Since the public beta trial was announced back in May, we've been collaborating with the guys at Vodafone and a small group of mbed developers who were keen to experiment with this technology. After a busy time developing, testing and debugging the USB modem driver, we're almost ready to publish it.

The release is expected to happen at the end of October, and so now seems like a good time to start showing some of the things that have been happening, and the projects that have been built around the modem.

First up is a project from Dr Ashley Mills, one of the Vodafone research guys we've been working closely with.

Ashley put together this SMS feedback machine when we attended Over The Air 2012 back in June. The idea is simple. It is a Vodafone USB Modem that can receive text messages, and a thermal printer that can print them out. Publicising the number at the beginning of a presentation enables people to text questions during the presentation. This might be useful to avoid forgetting the question before the end, or to avoid having to ask a question in front of a big audience.

It worked really well, and Ashley has been using it ever since. It is a good example of the SMS receive functionality that the Vodafone USB Modem library provides being used for an application that didn't exist before.

To read more about the project, visit Ashley's notebook page on the the project.

• SMS Feedback Question Mark

Keep and eye out for the announcement and book mark Vodafone USB Modem Library ready for the end of October!