I have an arduino board and I was looking into doing the same thing! I haven't started because I lacked the time... Untill now. I will place a sample order too, allthough it costs money for oversea sampling (6$), its still cheaper as at farnell (actually not, but i need to order 98 pcs at least over there)...
Well, I'm folowing this thread very closely, and I'll try to contribute some code