Is there a hobbiest's source for Akros Silicon PoE evaluation boards?
I'm not sure about the specific chip you talk about but Freetronics has a Ethernet+POE Arduino shield. It's not cheap, but it gets the job done. There's also a mid-span injector board to power more than one device from a central point. I like that the freetronics boards often have prototyping built right into the board without requiring an extra shield. Could be a good starting point for an embedded project.