Raspberry Pi $25 USB PC enters alpha production
updated 01:40 pm EDT, Fri July 29, 2011
PCB of $25 Raspberry Pi PC goes alpha production
The Raspberry Pi PC project is making headway, as maker David Braben has now sent out the finalized PCB layout out to manufacturing reported. The PC has a target price of $25, has the form factor of a USB thumb drive and will plug into HDMI ports of displays and perform PC functions. Braben, a games developer, imagines his creation will be used by students to let them experiment with programming, Geek said.
The PC should have just a 700MHz ARM11 processor and 128MB of RAM, but still enough power to output 1080p videos. Some form of Linux will be the OS in order to meet that bargain price point. SDRAM is mounted on top of the ARM processor, and a USB 2.0 hub and an 10/100 Ethernet controller (though no Ethernet) are on the board as well.
The alpha board is a fifth larger than the production version will be. Some of its relatively expensive components will also be swapped for cheaper alternatives. Testing and debug features will also be removed before the next stage.
Also revealed is that a $35 version of the Pi will join the $25 one. It will add an extra USB port, a full Ethernet port, and 256MB of RAM. Despite the progress, a release date hasn't been revealed, though photos of the alpha boards are promised to come within two weeks. [via Geek.com]
