The Electric Imp is a Microcontroller that allows you to program through a visual GUI using the language called squirrel. The special feature of the imp is that its can connect to the internet via Wifi without using the ethernet-shield like Arduino.
The imp comes in SD card format. It is not an SD card though!
The way you programmed this is that you have to connect them up with the imp board. There are two types of imp board. The one I have is called the Breakout board. There is also an Arduino-imp shield that allows the Imp to interface with Arduino via TX and RX
Here is the breakout board
The way to program these are though Modular interfaces. However, they didn't come pre-define. you have to program it yourself. Here is how it looks.
Each node can then be joined like this
At the moment, I am still playing around with these. I will keep more update once I become more proficient at it.
The strong point of this electronic imp is that it is very versatile and easier to program.
It is versatile because it allows the user to instantly connect through the internet as it's come build in. It has the same capability as an Arduino but since you are doing the programming on the website, there is no need for you to upload the code to your Imp. The codes are instantly updated as long as your imp is connect to the internet.
The programming will get easier as each of these node only does one thing. Thus you can create a 'building block' node to illustrated simple interaction. However, it still required you to write all the code for these nodes. It is very interest on the fact that you can form your own building block.