For example, this thing has most of the capabilities to build a Nest (http://nest.com/) knock-off. However, it wouldn't make sense to use that board design.
Also, the cost would be much lower using a single SoC to do everything. The Yun only includes the ATmega paired with a Linux SoC so you can add WIFI while still using regular Arduino sketches.
Maybe groundbreaking should've been reserved for something else better, I'm sorry.
Lets think of one device, a relay (or solidstate relay) that controls an outlet.
You need:
A radio, or a powerline networking unit ($10). Some sort of processor ($45 for a Pi w/ps and sd card). Some low level logic to connect to the relay ($.25), the relay ($2), and the power socket ($2).
If you want to control two outlets at one place, you're only duplicating from the low level stuff to the power socket. That's another $5.
If you want to do this at a location that's more than a usb cable away from site #1, you're in for another $50.
The holy grail here is a wifi enabled power socket. All it needs is a small api: status and on/off. Bonus points if there's a current sensor. This could be done with the processor from Bunny's $12 phone and the power relay bits.
But, it's got to be priced in the $10/socket range.
http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity%C2%AE-Wireless-Controlled-Ele...
And here is a project for them:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-GPIO-home-autom...
/me realizes that I've just dated myself here.
Don't get me wrong, this is cool and there is certainly a benefit to the entire Arduino "ecosystem", particularly for those new to hobby electronics -- the IDEs and vast amount of tutorials create a nice positive feedback loop for the beginner. However, there is a lot more to the overall "Maker" electronics community than the Arduino and in context this is a cool little product, but nothing particularly unexpected. If anything Arduino has been lagging a bit behind everyone else on actual hardware and needed to catch up and this is a nice step there.
That said, I expect over time I expect the Black to do really well, and the Arduino Due. Many people could learn a lot by looking at what Arduino does well.
From the beaglebone terms of use....
You may use the Beaglebone Black as you choose. However, we do not support the use of the board in commercial products.The reasons for this are very simple. We did not design the board for use in your product. We cannot therefore guarantee that it will work in all cases and over the full range of operation you expect. We have had instances where people have done this and returned 25% of their purchases saying they would not work. Either the boards worked perfectly once received, or they had been blown up. This adds to our costs and puts a burden on our RMA operation. It also takes away from our production capacity. We do not want to see our distributors run out of boards because someone is buying up the inventory.
Please tell me, from where have you been sourcing your wifi Arduinos?
Thanks. :)
We need more Arduino-based startups more than photo sharing sites and hipster apps. Then this world will become truly advanced!
(I'm not saying the technology isn't there right now, I'm just saying the common man needs to be able to afford this too.)
EDIT: I know the Raspberry Pi can do it already, but the Arduino will probably fit better into basic electrical gadgets like the regular fan, light, etc. I think a fan having a HDMI port (Raspbeery Pi) would be awkward, no? That's why I think this is 'groundbreaking' for the Arduino community.