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A Smaller Version of Raspberry Pi 3 Is Coming Soon (pcworld.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from PCWorld: A smaller version of the popular Raspberry Pi 3 will go on sale in a few months. Raspberry Pi is developing a new version of its Compute Module, a single-board computer that plugs into specific on-board memory slots. The new Pi will be more like a mini-computer inside a computer, and it won't come with a power supply. The Compute Module will have similar circuitry to that of Raspberry Pi 3, a wildly successful computer that can be a PC replacement. But it will be smaller, with the memory, CPU, and storage embedded tightly on a board. While the Compute Module will have a 64-bit ARM processor like the Pi 3, it won't have Wi-Fi, Eben Upton, founder of Raspberry Pi, said in an interview with IDG News Service. The Compute Module could ship as soon as this quarter, Upton said. It will be priced similar to its predecessor, the 2-year-old Compute Module, available from reseller RS Components for about $24. The older Compute Module is based on the original Raspberry Pi. Like Raspberry Pi 3, the new Compute Module will work with Linux and Microsoft's Windows 10 IoT Core, Upton said. A Compute Module Development Kit, in which the Compute Module can be slotted for testing, may also be sold. The Development Kit could have multiple connectivity and port options, much like the Raspberry Pi 3. Last month, the biggest manufacturer of the Raspberry Pi, Premier Farnell, was acquired by Swiss industrial component supplier Daetwyler Holding AG for roughly $871 million.

89 comments

  1. Yay! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Yay!

    1. Re:Yay! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      -1

  2. Will it be impossible to buy too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Another cool nano computer that you won't be able to buy.

    1. Re: Will it be impossible to buy too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously, I'm still waiting for my pi zero.

      The in-stock vendor status are lies.

    2. Re: Will it be impossible to buy too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously, I'm still waiting for my pi zero.

      The in-stock vendor status are lies.

      currently in stock and shipping from adafruit

    3. Re: Will it be impossible to buy too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ordered yesterday, got my tracking number today.

  3. The new RasPi 3.. by freeze128 · · Score: 0

    It's exactly the same as the existing RasPi 3... Except it won't have Wi-Fi.

    Well, then for god's sake, DON'T CALL IT THE RASPI 3!!!!

    1. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      > DON'T CALL IT THE RASPI 3!!!!

      They don't, they call it a Compute Module.
      However, it is electronically the same as the RPi3 (except no WiFi).

    2. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's still confusing to the general public.

    3. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by SeaFox · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, then for god's sake, DON'T CALL IT THE RASPI 3!!!!

      They should call it the Raspberry Tart.
      Much like the Pi, but not quite as (ful)filling.

    4. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by DaHat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That's still confusing to the general public.

      I don't imagine the normal purchaser of a RPi being a normal member of the general public.

    5. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The guts are the same as a RPi3 but it doesn't have any ports. Instead it has a board-edge connector so you can plug it into a custom-designed board.

      Saying that it's a smaller version of the Raspberry Pi 3 (i.e. the headline here and on PCWorld) is really misleading. You cannot just take it out of the box and start using it. (Well you probably can if you get the development kit but it's probably not going to be smaller or cheaper at that point.)

    6. Re: The new RasPi 3.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Start imagining it you insensitive clod.

    7. Re: The new RasPi 3.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Imagine harder.

    8. Re: The new RasPi 3.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tarts are great on the side, but yea they're not fulfilling at all.

    9. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 1

      Raspberry Tau?

      1/2 pi, but just as useful.

    10. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      That and standard ports. I guess you can get a more customizable plug in module of ports that you will want to use. Thus saving space. Having that HDMI out but not the composite. Swap USB3 with USB C?

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    11. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by JoeMerchant · · Score: 1

      Not really just as useful if they've cut off its I/O ports.

      Do they have a reference design for interfacing this to ethernet and other standard ports?

    12. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by RavenLrD20k · · Score: 2

      tau=2pi

    13. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The general public weren't buying the original Raspberry Pi compute module, and likely won't be buying this.

    14. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They should rename it AutoPiLot

    15. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pi's are so cheap that I was thinking about handing them out as favors at my kid's birthday party.

    16. Re:The new RasPi 3.. by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 1

      D'oh.

    17. Re: The new RasPi 3.. by almitydave · · Score: 1

      Imagine harder.

      That's Apple's new motto, isn't it?

      --
      my, your, his/her/its, our, your, their
      I'm, you're, he's/she's/it's, we're, you're, they're
  4. An android cell phone is $10. Why do I need this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can find really inexpensive Android cell phones for as low as $10 with WiFi, cellular, and GPS with a graphical interface. If you want to program on Android, there's lots of great ways to do it, but even the non-programmer can use apps like Automate or Tasker to perform complex operations with no previous experience. Why is the Raspberry Pi so great for tinkerers?

  5. Cool by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Informative
    I've had a lot of fun with my Pi3 since I got it. The new one will be nice for a number of things, but I'm certain that it will be a little different in approach for buyers. I think it will be used to take care of specific applications. Whereas the Pi3 is remarkably capable to get, use, and then dream up applications for.

    I have my Pi3 in a nice little wooden treasure box case, with a Bluetooth keyboard, and a soundcard dongle plus a USB to serial adapter, and am using it to do digital Radio comms with. I'm running mostly Ubuntu Mate - although I also have Raspbian OS on a different MicroSD card. One cool feature lost with the smaller version is with embedded memory, you won't be able to have different MicroSD cards for different OS's. Maybe the smaller computer will give a boost to the W10 IoT OS from Microsoft. I didn't find that too useful

    Anyhow, the more Pi, the better.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    1. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The ODROID C2 is way better than a PI as a media player.

      I owned a RPI1 and 2xRPI2.

      One of the RPI2s is now an RSS reading TV torrent box - and I bought an ODROID C2 to use as a KODI media player (LibreElec). It's faster than a PI, more RAM and can play HEVC/x256 content.

    2. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The ODROID looks pretty interesting, but it doesn't have nearly the same size community, and depending on where you live, it's considerably harder to find. I can buy a pi in any number of stores here, but ODROID is nowhere to be seen unless you know where to look - and I don't live in some underdeveloped country.

    3. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have 3 Pi3s:
          one, running Octopi over Raspbian Jessie, acts a a print server for my 3D printer;
          the second, running OSMC acts a home theatre attached to a TV;
          the third is the nucleus of a robotics project, replacing a cluster of esp8266s, arduinos and a laptop.

      The Pi3 is a killer combination of fast enough CPU and on board WiFi.
      What I'd like to see next is a Raspberry Zero+ with a Pi3 CPU and on-board WiFi in a small form factor.

      Another stretch wish would be an on board microcontroller to handle the GPIO and PWM - with an I2C link to the CPU: Linux just gets in the way too much for direct GPIO control.

  6. Re:An android cell phone is $10. Why do I need thi by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

    You can find really inexpensive Android cell phones for as low as $10 with WiFi, cellular, and GPS with a graphical interface. If you want to program on Android, there's lots of great ways to do it, but even the non-programmer can use apps like Automate or Tasker to perform complex operations with no previous experience. Why is the Raspberry Pi so great for tinkerers?

    I think it's mainly because of what you can do with that big header strip on it.

  7. Best thing about arm is FreeBSD arm images :) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.freebsd.org/platforms/arm.html
    https://wiki.freebsd.org/FreeBSD/arm
    https://wiki.freebsd.org/FreeBSD/arm/Raspberry%20Pi
    https://wiki.freebsd.org/FreeBSD/arm/Raspberry%20Pi%202%20image

    One of thse little p2's for Internet makes Microsoft Windows look like you put a webcam in your bedroom hooked up directly to Langley's front desk.

    1. Re:Best thing about arm is FreeBSD arm images :) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/snapshots/arm64/aarch64/ISO-IMAGES/11.0/

      I've seen arm7 and I think arm8 images but I forgot which browser I bookmarked them in!

  8. Community, GPIO to build physical thing. Also HDMI by raymorris · · Score: 5, Informative

    The cell phone doesn't have general-purpose IO; it can't interface with physical components such as motors, servos, sensors, switches, etc. You mentioned "programming on Android" - if you want to write SOFTWARE you can do that on your computer - your desktop or laptop. The Pi is particularly useful for creating HARDWARE. A great example is in a haunted house - you have motion sensors or light beams to sense when someone rounds a corner and that triggers the mummy to pop up, the strobe lights to flash, etc. That's the Pi's specialty - combining software with the physical world via GPIO. Maybe you're building a DIY 3D printer or CNC machine - you're using software to control motors and things based on various sensors and switches. An Android phone or garage sale computer can't do that so readily.

    You mentioned the comparison to a cheap Android phone for more purely software tasks. The cheapest Android phone I found in a quick Google search was on clearance for $17. For $35, the Pi is within $20 of that price point, and has millions of people doing projects with it and documenting how they did it. That cheap cell phone has a lot of unknowns. One real problem I've encountered - phones like to sleep when they're idle. Setting it to stay awake keeps the screen on, which sometimes drains the battery faster than it can be charged. On the phones I tested, I certainly can't leave the GPS running with an active app, the battery will die even with the charger connected. That's one example of many types of problems that pop up when re-purposing hardware that's not designed for tinkering projects. A pi is designed for embedded projects, and with millions of users any problems are well known and any solutions documented. Even if I don't need GPIO, using the standard tinkerer platform, the RPi, is well worth the extra $20.

    Some people use the HDMI interface to connect a TV, using it as a media center. Most Android phones don't have HDMI, though some tablets do. It is reasonably well suited to that role.

    My current project today with my RPi 3 is a transparent wired ethernet to wifi bridge, a reverse access point. An Android phone doesn't even HAVE a wired ethernet port, but if some device DID have it, why choose some random device that's poorly documented, if at all, when I can use the most common platform, and have the full power of Linux, customized however I want? As you may know, over 95% of the world's fastest supercomputers run Linux, massive numbers of powerful network devices run Linux, and yet it also runs routers with 4MB of storage and 8MB of RAM - it's a very powerful and flexible OS.

    For my bridge, I copied the stock Raspbian image to a micro SD card, ran less than a dozen commands, and had a bridge that works better than anything I can buy. The bridges available for sale cost more than the Pi, and they all have some drawback that creates problems for my use case - they put the wired media on a different subnet, a different network, than the wifi it's attached to and they NAT it. That's not what I want. Other, still more expensive options fail to handle the MAC addresses properly. My Pi project can do exactly what I want it to do, at a cost lower than buying a Netgear or Linksys bridge, and I know I can make any changes I desire as my needs change.

  9. Re:An android cell phone is $10. Why do I need thi by bjwest · · Score: 2

    ...Why is the Raspberry Pi so great for tinkerers?

    Well for one it allows one to tinker with it easily. The only way to connect something to an android phone is via blue tooth or USB, both of which take way more effort to control than the PIO pins on the Raspberry Pi.

    --

    --- Keep the choice with the user..
  10. Re:Community, GPIO to build physical thing. Also H by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Though in the use case of the haunted house, a Pi is way overkill for that application. An Arduino or a breadboard with a few chips of 7400 series logic would be more well suited. In the case of the popup mummy, a motion sensor, a couple relays and a 555 timer would probably cover this application. Motion sensor triggers relay to pop up the mummy and start reset countdown timer on the 555. 555 timer triggers reset relay to drive the mummy back to its unpopped position. mummy now armed to pop again at next motion sensor trigger

  11. Storage, not memory. by markdavis · · Score: 1

    >" But it will be smaller, with the memory, CPU, and storage embedded tightly on a board"

    This threw me until I realized it is incorrect (it is pretty late/early in the morning). The new one will have embedded STORAGE. Of course the memory is embedded, it always has been on every Pi- none of them have memory slots or expandable memory..

    1. Re:Storage, not memory. by markdavis · · Score: 1

      Reply to self. Of course, then I read it again and duh. What they said that I quoted is absolutely correct, just a little misleading. What actually threw me was this:

      >"a single-board computer that plugs into specific on-board memory slots"

      The article makes so much more sense:

      " Like its predecessor, it's likely the new Compute Module will be compatible with SODIMM slots, which are cheaper than PCI or SDRAM slots and can carry high-speed signals reliably. "

      It is just designed to use an SODIMM slot connector not because it is an SODIMM or compatible with it in any way except physically, so a project designer can buy that connector cheaply and put it on their hardware project that uses a Pi3. Neat idea!

      Imagine how badly it might destroy a "real" computer motherboard to plug a pi3 into one of the memory slots :)

  12. Re:Community, GPIO to build physical thing. Also H by sjames · · Score: 2

    Not to mention that 6 months from now when you want to duplicate the project, you'll easily get an identical PI but who knows about the cheap cellphone? Even if it is the same model, the internals may be all different.

  13. It never fails. by Lord+Kano · · Score: 2

    I bought my Raspberri Pi and a week later, the Pi 2 was announced.
    I bought my Pi 2 and within about a month, the Pi 3 was announced.
    I just ordered my Pi 3 on Prime Day and less than 72 hours later, I hear about this...

    LK

    --
    "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    1. Re:It never fails. by Richard_at_work · · Score: 1

      This isn't for you - it isn't for most people who buy Pi's, its designed as a replacement for the Compute Module, for use in large scale multi-board projects with custom back-planes. Your RasPi3 purchase is perfectly safe as if you were upset at this announcement then you would have been buying the existing Compute Module in the first place...

    2. Re: It never fails. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm after a new laptop at the moment, I don't suppose you'd mind going out to buy a Surface Pro 4 would you?

    3. Re:It never fails. by JoeMerchant · · Score: 1

      The Pi compute stick has been around for years, this is just upgrading its internals.

  14. Assuming only one mummy. Almost mentioned Arduino by raymorris · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I almost mentioned Arduino in my post. Absolutely sometimes Pi are used when they are overkill and an Arduino would be well suited. In fact, I have four Arduinos (including two $4 chips and two full Arduinos), amd had no reason to buy a Pi until yesterday.

    Having said that, my earlier post said a Pi could run a haunted house. An Arduino could run one mummy.

    Putting a Pi in each prop would be overkill. On the other hand, a design with 8 Arduinos in 8 props communicating with each other might be better done with one Pi.

    There are of course a large number of different devices of varying power, complexity and cost. You probably don't want to learn all of them, though. The following four devices cover most needs without being too much over powered or underpowered:

    a) Relay
    b) Arduino
    c) Raspberry Pi
    d) Full-size PC/server

    Fortunately the last two both run Linux, so that's only one system to learn, and relays should be easy to learn.

  15. Great by JanneM · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I just finished a small Raspberry Pi cluster, with two RPi 3 compute nodes and an Rpi 2 front-end node. Not because it has such great computational capabilities - it doesn't - but because it's a low-cost way to get a "training system" that I can abuse without messing up anything on the real cluster I also use.

    These new Pi's would be even better; could have a single backplane that the nodes slot into. Ideally you'd be able to route both power and ethernet through the backplane as well, but I don't know how feasible that'd be.

    --
    Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    1. Re:Great by PsyMan · · Score: 1

      Sounds like you need to get on Kickstarter with your "Beowulfenator"

    2. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just finished a small Raspberry Pi cluster, with two RPi 3 compute nodes and an Rpi 2 front-end node. Not because it has such great computational capabilities - it doesn't - but because it's a low-cost way to get a "training system" that I can abuse without messing up anything on the real cluster I also use.

      These new Pi's would be even better; could have a single backplane that the nodes slot into. Ideally you'd be able to route both power and ethernet through the backplane as well, but I don't know how feasible that'd be.

      I just finished a small Raspberry Pi cluster, with two RPi 3 compute nodes and an Rpi 2 front-end node. Not because it has such great computational capabilities - it doesn't - but because it's a low-cost way to get a "training system" that I can abuse without messing up anything on the real cluster I also use.

      These new Pi's would be even better; could have a single backplane that the nodes slot into. Ideally you'd be able to route both power and ethernet through the backplane as well, but I don't know how feasible that'd be.

      I just finished a small Raspberry Pi cluster, with two RPi 3 compute nodes and an Rpi 2 front-end node. Not because it has such great computational capabilities - it doesn't - but because it's a low-cost way to get a "training system" that I can abuse without messing up anything on the real cluster I also use.

      These new Pi's would be even better; could have a single backplane that the nodes slot into. Ideally you'd be able to route both power and ethernet through the backplane as well, but I don't know how feasible that'd be.

      I almost mentioned Arduino in my post. Absolutely sometimes Pi are used when they are overkill and an Arduino would be well suited. In fact, I have four Arduinos (including two $4 chips and two full Arduinos), amd had no reason to buy a Pi until yesterday.

      Having said that, my earlier post said a Pi could run a haunted house. An Arduino could run one mummy.

      Putting a Pi in each prop would be overkill. On the other hand, a design with 8 Arduinos in 8 props communicating with each other might be better done with one Pi.

    3. Re:Great by JanneM · · Score: 1

      It's fairly common in complex robotics to have a set of tiny MCUs like the AVR (that Arduino is based on) to control one or two joints, then a larger single-board computer to send commands to those units, and receive status updates about angles and speeds.

      The Arduino and Raspberry Pi are well suited to those two roles.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    4. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Any particular reason not to just do it in software, e.g xenserver or virtualbox? Virtual networking is kind of messy, but it leaves less cables around :)

    5. Re:Great by JanneM · · Score: 1

      It's really easy to set up. Take a few Pi's, add a small switch (get one that takes 5V). Connect them up, and use a single larger power brick that can power all Pis and the switch. Either make some kind of enclosure, or - as I did - rack them up with spacers, drill holes in the switch lid and mount the rack of PI's to it.

      One wrinkle is that you probably want to keep the switch only for the internal network. I use a USB-Ethernet dongle on the login node for external communication. it's just as fast as the on-board Ethernet in practice (it's internally treated as a USB device anyhow), and you can set up the login node to act as router and gateway to the other nodes.

      Then you can install and play with whatever cluster-related software you like: Slurm, OpenMPI, Ansible, GNU Modules, XscalableMP, ZeroMQ and so on.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    6. Re:Great by JanneM · · Score: 1

      Any particular reason not to just do it in software, e.g xenserver or virtualbox? Virtual networking is kind of messy, but it leaves less cables around :)

      VMs would work well, I agree. But this way I also get real(ish) network latency and delays in the same way a full-size system does. And an actual tiny cluster on my desk is a lot more fun :)

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    7. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's fair enough I suppose, I didn't think about the latency thing. Considering the horrific networking implementation on the pi, I guess it gives you as much latency you could ever wish for...

      But yeah, your own little cluster in a shoebox sounds neat. :)

    8. Re:Great by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      One wrinkle is that you probably want to keep the switch only for the internal network. I use a USB-Ethernet dongle on the login node for external communication. it's just as fast as the on-board Ethernet in practice

      Is the onboard USB ethernet a bottleneck?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    9. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is the onboard USB ethernet a bottleneck?

      no, it's an RJ-45 connector. they haven't shipped bottleneck connectors for decades

      and unless you have FIOS or the like, your ISP is the bandwidth limit

    10. Re:Great by drinkypoo · · Score: 1, Funny

      no, it's an RJ-45 connector. they haven't shipped bottleneck connectors for decades

      HAR HAR

      and unless you have FIOS or the like, your ISP is the bandwidth limit

      We're talking about clustering here, son, try to keep up

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    11. Re:Great by JanneM · · Score: 1

      Well, yes and no. You're limited to 100Mbit/s, which is if course a lot slower than gigabit ethernet, But normally a scientific cluster (which is what I'm interested in) isn't really limited by bandwidth as much as by latency. Going through the USB subsystem for all packets is going to give you worse latency than dedicated hardware. But then, I also use a cheap switch that's probably not a speed demon for retransmitting packets either.

      And the thing is, the Pi is a fairly slow computer. I suspect that as a ratio of computing speed to transmission delays, the Pi has as effective communication as a "real" cluster of server systems connected with high-end hardware. The CPU is even slower than the network if you will.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
  16. Linux vs the other OS by Gunstick · · Score: 0

    Just compare:

    "Linux"
    vs
    "Microsoft's Windows 10 IoT Core"

    Linux wins for size and simplicity!

    --
    Atari rules... ermm... ruled.
  17. Re:SAW THIS IN ANOTHER THREAD SHARE IT!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That does stop a lot of American government tracking. Use NoScript too and take out all the XSS default-allow permissions for Google too. Also uncheck everything under ABE. Use BetterPrivacy for Flash cookies, and find a user agent switcher.

    They are insane thinking they can track everybody and somehow that makes them safe from literally anything.

  18. Please not another Pi-0 by LordHighExecutioner · · Score: 1

    Having a very small size module that runs linux would be very interesting, however if it is made up with unobtanium rather than silicon, as is the case for the Raspberry PI-0, I will start looking for different platforms for my projects.

    1. Re:Please not another Pi-0 by allo · · Score: 1

      I would reallly like a rpi-zero wifi.

      Currently there isn't much use for the zero until you add adapters, which are a lot thicker than the whole pi-zero. With wifi on board, it could do all kinds of server tasks and keep begin thinner than most mobile phones.

  19. CM or A+ version first ? by Cochonou · · Score: 1

    The fundation already announced they were also intending to produce a A+ version of the Rapberry Pi 3 (smaller form factor, no ethernet port, only one USB port). I wonder what will be out first, the Compute Module or the A+ version. In any case, this shows they want to standardise on the Pi 3 platform, by producing all the variants that were only available with the Pi 1 SoC up to now.

    1. Re:CM or A+ version first ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AIUI the new model A has always been behind the new compute module in the queue. The article you link (from back in Febuary) talks about the CM3 coming "in the next few months" while it talks about the coming "during 2016"

      CM3 prototypes have been mentioned while i've seen no evidence that the 3A is anything more than a plan.

  20. In other news... by Kid+CUDA · · Score: 1

    ... I'm still waiting on my Raspberry Pi 0 ordered back in January.

    1. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Weird, I bought two this week at Microcenter. Maybe you should use a better supplier?

    2. Re:In other news... by allo · · Score: 1

      and i already have three from a month ago. Just check http://whereismypizero.com/

      I got them from thepihut and pimoroni (together with really nice blinkenlights).

  21. Who cares about that cultic crap? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Buy yourself a nice S905 TV box with 2GB of RAM and start enjoying a Linux + Android 64-bit combo.

  22. Re:Community, GPIO to build physical thing. Also H by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The cell phone doesn't have general-purpose IO; it can't interface with physical components such as motors, servos, sensors, switches, etc.

    Problem solved: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13613

  23. Re:Community, GPIO to build physical thing. Also H by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

    You mentioned "programming on Android" - if you want to write SOFTWARE you can do that on your computer - your desktop or laptop.

    The Pi 3 is a quad core 1.4GHz ARM cpu. That's actually a moderately functional computer, certainly faster than my cingle core celery 900 eee which I still use for websurfing and email, and occasionally not very intensive programming tasks.

    Not that I use a Pi for that. You are of course correct that it's great for hardware. I'm currently building a piece of test equipment and the heart of is is a Pi 3. It's perfect. It's got IO lines for running the testing hardware, an interface to a screen for displaying the results. It's also really really cheap, excellent availability, good longevity and they just work with no screwing around.

    That cheap cell phone has a lot of unknowns.

    Indeed, and it has some really important knowns too. A cheap Android phone is 100% guaranteed to be a bag of utter shite!

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  24. Re:Community, GPIO to build physical thing. Also H by JoeMerchant · · Score: 2

    ...has millions of people doing projects with it and documenting how they did it.

    To me, this is the actual value - and the limited number of models helps this process tremendously.

  25. a fool parted from his money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    hey idiot, don't put down cash unless you get something

    why do you throw away money?

    why do you admit to it on slashdot?

    i guess we are supposed to feel sorry for you and your pathetic lack of judgement

  26. MEh... by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    I tried working with the compute module and it's a Pain in the arse. we switched to using pi zeros (yes they can be bought for the $5.00 price mark without too much trouble.

    While the compute module gives you absolutely everything on the connector, we dont need it so a standard pi zero works perfectly and a whole lot easier. Just opened another box of 10 last night for another project.

    You just have to not be lazy and jump when the stock notification arrives that the store has them back in stock again to get them.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:MEh... by NotInHere · · Score: 1

      You just have to not be lazy and jump when the stock notification arrives that the store has them back in stock again to get them.

      This really sounds like getting rare things in socialism. Why should the zero be rare except that it's a loss leader?

    2. Re:MEh... by jason777 · · Score: 1

      ok, how are you getting boxes of 10, and I cant get 1? Plus, isnt there a limit? Where you ordering from?

    3. Re:MEh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is actually easy, you find a large electronics supplier and then actually call them talk to an order rep and simply put in a back order. It's not a secret process he is using, just doing what the rest of us that have a clue how to order things use. I put in a Backorder with MCM electronics and they shipped me 5 of them last week when they got their latest shipment. Just guessing that you are trying to buy from small end user companies like Adafruit or Sparkfun.

  27. Re:Community, GPIO to build physical thing. Also H by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

    You could us USB-OTG with a smartphone to add GIO and https://www.amazon.com/Plugabl... ethernet.
    The Pi is probably a better solution for say CNC machine and frankly for your wifi bridge I would suggest one of the old TP-Link Wifi Routers running wrt. You will bet much better performance than the PI using the shared USB ethernet on the Pi.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  28. Is there a decent backplane for these? by DickBreath · · Score: 1

    How about a decent board where you can plug in one or more (up to some number) of compute modules? Something with a single power supply. A network switch built in. Something that makes it easy to play with building clusters. A single board you can plug in 4, 8 or 16 compute modules.

    --

    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  29. Re:An android cell phone is $10. Why do I need thi by spire3661 · · Score: 1

    And then i have to hack away at it to de-crapify it. I would rather start with something with less crap to wade through. Not to mention i cant change the baseband at all. What you are suggesting is a doing something completely insecure because you think its cheaper. Almost the entirety of mobile apps are complete insecure junk. Android is crap (as is iOS)

    --
    Good-bye
  30. "like a mini-computer inside a computer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yo, dawg, I heard you like computers, so I put a computer in your computer so you can compute while you compute.

  31. $40 just for the adapter costs more than the PI by raymorris · · Score: 2

    Not sure why adding a $40 non-standard adapter to non-standard hardware is better than paying $35 for standard hardware that doesn't need an adapter.

  32. Amazon link not compatible with most Android. by raymorris · · Score: 1

    From your Amazon link:
    Limited Android compatibility. ...
    Not compatible with ... Amazon, Samsung, LG, phones and tablets.

    I did consider wrt. Partly I had trouble finding recommendations for fairly recent (high power) hardware for WRT. Also the default bridging setup is imperfect, so I'd be tearing out the WRT routing/bridging code and doing my own anyway.

    1. Re:Amazon link not compatible with most Android. by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      The problem with the PI is the ethernet performance. I uaed aTP-LINK with WRT as a bridge for my XBox 360 and it worked just fine. The new FCC rules are going to make life difficult for WRT going forward but Linksys is still still supporting it but they are not cheap.
      As I said you could use an Android phone for projects involving GPIO and even and Ethernet. Yes you have to make sure it will work but it can be done.
      I just got a PI3 and it is pretty good. I have have a few projects I am plaining on doing with the PI as well.
      This board really interests me http://www.newegg.com/Product/...

      Yes it is more expensive, bigger, and uses more power than a PI but it is also more powerful, offers SATA and better USB IO than the PI, and a COM port header. It does lack GPIO but you could add a parallel port card for digital IO or use Arduino like boards to expand the IO. No it is not a solution for your project but boy does it make for an interesting idea for a NAS, Router/Firewall, or even a digital audio entertainment system. Too bad it lacks an HDMI but you could add a GPU.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  33. As small as... by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

    If they keep this trend going, we will soon see Raspi's as small as a strawberry or even a blueberry...

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
  34. Gimped by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why would this not include WiFi (and presumably BLE?)?? Its the best part of the RPi3, and its inclusion into the compute board would instantly make it a perfect solution for building small devices. Either that or make a RPi3 embeddable module.

  35. Re:Community, GPIO to build physical thing. Also H by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    Pi is way overkill for that application

    Oh, you've read the entire detailed design criteria?

    It always amazes me when someone comments about someone else's application based on a title alone.