[kaician]

Something that I've been thinking about since hearing that developers would have access to the USB port for accessories is the possibility of having ACTUAL USB mass driver memory for the iPhone.

I've never made an app, so I don't know specifics, but if developers have access to the USB port, wouldn't it just be a matter of adding a mass storage driver or emulator to a program like air sharing or iStorage so when it connects to a USB port it's recognized as USB memory drive?

If this is possible, it is probably the number one thing I'm waiting for from 3.0 (being jailbroken of course...)

[boxxa]

The restriction would be what Apple allows you to write to the device. Yes, you have access to the port to interface with the iPhone and make system calls but you will need to create the filesystem on the phone which at the current time needs a jailbreak to gain access to these functions.

[kaician]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean. Right now there are many programs that have a file storage system in place, but us wifi to get files onto the phone because they couldn't use the USB port.

With the port now put into play, I'm sorta wondering how possible it is to write the funconality in to use USB in place of the wifi for file transfers...

[ZionSV]

interesting idea, I'm not too well versed in that area so i don't know if it's possible but it sure sounds good

[boxxa]

App running has its own container for storage does not exactly mean the same as having the iphone show up as a USB drive and not an ipod or camera.

[kaician]

What I was trying to say, was that if an app already has it's own storage container, and now has access to the usb port for its own uses, it seems as though creating an actual USB memory program would be a natural progression.
If a program can interface with the USB port, it seems as though it can change the default behavior of the port signaling while the program is open. Maybe this could lead to having it recognized as a mass storage driver.
Guess some things will have to wait till more developers get a hold of it.

[CaptainChaos]

I am not sure I quite understand why I can use my phone as a hard drive using Wifi, but not via USB cable. What is the difference if I transfer data between devices via USB or Wifi? The data is still getting transferred. I can swap most file types with Flash Drive and Files and open them on my phone. Why won't Apple let it be done with wires? Why let people develop for one transfer method and not the other?