Fans of do-it-yourself microcomputers might be delighted to know that first photos of the Raspberry Pi 3 have cropped up on the Web. The images show that tiny affordable computer is going to sport a built-in Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth Low Energy.
This means that the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B will be the very first in the family of the small ARM-powered computers to come fitted with built-in wireless networking.
With previous Raspberry Pi single-board computers, if users wanted to connect to Bluetooth devices or wireless networks, they have to resort to USB Wi-Fi adapters, wired Ethernet or Ethernet-to-wireless gadgets.
A couple of weeks ago, Swedish website SweClockers initially reported that the next iteration of Raspberry Pi is already in the works. Now, the lab results submitted by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to the Federal Communications Commission have confirmed the existence of the Raspberry Pi 3.
These documents show that this new Raspberry Pi adheres to radio standards and that the FCC has approved it to be used by consumers.
Based on the dossier, it appears that the Raspberry Pi 3 provides support for Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi. However, this hardware only supports 2.4 GHz networks rather than 5 GHz. This could possibly imply that the new version of Raspberry Pi is going to support 802.11n, not the 802.11ac standard which is way faster than the former.
The Model B, based on the photos, seem to look very much like its predecessor. This hardware features four USB ports, HDMI, microSD card reader, Broadcom system-on-chip, wired Ethernet socket along with a 40-pin connector. On top of that, it will also use a single chip antenna.
As details are scarce at the moment, we have yet to know how much the Raspberry Pi 3 will be priced. Speculation is rife, however, that it is not going to carry a price of more than $35.
Moreover, the exact specifications of the Model B is not yet known, so we don't know yet if there are some changes to its memory, processor and more.
The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B was tested in Hull, United Kingdom.
More details are believed to come out in the coming days. We'll be sure to keep you posted on any Raspberry Pi 3 news as it becomes available.
Should you wish to know more about the submitted documents to the FCC, go to this page.
