Connecting your Arduino project to the outside world via the Internet isn't as difficult as you would think, and with the increasing number of cloud-based IoT ("Internet-of-Things") platforms on the market - simple projects can almost be a plug-and-play affair. One example of this has been demonstrated with an Ethernet-equipped Arduino board via the Nearbus IoT platform.
The Nearbus team explain how simple it is control an Arduino or compatible board with their platform via their cloud service and twitter. The Arduino can interrogate twitter messages for a certain code and then take action based on the content. In this example a digital output is used to turn a light on or off.
Although a basic project it's a good example of how easy it is to get started. For more information and the detailed tutorial, visit the Nearbus website. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
When putting together your next Internet-enabled Arduino project - save time, space and money with the Freetronics EtherTen. Apart from being fully Arduino Uno-compatible, it has onboard Ethernet, microSD socket, full USB interface (so you don't need a costly FTDI cable just to upload a sketch!) and supports optional Power-over-Ethernet.