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Raspberry Pi has now sold 10 million computers
There's no doubt about it: the Raspberry Pi has changed the game for tech hobbyists and tinkerers alike. In four and a half years, we've seen the company expand its line-up to cater for smaller budgets, incorporate more features into its computing boards and inspire kids all over the world to get into coding. In February 2015, Raspberry Pi Foundation CEO Eben Upton confirmed 5 million units had been sold -- today, he announced that figure has doubled. That's right, 10 million Raspberry Pis have been now shipped to customers all over the world.
Raspberry Pi Zero gains camera support, keeps the $5 price
When the Raspberry Pi Foundation launched the credit-card sized Zero, it stressed that the DIY computing board would not be as capable as the rest of the Pi family. But if there's one thing we've learned about the Raspberry Pi, it's that there's always room for improvement. Today, the Zero has received its first major hardware upgrade since its hugely successful launch in November: a camera connector. The new addition works very nicely with the two new Sony imaging modules announced last month and the board retains its $5 (£4) price.
Raspberry Pi gets an 8-megapixel Sony camera upgrade
Although the Raspberry Pi has undergone numerous refreshes since it launched three years ago, its first official accessory -- a 5-megapixel Omnivision camera module -- has remained the same. That's mostly due to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and its partners buying a huge amount of sensors, which not only kept the price low, but also enabled it to have plenty of stock for years to come. According to CEO Eben Upton, those reserves are now running very low, so it's time to show off the new merchandise: two new $25 (£19) cameras powered a Sony IMX219 8-megapixel sensor.
Raspberry Pi creator doesn't expect a sequel in 2013
If you were hoping for a full-fledged Raspberry Pi sequel this year, you'll have to keep waiting. Designer Eben Upton tells ZDNet that, while there should eventually be a replacement, he doesn't expect one in 2013. Both software tweaks and upgrades like the Model B are reportedly doing the job -- and it wouldn't be right to "orphan" the 700,000 existing owners with a new platform, Upton says. He isn't worried about the Cubieboard and other current rivals, as they have yet to be as fast as their raw numbers suggest. We won't hide our disappointment at missing out on a quick revamp, but we know what they say about things that aren't broken.
Premier Farnell, Sony, team up to move Raspberry PI manufacturing to the UK
One of the biggest holdups to owning a Raspberry Pi was its stuttering availability, so much so that it even prompted a few copycat boards. Creator Eben Upton and equipment makers Premier Farnell might have found the solution, teaming up with Sony to produce an initial run of 300,000 of the educational computers at the company's UK Technology Center, in Pencoed, near Bridgend in Wales. Upton hopes to keep the cost at $25 and $35 for two boards, thanks to employing Sony's "lean manufacturing techniques," and the Japanese company has already spent £50,000 ($80,000) on new package-on-package assembly equipment -- ensuring that we'll all be able to get our hands on one soon enough.
Raspberry Pi hands-on and Eben Upton interview at Maker Faire (video)
Unless you've been hiding under a rock lately, we're pretty sure you've heard about the Raspberry Pi by now -- a $25 credit-card sized PC that brings ARM/Linux to the Arduino form factor. As a refresher, the system features a 700MHz Broadcom BCM2835 SoC with an ARM11 CPU, a Videocore 4 GPU (which handles HD H.264 video and OpenGL ES 2.0) and 256MB RAM. The board includes an SD card slot, HDMI output, composite video jack, 3.5mm audio socket, micro-USB power connector and GPIO header. Model A ($25) comes with one USB port, while Model B ($35) provides two USB ports and a 100BaseT Ethernet socket. Debian is recommended, but Raspberry Pi can run most ARM-compatible 32-bit OSes. This past weekend at Maker Faire Bay Area 2012 we ran into Eben Upton, Executive Director of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, and took the opportunity to spend some quality time with a production board and to discuss this incredible PC. We touched upon the origins of the system (inspired by the BBC Micro, one of the ARM founders' projects), Moore's law, the wonders of simple computers and upcoming products / ideas -- including Adafruit's Pi Plate and Raspberry Pi's prototype camera add-on. On the subject of availability, the company expects that "there will be approximately 200,000 units in the field by the end of June". Take a look at our hands-on gallery below and our video interview after the break.%Gallery-155800%
