I have a Bluetooth aware tablet, (circa late 2016) an Amazon Fire HD. Although it is possible to side load the Android .apk files, the device itself is not BLE compliant. Big blow when I purchased my first Puck (circa 2017) and couldn't flash it.
So, even though the screen real estate on a Smart Phones is much too small in my opinion for easy reading, it might be okay (at the right price) for flashing firmware.
But I have a major concern with Smart Phones.
The Smart Phone route. (I don't own, nor do I anticipate owning one, monthly cost wise - cost vs benefit) Correct me should my understanding not be correct, a SIM card and an activation card, monthly or by annual plan is required, but that is used to connect via GSM to say a 4G or 5G network for audio voice calls. WiFi would allow connection to a hotspot or home Internet router, and Bluetooth/BLE enables connectivity of say a BLE mic/headset and our treasured Espruino family of official supported boards.
Under that premise, if a method to side load the .apk and .zip files is found, say via USB cable, then flashing Espruino could be done on a smart phone that doesn't have GSM or the SIM card activated. So, could a used phone work then?
Espruino is a JavaScript interpreter for low-power Microcontrollers. This site is both a support community for Espruino and a place to share what you are working on.
Sun 2020.03.15
I have a Bluetooth aware tablet, (circa late 2016) an Amazon Fire HD. Although it is possible to side load the Android .apk files, the device itself is not BLE compliant. Big blow when I purchased my first Puck (circa 2017) and couldn't flash it.
So, even though the screen real estate on a Smart Phones is much too small in my opinion for easy reading, it might be okay (at the right price) for flashing firmware.
But I have a major concern with Smart Phones.
The Smart Phone route. (I don't own, nor do I anticipate owning one, monthly cost wise - cost vs benefit) Correct me should my understanding not be correct, a SIM card and an activation card, monthly or by annual plan is required, but that is used to connect via GSM to say a 4G or 5G network for audio voice calls. WiFi would allow connection to a hotspot or home Internet router, and Bluetooth/BLE enables connectivity of say a BLE mic/headset and our treasured Espruino family of official supported boards.
Under that premise, if a method to side load the .apk and .zip files is found, say via USB cable, then flashing Espruino could be done on a smart phone that doesn't have GSM or the SIM card activated. So, could a used phone work then?