Serial communication(RS232)

[sanjoyjana]

Hi All,
I am new to Mac programming and I am developing an iPhone application where I need to connect an external device from where data will be read into the iPhone and commands will be written to the device through Serial Port (RS232). Regarding this, I have some queries as follows:
1) Does iPhone/iPod Touch support Serial Port (RS232) communication? If so, do I need to jailbreak the device or I can do it without tampering the device?
2) Does the iPhone SDK 3.1.2 have support for serial communication? If so, which framework I need to use (like GameKit for Bluetooth communication)?
3) Does the iPhone simulator, which comes with Xcode, has support for the Serial Port (RS232) communication? Or I need to have the required iPhone development membership for testing the communication on the actual device?
4) The MAC PC I am using do not have any Serial port. Only USB port is there. So I have to communicate with the device using USB port via serial interface.

Your early response will be a great help for me in the development.

Thank you all in advance.

 

[flyingember]

Apple offers the dock port interface. you have to design hardware to work with it.

 

[BunnyDeath]

Can't speak to the first 3 questions. However, I just bought a USB to RS
232 Converter (TRENDnet model #TU-S9) to communicate with my telescope. I'm running El Capitan on a 2008 MacBook Pro and it works like a champ.