I thought some of you may be interested in using the ESP8266 with the BV502 (Mini-Max) which is a small rapid application development system. It makes it possible to experiment with the AT commands without constantly having to re-type them. There is documentation here http://www.bypic.co.uk/index.php/ESP8266 that includes the ESP8266 library, an HTTP client and HTTP server. It all works through the serial interface and can be easily modified, all the source is available and no programmer is needed.
I have had a great time with this for the past two weeks, the possibilities are endless!!