Boasting six times more power and double the memory, the new Raspberry Pi 2 is now available for only $35.
The new board’s specs were more than enough to overshadow the impressive surroundings at today’s launch event, at The Shard in London, with Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton stating that the Pi 2 takes the platform to a ‘completely new level.’
Upton commented: "Combining a sixfold increase in processing power and a doubling of memory capacity with complete backward compatibility with the existing Model B+, Raspberry Pi 2 is the perfect board for professionals and hobbyists alike."
"The new board will open up new design and development opportunities for users, and further the Foundation’s mission to bring affordable general-purpose computing to people everywhere."
Marking a major modification for the credit card-sized computer, the board has a new Broadcom BCM2836 ARMv7 Quad Core Processor powered Single Board Computer, running at 900MHz with 1GB of RAM.
The boot up time is less than half the time of its predecessor.
All those who have built projects with the old model have no need to worry, as all previous Raspberry Pi projects are compatible with the new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B. A Windows 10 compatible version will also be available.
Up to four USB devices are able to connect to the board, thanks to the expanded GPIO pins, advanced power management and connectivity. The 40-pin GPIO enables multiple sensors, connectors and expansion boards to be added, with the first 26 pins identical to the Model A and B boards, for full backward compatibility.
Claire Doyle, Global Head of Raspberry Pi at element14, the distributor of the credit-card sized computer, comments: "The Raspberry Pi has been a revolutionary board for engineers and electronics enthusiasts, and element14 has been instrumental in the evolution of the product, having shipped 2.8 million units globally."
"The Raspberry Pi 2 delivers exceptional speed and power at a low cost, opening up new opportunities for innovation."
