There is a new iteration of the Raspberry Pi computer for the taking, one that comes with enhanced power and capabilities but at the same sweet price point of $35.
As has been the story with the single board computer, the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B impresses with its specifications, which speaks of a 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 quad-core processor clocked at 1.2 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1.
The new Pi 3 is also fully backward compatible, which means the latest model is compatible with all the software or accessories that match with the older versions of Raspberry Pi computer.
The new P3 comes with a Broadcom BCM2837 processor which its makers claim to have 50 percent performance enhancement over its predecessor, the Pi 2. The latest Pi 3 is also 10 times faster than the first gen P1 that was launched in 2012.
The Pi 3 also has a plethora of ports to offer, which includes 4 USB 2.0 ports, a full-sized HDMI port, composite video jack, microSD card slot, 10/100 Ethernet jack, micro USB power slot, and 40-pin connector.
The Foundation claims the Pi 3 will open up “even more possibilities for IoT and embedded projects”. Speaking to the BBC, Pi founder Eben Upton said, “This is the first Pi you can stick behind your TV and completely forget about.”
“The two main things that people do with their Pi are use it as a PC replacement or use it as an embedded computer,” he added. “The Pi 3 is doubling down on both those things rather than going looking for new things to do.”
However, in spite of having a 64-bit chip at its core, the P3 will be mated to 32-bit operating systems of the like of Raspbian. Further, Raspberry Pi Foundation isn’t sure either whether to jump straight ahead developing a 64 bit OS for the Pi 3.
Meanwhile, with built-in wireless support and greater processing power, the new Pi 3 is also expected to provide a boost to the IoT segment that Raspberry Pi Foundation has always aimed to achieve. Towards that, the foundation also stated they have worked closely with Microsoft to ensure the new Pi 3 is fully compatible with Windows 10 IoT Core.
The Windows 10 IoT Core also offers several inherent advantages to exploit the new Pi 3 so far as IoT is concerned. This includes the ability to create nice and intuitive interfaces using Visual Studio even though the specific Windows version is designed to run on a system that may or may not have a display of their own.
That is not all for the huge Windows user base (Windows 10 alone is now up and running on more than 200 million devices) is another great advantage that makes IoT an attractive proposition in Windows environment. Microsoft has stated it aims to have Windows 10 running on over a billion devices worldwide.
