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Raspberry Pi Gets Major Upgrade

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The Raspberry Pi Foundation announces an upgrade to the low-cost credit card-sized micro PC-- the Raspberry Pi Model B+, featuring a 40-pin general-purpose input/output (GPIO) allowing for further expansion.

Raspberry Pi B+The first Raspberry Pi features a 26-pin GPIO. The first 26 pins on the Model B+ are identical to the original, allowing for backwards compatibility.

Further enhancements on the Model B+ include 4 USB 2.0 ports (the original features 2), better hotplug and overcorrect behaviour, a "nicer" push-push microSD card socket and switching regulators promising to reduce power consumptions to 600mA.

Also improved are the audio (via dedicated low-noise power supply) and the overall form factor with the addition of 4 squarely-placed mounting holes and the movement of composite video onto the 3.5mm jack.

Other specs remain the same-- namely the BCM2835 application processor and 512MB RAM. Also identical is the $35 price tag.

According to the foundation the Raspberry Pi sales total over 3 million since the February 2012 launch. Initially designed as a means for kids to learn coding, the versatile micro PC found use in a number of interesting projects, including cocktail-pouring robots, smart(er) TVs and even novel takes on the alarm clock.

Go Introducing the Raspberry Pi Model B+