How about a DIY hack on this? The latest development in the ESP32 world comes is a complete ESP32 which fits inside a USB-A connector. It has Wi-fi and Bluetooth. This looks like designed for nasty USB cable builders…

https://hackaday.com/2019/09/28/tiny-esp32-fits-inside-usb-a-connector/

https://9to5mac.com/2019/10/02/hacked-lightning-cables/?_ga=2.228242969.589128859.1570221199-471518276.1569058944

Apple’s first product, the Apple I, is now more than 40 years old. The processor was a MOS 6502 running at a mere 1MHz, and it only came with 4KB of memory. 

Emulating the OS takes very little power. That last point is where the maker-favorite ESP8266 comes in. The ESP8266 can be purchased for as little as $3 and has a 80MHz processor.

Hrvoje Čavrak’s Espple project handles everything wirelessly—even RF video output to a TV. 

High frequency modulated video signal is generated internally (via I2S/DMA) and all you need is a single piece of wire to play antenna. Even though it’s extremely weak, it can still be picked up on your TV in the same room. The chosen video system is 625 lines CCIR system B (basically PAL B without the color).

Check all the details from https://github.com/hrvach/espple

Feel free to post your best IoT project links to comments…

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a hot topic in today’s tech conversations. Many times, IoT development and prototyping cycles are too long and too expensive due to the time and complexity it takes to build a simple IoT prototype. But the creation of IoT projects doesn’t have to be complex or expensive.

myDevices, SparkFun, and Espressifhave partnered to give you the world’s first ESP8266 IoT contest to show that IoT development can be simple. Just sign up for your free Cayenne account, create your IoT project using at least one ESP8266 board/module!

An “anywhere” LED Matrix sign that you can setup with a mobile device. Uses ESP8266
The design is based on an ESP8266 MCU which drives a 8×64 matrix display (basically two 8×32′s daisy chained) and scrolls a message that is entered via web browser. To enter the message, you simply browse for the sign’s wireless network AP, open a browser to 10.10.10.1and then type your message into the web form, hit SUBMIT and your message scrolls. 

This project looks like a very interesting home automation IoT project that provides tools for many applications:

This project emulates a Philips Hue Bridge that is able to control Hue lights (using original Hue Bridge), IKEA Tradfri lights (usign Tradfri Bridge), Mi-Light bulbs (using MiLight Hub), Neopixel strips (WS2812B and SK6812) and any cheep ESP8266 based bulb from market by replacing firmware with custom one. 
The control software is written in python and will run on all small boxes like RaspberryPi. 

There are provided sketches for Hue Dimmer Switch, Hue Tap Switch and Hue Motion Sensor. 

Don’t buy a universal remote, make one. It’s cheaper, funner, universal-er, kind of, and you get to learn the ESP8266, kind of.
You will need the Arduino IDE with whatever OS. Alternatively Linux and some C skills for the official Espressif stuff, but that’s unnecessarily challenging for this application.

To get IR control codes connect an IR Receiver to my Arduino UNO and use Ken Shirriff’s tools. The IRrecord demo does great with this. 

https://github.com/z3t0/Arduino-IRremote
https://github.com/adafruit/Raw-IR-decoder-for-Arduino

The server code that runs the ESP uses a file system. This makes updating and otherwise modifying your HTML a breeze.

You can access the ESP server through its IP on your home wifi. 

myDevices, SparkFun, and Espressifhave partnered to give you the world’s first ESP8266 IoT contest. 
Show us how you use the ESP8266 to simplify the connected world! There is no project too big or too small. Want to monitor the temperature in a room? Perfect. Thinking of creating an automated garden? Excellent. Want to use your Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and ESP8266 all in one giant home automation project? Even better!

Over the last few years, we’ve seen a huge growth in the number and variety of both microcontroller boards and single-board computers. 
The modern era, defined by microcontrollers becoming conveniently packaged on boards, began with the Arduino. The “classic” Arduino layout, including the irritating, irregular offset between pins 7 and 8, has become a standard. Similarly, the Raspberry Pi’s layout has been imitated, with several newer boards duplicating it exactly. 
The microcontroller board market is in transition. 

The era of expensive and badly documented developer boards for the professional market have given way to cheaper microcontroller boards that are far more easily accessible. That’s been good for everyone.

The growing popularity of internet-connected smart devices, the so-called Internet of Things (IoT), has changed the face of the microcontroller board market.

The current generation of boards now come with radios, sometimes lots of radios. Manufacturers have started to produce integrated modules on a single board. Often destined to be mounmted on other circuit boards.

General-use microcontroller boards with onboard Wi-Fi can now be found for less than two dollars, while a single-board computer can be picked up for only a few dollars more.

ESP8266 has become the “third community” of the maker electronics world alongside the Arduino and the Raspberry Pi.

The age of the maker FPGA has arrived without much real fanfare. 

This article will focus on applying AES encryption and hash authorization functions to the MQTT protocol using the popular ESP8266 chip running NodeMCU firmware.