Makers Rejoice! There’s a New, Less Power-Hungry Raspberry Pi Model
But can it still power my robot army?
Meet the Raspberry Pi Model B+ from Raspberry Pi Foundation on Vimeo.
The Raspberry Pi is often heralded by the maker movement as the micro-computer to beat (though its not the only game in town), and it’s just released a new, less power-hungry model with a few new features. Let’s take a look at the Raspberry Pi B+.
Director of Hardware James Adams and Raspberry Pi Trading CEO Eben Upton show off the B+ in the video above, but here are the highlights:
- The B+ uses less power, running between 0.5 and 1.0W
- There are now 4 USB 2.0 ports instead of 2
- The SD card slot has been replaced with a micro SD slot
- The B+ now features 40 GPIO pins
- A new power supply creates less noise and better audio
- The video output now shares the 3.5mm audio jack
The previous “B” Raspberry Pi will still be available as long as there’s a demand for it, so if you happen to have a very specific project that relies on something the B had that the B+ doesn’t, don’t worry. Although there’s aren’t any major changes here. The B+ has the same processor and RAM (512MB) capacity as the B, but the additional pins and USB ports seem like they’d open up the Pi to a lot more options when it comes to what projects it can tackle.
The B+ is already available from sources that usually supply the Raspberry Pi for $35.
(Raspberry Pi via The Next Web, image via Raspberry Pi)
- We got a hands-on look at Raspberry Pi competitor BeagleBone Black (and loved it)
- We saw a lot of great maker projects at last year’s World Maker Faire
- The “Picade” turns a Raspberry Pi into an arcade cabinet
Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, & Google +?
Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com
