Meet the new Raspberry Pi Zero

[Guest]

Specs:

• A Broadcom BRCM -0.04% BCM2835 application processor
• 1GHz ARM11 core (40% faster than Raspberry Pi 1)
• 512MB of LPDDR2 SDRAM
• A micro-SD card slot
• A mini-HDMI socket for 1080p60 video output
• Micro-USB sockets for data and power
• An unpopulated 40-pin GPIO header
• Identical pinout to Model A+/B+/2B
• An unpopulated composite video header
• Our smallest ever form factor, at 65mm x 30mm x 5mm

Pi is not without its competitors and a $5 model can be seen as a sound reaction and evolution of the Foundation’s business approach. In February this year, Upton unveiled the Raspberry Pi 2 with a 900 MHz quad-core ARMv7 Cortex-A7 CPU, twice the memory and complete compatibility with the original generation of Raspberry Pis.

 

Priced at $35 it wasn’t expensive. The Pi 2 was the first multicore board from the foundation, and provided users with a much faster, more powerful system. But Pi 2 already faced stiff competition from “C.H.I.P”, another single board computer launched via Kickstarter by Next Thing Co in 2015 and dubbed the “world’s first $9 computer”. As a result, the Pi 2 price was dropped to $25, but the launch of the new Zero is now a direct response to competitors seeking to take on Pi.

 

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/theopriestley/2015/11/26/raspberry-pi-unveils-new-5-computer-raspberry-pi-zero/

 

This looks like a really interesting product for people who like to fiddle around with electronics especially at the low cost of $5

And given the popularity of the Raspberry Pi 2 I'm expecting to see an influx of people using it for small projects

I'm personally looking forward to using it in person given the many applications and projects I can think of that require a tiny computer

 

[msvelev]

Pretty amazing stuff. When it comes to my country, I'm moving my "private cloud" project to a few of those suckers

[Dabombinable]

But can it run Android 5.0.......

[Emzijs]

The main question is - will this run an Ubuntu or Mint?

[Dabombinable]

The main question is - will this run an Ubuntu or Mint?

Probably, they aren't as bloated as Android (and Ubuntu 15.10 runs better on a x86 Pentium M 740 than 14.04LTS, so the ARM version should run flawlessly).

[Emzijs]

Probably, they aren't as bloated as Android (and Ubuntu 15.10 runs better on a x86 Pentium M 740 than 14.04LTS, so the ARM version should run flawlessly).

Well,then im pretty interested it in as a Notepad++ and generally Ubuntu machine.

[manikyath]

But can it run Android 5.0.......

it probably could... 

 

as for all the ubuntu and linux mint folks: its an arm chip, you'll need an arm compatible distro.

 

raspbian does just fine tho.

[daniyaal_2000]

Raspberry Pi had everyone shocked with it's $25 prize tag. And now, they've done it again. It's here for just $5. It's specs include:

 

• Broadcom BCM2835 1GHz Single Core Processor [ARM11]
• 512 MB LDDR2 RAM
• MIcro SD Card slot
• mini-HDMI socket for 1080p60 video output
• An Unpopulated 40 Pin GPIO header
• An unpopulated composite video header
• 65mm x 30mm x 5mm form factor

There are a couple catches, though. To get the thin form factor and the cheap price, they've removed all the pins on the GPIO header, so you will need to populate them yourself. No Ethernet. And no USB type A ports. Instead, it has 2 Micro USB ports. One for power and one for an OTG cable.

 

 

https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspberry-pi-zero/

[Coaxialgamer]

so this is basically a raspberry pi b+ for 5$ ?

[manikyath]

so this is basically a raspberry pi b+ for 5$ ?

minus some hardware features, yeah, basicly that.

[Guest]

But can it run Android 5.0.......

That seems pointless but maybe? 

[Castdeath97]

Interesting....

[Sauron]

But can it run Android 5.0.......

 

sure, but probably not very well ^^

[Misanthrope]

Probably, they aren't as bloated as Android (and Ubuntu 15.10 runs better on a x86 Pentium M 740 than 14.04LTS, so the ARM version should run flawlessly).

 

Partially true: The specs are too low for normal flavours of Android and Mint however both have LXDE versions which should be fine. Although real men would use Openbox  not really please don't start something out that last comment.

[Guest]

Neat, but no networking is a major bummer.

[Technous285]

Sacrificing a premounted 10/10mbps Ethernet port and 2/4 USB2.0 Type-A ports and servicing them over a MicroUSB port kinda makes sense when down-scaling the size and power requirements for the $5USD board. Just use a Type-A to Micro-A converter to run a powered hub with a 10/100mbps Ethernet dongle or a WiFi dongle along with keyboard/mouse and other things like USB drives.

I can see this being near-perfect option for folks to build PortaPi's and other handheld gaming systems with as it gives them more space for components like the power packs without that space being taken up for a full-size Pi A/B or A+/B+/2.

[suicidalfranco]

time to set up a cheap network lab

[brownninja97]

They were selling them for £3 with a magazine at WHsmith. was gonna buy one but there isnt really anything id do with it.

[Misanthrope]

Sacrificing a premounted 10/10mbps Ethernet port and 2/4 USB2.0 Type-A ports and servicing them over a MicroUSB port kinda makes sense when down-scaling the size and power requirements for the $5USD board. Just use a Type-A to Micro-A converter to run a powered hub with a 10/100mbps Ethernet dongle or a WiFi dongle along with keyboard/mouse and other things like USB drives.

I can see this being near-perfect option for folks to build PortaPi's and other handheld gaming systems with as it gives them more space for components like the power packs without that space being taken up for a full-size Pi A/B or A+/B+/2.

 

Actually I'm pretty sure the powered hub and ethernet dongle each would be over 5 bucks. This is really meant for other types of embedded appliance-like applications.

[Technous285]

Actually I'm pretty sure the powered hub and ethernet dongle each would be over 5 bucks. This is really meant for other types of embedded appliance-like applications.

I know that, hence why I said this is probably for PortaPi or other handheld Pi-based gaming systems (like what Ben Heck has done twice now), and that if you wanted to ADD the "missing" USB/Ethernet stuff back you can do so with the powered hub and dongles.

[Linus_torvalds]

I wish they released model with better specs.

something like Odroid XU4.

 

Recently i sold my main PC and got notebook. I do not play anymore, it's waste of time. I have life to live through

 

I have left monitor, to watch movies at good quality. I want that minicomputer to integrate in that monitor to make All in one. but for that i need some good specs. Odroid XU4 is preatty fast, but it lacks comunity support, it's based on samsungs old CPU and has no good driver support for GPU (gpu acceleration does matter for me) If Raspberry released what i want for something like 80$ I would buy it installed lubuntu or other lightweight OS and make All in one .

 

PLS release raspberry pi max with max specs that can be made within 80-90$. That would be cool.

[BuckGup]

Did someone say cluster computer?

[carguy86]

Miniature mobile radiostation here we go! (allready have an sd card with PiFm on it and an antenna from my raspberry bi  b+ so i wil just solder the antenna irectly into the gpio header and hook it up to my battery bank and i dont need a display or keyboard as it replays whatever list of audio files i have on it)

[riklaunim]

I wish they released model with better specs.

something like Odroid XU4.

 

It's not a consumer device, but IoT/programming/tech learning device. If you want a HDMI/alike dongle for a super small PC check BayTrail Windows dongles or similar Android dongles. There are also nettops that can be mounted on the back of the display and have even more capabilities.

[DigitalHermit]

I am getting one of these for fun...

now how do I get wifi on this thing?