It is no secret that creating links between an Arduino board with various sensors and the Internet can be difficult in some situations. To counter this, another example of bringing the Arduino platform into the "Internet of things" world has been introduced - called APDuino. It takes away the requirement to write your own sketch, as you download and flash the board directly with the APDuino code. Due to the size of the code this only works with Arduino Mega2560 and compatible boards with an Ethernet shield (or built-in, such as the Freetronics EtherMega). Then using an online service you can set rules to control or receive data from the board.
At the moment a limited range of sensors are supported by the service, however this includes temperature and humidity sensors. If you're going to try this system, be sure to have an understanding of flashing the microcontroller on your board, and how to re-load the Arduino bootloader if you change your mind. However read more at the project page here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
If you're interested in test-driving APDuino, or other Arduino-Ethernet projects - it's time to move up to the Freetronics EtherMega:
Quite simple the EtherMega is the fully-loaded Arduino-compatible board on the market today. Apart from being completely Arduino Mega2560-compatible, it includes full Ethernet interface, a microSD card socket, full USB interface, optional Power-over-Ethernet support and still has a circuit prototyping area with extra I2C interface pins. So if your project is breaking the limits, upgrade to the EtherMega today.
