The Raspberry Pi Foundation has launched a new version of the credit card-sized computer -- the Raspberry Pi B+ -- which comes with more sensors and enhanced connectivity.

The Raspberry Pi B+, which will be sold for $35 (£20) through Element14, is the first significant update to the device. It has a 40-pin General-purpose input/output (GPIO) -- building on the previous version's 26 pins -- so that even more sensors, connectors and expansion boards can be added. Four USB accessories -- including a 2.5 inch hard drive -- can be powered through the device thanks to advanced power management.

The first 26 pins on the new device remain identical to the old one to allow for backwards compatibility with the Model B Board.

The Raspberry Pi B+ uses the same Broadcom BCM2835 Chipset and has 512MB of Ram like the previous model. It's powered by micro USB and has AV connections through either HDMI or a new four-pole connector. The SD card slot has been replaced with a micro-SD. The new device also uses less power than the old model -- 600mA compared to 750mA when running.

Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi Trading, said: "We've been blown away by the projects that have been made possible through the original B boards and, with its new features, the B+ has massive potential to push the boundaries and drive further innovation."

Since its launch in February 2012 more than three million Raspberry Pi boards have been sold. Envisaged as an educational product, it has been used to teach kids -- and adults -- about coding. It has inspired a culture of making things, be they cocktail-pouring robots, beer stock management systems for college bars or wooden tablets.

The launch of the B+ device comes hot on the tail of the launch of the HummingBoard, a Raspberry Pi competitor created by SolidRun. It has been designed to fit into Raspberry Pi cases, but packs more of a punch, with a 1GHz ARMv7 processor, support for more operating systems and a range of different configurations.

By: DocMemory
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