New “Raspberry Pi Zero W” Adds Wifi and Bluetooth for $10

New “Raspberry Pi Zero W” Adds Wifi and Bluetooth for $10
By Anatol Locker

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has released a new improved “Raspberry Pi Zero W.” It adds Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability to the Zero – for $10 plus tax. 

The Raspberry Pi Foundation gave it’s users a special gift for its 5th birthday. The Raspberry Pi family, which has sold over twelve million units, now has a new offspring: The Raspberry Pi Zero W, a new variant of Raspberry Pi Zero with wireless LAN and Bluetooth, priced at $10.

Since it was launched in November 2015, the Zero has become increasingly popular by makers and enthusiasts alike. The $5 computer got a camera connector, found its way into miniature arcade cabinets, personal microcomputer clusters or electric skateboards.

But there was a drawback: For most of the use cases, you needed wireless connectivity, and a Wifi dongle was blocking one of the two valuable USB ports. Users often ended up adding a USB port which allowed them to connect a mouse, keyboard, and a network adapter – often twice the size and price of the Zero itself.

Raspberry Pi Zero W: Same Layout, Faster CPU, Wifi and Bluetooth

The Zero and Zero W use the same BCM2835 single-core chip that was in the original Raspberry Pi. The new model is clocked at a higher speed of 1GHz instead of 700MHz. Also, the Zero W uses a Cypress (formerly Broadcom) wireless chip from the Raspberry Pi 3.

The new board has the same dimensions as the old one (2.6″ x 1.2″ x 0.2″) – only a different chip and antenna layout. The connectors also are at the same place.

Here are the Raspberry Pi  Zero W’s key specifications:

1GHz, single-core CPU
512MB RAM
Mini-HDMI port
Micro-USB On-The-Go port
Micro-USB power
HAT-compatible 40-pin header
Composite video and reset headers
CSI camera connector
802.11n wireless LAN
Bluetooth 4.0

The Raspberry Pi Zero W is on sale now. If you remember the launch of the Raspberry Pi Zero, you might recall it was bundled with the Magpie magazine, which sold out worldwide in just a few hours. Fortunately, this time it’s a bit easier to get your hands on the new model.

You can get it from the Raspberry Pi Foundation or Adafruit. There are also new distributors: ModMyPi in the UK, pi3g in Germany, Samm Teknoloji in Turkey, Kubii in France, Spain, Italy and Portugal, and Kiwi Electronics in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Unfortunately, most of these vendors sell the more expensive kit versions only.

Raspberry Pi Zero W: 3D Print Your Cases

There is an official case, which you can buy at the Raspberry Pi store. But makers and 3D designers have embraced the little computer and have designed lots and lots of 3D printable cases. You find them on Thingiverse and other 3D model repositories.

Here’s a choice of great 3D printable cases that will also fit the new Raspberry Pi W Zero.

20 Free Raspberry Pi Zero Cases to 3D Print
15 Amazing Raspberry Pi 3D Printer Projects
25 RetroPie Gaming Raspberry Pi Cases to 3D Print

The post New “Raspberry Pi Zero W” Adds Wifi and Bluetooth for $10 appeared first on All3DP.

February 28, 2017 at 06:00PM
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