I was looking at the new arduino and the api and noticing a few things that should have been implemented a long time in the new board. Not the least of which is the reset being hooked up to the fdti chip so that you dont have to intervene to download your code. There are still a few things that I am missing. Not the least of which is the necessity of using a serial boot loader. If the boot loader uses the stk500 then you would be best off with a cheep clone like one of these.
- http://www.serasidis.gr/circuits/avr_isp/avr_isp.htm