To control the Arduino he’s using ArduDroid with a Bluetooth module. The app lets you trigger the various digital and analog outputs, and send and receive data.

An Android* phone or tablet running Android and has Bluetooth. Connect your Intel® Edison board to a Wi-Fi* network, see Get started with Intel® Edison technology.

How to send data from Processing to Arduino How to receive data from Processing in Arduino How to write a serial ‘handshake’ between Arduino and Processing to control data flow ...

Well tech tinkerer Joe Desbonnet has whipped up what he dubs "poor man's NFC" using an Arduino, some magnet wire, and any compass-equipped Android smartphone (which is almost all of them).