I am strongly considering moving into the area of card slot development, both hardware and software, and was wondering if anyone has any experience they can share. I have downloaded all of the tools that are generally available, including the two-thirds of the SDIO spec available to non-members of the SD Association, the MMC spec (non-member of MMCA, abridged version) and the tools available for the hardware development kit. >From all this reading I conclude that I will only be allowed to go so far without joining either the MMCA or SD Association. Both are expensive and I want to make the right decision, so here�s my question: is there any reason to avoid the Multimedia Card spec in favor of the SDIO spec for peripheral development? The MMCA is a little more forthcoming in their open documentation, and it is legal to develop under their spec with no royalties (SD Association charges $1k per device that is released after a $1500 annual membership fee) and with no membership fee other than a one-time $500 charge to purchase the complete spec.
While I am mulling my options, I am also wondering whether other developers out there are interested in having tools for the card slot that are not currently available. One that occurs to me right off the bat is a nicely wrapped microphone input with its own API, which others could roll into their unique applications. My background is in audio and industrial engineering, so I also see several other data capture ideas that could benefit from the technology (like a fast, multi-input oscilloscope, weather station or other data capture, etc.) Thanks for any input you might have, Danielle O'Hallisey -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/
