Davide Gomba —

This week we are releasing a few new products and services. We begin with the Arduino Ethernet and the Arduino Mega ADK.

The Arduino Ethernet combines a regular Arduino board with the Ethernet Shield into a single board designed to power your internet of things projects. It has the ability (if fitted with an optional module) to be powered directly from the ethernet cable using a standard called “Power over Ethernet“, this makes ideal for permanent installations in buildings and similar structures.

For example, prototypes of the board have been installed and have been operating for over a year at the “Campari Gallery” museum in Milan Italy relaying sensor data via OSC to video players and other interactive installations with amazing reliability.

You can use any FTDI compatible cable or module to program it. For this purpose we are also releasing a new USB2Serial module that is based on the same circuit that’s used in the Arduino UNO, hacking the firmware on the atmega8u2 will allow you to make amazing stuff with this cheap module.

The Arduino Mega ADK is an exciting new addition to the lineup. Google recently released an Arduino-derived open source accessory development kit (ADK) for Android phones and tablets. This is our take on the platform.

It’s essentially an Arduino Mega 2560 with the addition of a USB Host chip that communicates with the phone and a beefy power supply (the board needs to be able to charge the phone). The communication is implemented using Oleg Mazurov’s USB Host library.

The ADK Sensor Kit makes it incredibly simple to develop with the ADK because there is no need to know anything about electronics, small modular sensors and actuators plug on top of the Mega ADK letting you create protoypes or robust installations in minutes!

Later this week we’ll release a few code examples that will make it very easy for anyone to build Android accessories with Arduino.

We hope you enjoy our new creations.