DESCRIPTION
The Bluefruit LE Friend USB-to-BLE board makes it easy to get your computer talking to your BLE enabled phone or tablet using a standard serial/UART connection.
In its simplest form, it works on the same principle as a common USB/Serial adapter. Any data that you enter via your favourite terminal emulator on your development machine will be transferred over the air to the connected phone or tablet, and vice versa, as a basic ‘UART’ connection
The details:
You might be asking, Hey my MacBook already has Bluetooth and I can get a USB Bluetooth adapter, so why use this? Good question! Windows 7 doesn’t support Bluetooth Low Energy natively, and on Win8 or OS X, you’ll have to sort through a huge pile of native Bluetooth APIs and development tools that often require an annual paid license and specific license terms to access. You can’t just connect wirelessly without a huge stack of software or firmware in the way because there isn’t a standard, open-source, cross-platform way to talk BLE today.
The Bluefruit Friend is much more, it has a full BLE peripheral stack and interfaces software so that you can treat your BLE connection just like a UART connection – that makes it trivial to use with free Terminal software or scripting software like python (with pySerial). Using Bluefruit LE Friend, you can be up and running in under an hour on just about anything with a USB port, with easy migration across platforms and operating systems.
To use, simply plug into your computer and flip the switch to either UART mode (transparent data transfer, anything you type will be sent, and data from the phone is received as well) or CoMmanD mode, where thanks to an easy to learn AT command set, you can also create you own basic GATT Services and Characteristics, simulate Beacons, and change the way that the device name appears/advertises itself.
To make sure that your device stays up to date and can benefit from the latest Bluefruit LE firmware from Adafruit, you can also update the firmware on your BLEFriend over the air using any BLE-supported iOS or Android device. One of the biggest advantages of the BLEFriend and the entire Bluefruit LE family is that Adafruit write and maintains all of the firmware running on the devices themselves from scratch and they’ll be releasing new firmware and bug fixes without having to rely on a third-party vendor. For super-advanced users, there is an SWD connector on board that can be used to reprogram the nrf51822 using Nordic’s SDK and an SWD debugger.
FEATURES
- Completely transparent Data mode for USB to Bluetooth LE UART connectivity from computer to tablet/phone
- Connect to any phone or tablet with BLE, great for debugging or developing BLE devices or apps
- Works great with both Nordic (Android/iOS) or Adafruit (iOS) UART app, check out our source code if you want to create your own app!
- Uses the fancy Nordic nRF51822 chipset with custom firmware
- Optional Command mode to set GATT services/characteristics, advertising name/packet, Beacon capability, query status, RSSI, etc.
- Comes with standard Over-the-Air DFU bootloader, reprogram firmware using any BLE-capable iOS or Android device
- 4 LED indicators: blue connection status, red mode status, orange and green for RX/TX
- Snap-off SWD connector for advanced JTAG re-programming
- Comes with Nordic nRF58122 developer key
- 18mm x 61mm x 7mm / 0.7″ x 2.4″ x 0.3″
- Weight: 6.5g
RESOURCES
- Product Tutorial
Quick Shipping and Professional Packaging
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Note: Orders that include more than one item will be assigned a processing date in accordance with the item.
Prior to shipment, we will inspect thoroughly the items you've purchased. The majority of orders will be delivered within 48 hours. The delivery estimate is 3 to 7 days.
Returns
The stock is constantly changing and not fully managed by us due to the involvement of multiple parties including the factory and our warehouse. So the actual stock may alter at any time. Be aware that your order may be out of stock once the order has been placed.
Our policy lasts for thirty days. If you haven't received your product within 30 days, we are not able to provide a refund or an exchange.
Your item must be in its original packaging and in good condition. It must also not be used. It should also be in the original packaging.
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