new Alarm thresholds lowerer to 15°C and higher to 40°C.

I think that this is perfectly suitable with our "be wireless" philosophy: you enjoy the Wi-Fi potential but you don't need to be a RF expert! Just email, easy no?

I was at the RF&Wireless forum in Milan on June 16th. Well it was a disaster! Not more than 40 people attending, waste of time and money. I think that the fairs now are only in Germany maybe because they are better organizers and they attract the international visitors with a great service and high level fairs and events.

I'm sorry for Italy, but often these kind of events are not well supported or are in hard to reach locations. Germany has great fairs centers and a great public transport (in Italy if you don't speak italian it can be a little difficult to understand directions and so on).

What's the future of regional fairs? I don't know but for sure the globalization is pushing also these events to be less in number and higher in quality, not bad I think no?

We are glad to meet you at Wireless Forum 2010 (15 June) in Milan.

We'll show you the picus module and we are running to develop a webserver application to let you test with your smartphone.

You can see details and get your free entrance ticket on http://www.fortronic.it/page.asp?pag=1282&eveid=133#eve

I think I'm an advanced mobile phone user. In the last 5 years I used only smartphones, from the wonderful palm TREO to windows mobile and so on.

In the last 2 months I changed 3 mobile phones and I'd like to share my thoughts about smartphones today.

Basically I use my smartphone for:

- Calling (strange no?!)
- email
- Agenda
- Facebook
- web browsing (newspaper in the morning mainly)

I had a Nokia E71 (qwerty keyboard), but I wanted to test more modern devices, so I took one HTC Legend (Google Android OS). This device has amazing screen (3.2 inch), great processor power, great touchscreen and lot of free apps. BUT try to send an email when you are travelling (on bus for example)....no way touchscreen is not good for typing. The other problem was battery....with me it was lasting like 6 hours...
So I decided to explore the Blackberry world since I meet lot of excited people using it.

Well, I took the new Bold 9700. Great design, material and screen. Battery life is excellent, but....I don't like the blackberry email system, it's stupid. For example I don't want to be bothered from email sometimes but I still want to surf the net...and it's not possible to stop the email service! if you stop the net you'll not receive email, but you'll not be even able to go on the internet by browser....
Second, during calls I'm used to keep notes or even to read my email or to go to the address book. No way....it's slow and completely unconfortable. The menu is not immediate and you need to work alot with your finger to do something you can do with nokia with 3 movements.

So I decided to go back to Nokia. E71 was my best phone ever but the keyboard is a little too small for a comfortable typing. Well I took E72.

E72 has the same form factor but an improved keyboard. Buttons are big enough and email sending is a pleasure. I don't like the touch mouse (far away from the wonderful bold 9700 one) but I'll live without.

Nokia is always giving a business mate with the E series, fast and essential. push email is only for Blackberry?? not anymore, now I can syncronize my gmail account with phone in real time (and more: if I cancel email here I don't see it back when I use outlook on my PC).

pdf files: Blackberry has one horrible pdf reader and a good one costs 20usd. Nokia has a good one inside.

VOIP: I use this all the time. I've a personal VOIP number in order to be free to move around the world without any problem for customers and so on. Nokia has VOIP integrated, it means that when I'm connected by WIFI in my mobile phone I've 2 numbers: cellular and VOIP. I can choose which one to use for each call...simply great!

So I think touchscreen devices are not good for business users. Blackberry made a great job in marketing, but the reality is a poor system, far away from Nokia. Nokia made the first real communicator during 90s, I think it means something!

The most exciting part of a project is when you download the firmware into the board and it runs. Actually the firmware itself was very simple: blinking a led. But the exciting part is to download the bootloader (it's also a firmware) to let Picus module accept a new firmware by serial connection.

We customized one open source bootloader for Microchip 24F and we decided to make the bootloader active for 3 seconds @ 19200 baud (so now it's BRUTUS)

So first step was compile and download (by standard programming interface 6 wires from microchip), then we disconnected the interface and connected the PICUS module to the PC using the startkit that has a USB port (FTDI USB-UART chip inside). So the new firmware was uploaded into the PICUS using the bootloader GUI on the PC and....led blinks!

This is the new version of the advanced Lizard Posturometric software. Lizard software goes on Windows Mobile platform and thanks to the Bluetooth connectivity of their machine this application was extremely easy to develop and test.

Lizard devices integrate BLUEMORE106 for Serial cable replacement (using eikonAT firmware)