Quote from: YipYip on January 26, 2013, 11:04:16 AM

Quote from: niko on January 26, 2013, 07:40:26 AM

Quote from: nathanrees19 on January 26, 2013, 07:36:46 AM

Quote from: PuertoLibre on January 26, 2013, 07:22:57 AM

What happens if one of those unreleased features makes them an non-competitive lemon?

You're going out on a very long limb here if you think they have a hidden feature that can negate the dramatic difference in power costs.

My speculation: They will be selling series of ever slightly more powerful chips, which you just plug into sockets. Easy upgrades.

+1

Agreed...having a simple upgrade path using the existing chasiss

Also some way of linking them together in a borg type deal..(thats a me dreaming ) ...lol

I doubt it, if anything it won't be just sockets since common QFP sockets are freaking expensive. (I researched that option once for a home project)
Added to that even if they have a concept for upwards compatible pin layout the buffer caps would depend on the clock frequency.

So the best option would be modular pcbs, which could be possible but it would be more expensive for the upgrades themselves and it's exactly the most efficient strategy since the devices wouldn't consist of much else than a micro controller and a power supply.