Here's proof I never abandon my projects!

Yes, I've changed the name. I think calling it the CALCnet Box is a little misleading, since the exciting parts are the other things it can do.
Yes, I'm reposting. I feel it belongs in Your Projects rather than Calculator Programming.

As you may know, I made another post asking if it had been done before. I am a little less dumb than I was before, and a lot more capable than when I started the CALCnet Box post back in December.

Before I get into it, I want to answer a "question" from the old thread.

Yeah, I was dumb, and didn't know what I was saying to be honest with you. I'm not following the USB protocol except for the CE. In fact I'm scratching the whole OTG thing completely. Sony didn't use OTG with their PSP, and still released a camera attachment that used it.


Now for everyone's favorite: MOCKUPS!!!

(Print it on Letter 8.5"x11" to get real-size)
So you can see a more concise idea of what it should be. This took me almost 5 hours to make, but I had no internet, so don't tell me it was a waste of time. For the first revision, it's going to be 3D printed. Later on if it is a good investment I want to use that nice coated plastic stuff.
I promise, I'm working on code and other things too! I'm not doing the thirty-mockups-and-nothing-comes-of-it move.

Here's my favorite way to convey my projects.

► Can synthesize MIDI commands from the calculator using a general soundfont. Now we can have real music in our games!
► Runs off an internal rechargeable battery. Those are all the rage now right?
► One 'box gives 4-calc linking. GameBoy style!
► No wires needed to link multiple 'boxes. Just stick em together!

Ain't that cool? Here's the things that would be awesome to have, but might not stay in the final product:

► microSD card reader. Extra space, unlimited games!
► Extra microprocessor. Basically a dual-core calculator!

Ain't that extra-super-duper cool?


Now here's what I need from you: Feature requests? Anything I didn't think about?

That's it! Thanks for reading!

Looking good! How much do you think it would cost when you're done? I am looking forward to this, and if there is anything I could do to help, let me know!

Did you think of making a TV connector so that you can see the screen on each calculator?

Yes, actually. However implementing HDMI or even Composite will be complex. Expect to get VGA, and it won't be built-in. It'll be separate from the main unit, and connected to the USB port.

Quick question: How are you planning to have the calculators communicate with the Box? Will you make a shell-ish like app, that adds more functions, or what?

Good luck! I'm mostly interested in sound ability. Basically I want a sound card for the TI-84, because while it can play some nice music, it can't do it while doing nearly anything else. My initial thought was if we could stick two calculators together and had one send commands to the other as to what to play, then there would be plenty of power, but anything that takes commands over serial and does the DAC should work.