New Raspberry Pi B+ announced

in hardware on 2014-07-14 13:05 (#3QP)

The Raspberry Pi keeps getting better: an updated version of model B Raspberry Pi has been announced by the Foundation. Looks like a great device.

Main changes are:

More GPIO. The GPIO header has grown to 40 pins, while retaining the same pinout for the first 26 pins as the Model B.
More USB. We now have 4 USB 2.0 ports, compared to 2 on the Model B, and better hotplug and overcurrent behaviour.
Micro SD. The old friction-fit SD card socket has been replaced with a much nicer push-push micro SD version.
Lower power consumption. By replacing linear regulators with switching ones we've reduced power consumption by between 0.5W and 1W.
Better audio. The audio circuit incorporates a dedicated low-noise power supply.
Neater form factor. We've aligned the USB connectors with the board edge, moved composite video onto the 3.5mm jack, and added four squarely-placed mounting holes.

The price is still $35.

Interestingly, Hackaday was there first, via a post just yesterday about a guy who got one of these things even before they were announced: probably a simple shipping error. They point out that the new form factor means old cases won't work. And they - and I - are excited about the better SD slot too: that was an important defect.

Woo hoo! (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-07-14 14:30 (#2GK)

This is the right kind of progress. I just bought a RaspbPi to play with, and was immediately kind of put off by the sketchy SD card slot and having to swap out keyboard for USB keys because of the lack of USB ports. Furthermore because the USBs are unpowered you simply can't put an external hard drive on them, which kind of limits anyone hoping to make a NAS controller out of them or something.

Re: Woo hoo! (Score: 1)

by axsdenied@pipedot.org on 2014-07-14 15:16 (#2GM)

Yes, it is good to see that someone listened to the user feedback.

Re: Woo hoo! (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-07-14 15:22 (#2GN)

While holding the price point! I might have to just go buy a second one.

Re: Woo hoo! (Score: 1)

by axsdenied@pipedot.org on 2014-07-15 07:09 (#2GR)

Regarding the price point, remember that the components hardly changed in this upgrade. The main change is the layout and they added few extra connectors or replaced them. I doubt the new power supply increased the cost much, if at all. The SoC and memory are the same and their price went down since the original release.
So, I would have been surprised if the price changed much considering they are non-profit organisation.

By the way, the model B+ is already for sale at Element14 or similar stores. Also the old revision B disappeared overnight, I thought they will be getting rid of the old stock at discounted price???

Re: Woo hoo! (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-07-15 10:57 (#2GV)

http://www.raspberrypi.org/introducing-raspberry-pi-model-b-plus/

We think you're going to love Model B+, but to ensure continuity of supply for our industrial customers we'll be keeping Model B in production for as long as there's demand for it.

and

#comment-957489" rel="nofollow">http://www.raspberrypi.org/introducing-raspberry-pi-model-b-plus/#comment-957489

We stopped making Model Bs for a month so we could fill the channel with enough B+ to deal with the demand we get when we make a new product. They're back in production again now, so you won't have to wait for long.

Re: Woo hoo! (Score: 1)

by cykros@pipedot.org on 2014-07-14 15:37 (#2GP)

So, what I (and I presume most people who want more out of the usb ports than the raspberry pi natively offers) do is use a powered USB hub. Works if you want to plug in an external hard drive, a beefier 802.11G/N adapter than the pi can power on its own, or really, whatever you normally can plug into a usb port on a desktop. Also, naturally, because it's a hub, you now have more ports to plug in keyboards, mice, or whatever else you care to plug in.

That's not to say that more ports aren't welcome, as this thing does look like they've made some really nice improvements (and while keeping the price the same; I'm impressed), just to point out that you can probably do more with the device you bought than it sounds like you realize.