Firstly sorry that I have not posted in a while, I has been busy with other things and working on a new bit of Pi related hardware – I hope to be able to talk a little more about this in a few weeks time.
But anyway big news yesterday with the announcement of the Raspberry Pi B+. I ordered one from Farnell which arrived this morning and I have to say it ticks just about all the boxes in terms of improved design while maintaining bac
k-compatibility for just about everything. That said the full size prototyping boards I have used in the past will not fit the B+ but that is for me only a minor problem.
My B+ top 10
- Off-board connections on just 2 sides – this will make packaging much simpler
- 4 on board USB ports, with the option to run up to 1amp – no need for a separate hub
- Switching power on board regulator – saves a bit of power for battery applications
- Rounded board corners – I know it is silly but it make the Pi feel so much more tactile
- Sensibly arranged mounting holes -again this simplifies packaging
- No SD card sticking out – the move to a micro SD seems really sensible
- Combined analogue audio and video – much less intrusive for something I rarely use
- More IO – reduces the need to add a separate I2C port expander
- Same great low price – it is good to find something has not gone up in the last 2 years
- Good level of backwards compatibility – only one version of s/w for me to maintain
The Meandering Pi and Friends 