Bluetooth Arduino re-programming shield
Adafruit just announced a Bluetooth shield that acts enough like a plain serial connection that it can be used to re-flash your Arduino wirelessly from a bluetooth-equipped Mac or PC. $25.
http://www.adafruit.com/products/1628
This could be great for certain ‘installation’ type projects where you might want to re-flash new code into the Arduino, but you don’t want to (or can’t) have a USB port within easy reach. If anyone gets a chance to try this, I’d love to hear a review.
Adafruit also has a smaller FTDI board with the same function, but the shield may be easier to get started with. http://www.adafruit.com/products/1588
Very cool I could use this to access serial to change patterns/effects
I have the small FTDI version, and I love it. You can’t use this with the Leonardo/Micro because those boards require a physical USB connection to upload a sketch. The Bluetooth module was super easy to set-up and use. I am a big fan of Adafruit and highly recommend you get one and free yourself from the cord.
It does take about 8-10 seconds of extra time to upload a sketch, and a few extra seconds to open a serial window. I highly recommend purchasing this at the super-low $22 - 25 price point. I had to purchase their $10 Bluetooth dongle because it operates on the new Bluetooth 4.0
While your at it, you should look into these. I love them on the breadboard http://www.adafruit.com/products/1400