The Raspberry Pi Foundation unveils its newest micro-computer named Pi Zero. The Pi Zero is a cheap single board computer priced at US$5 / CAD$6.65 / £4. The Pi family of tiny computers are meant to be low-cost and simple to get children interested in programming.
The Raspberry Pi Zero is powered by an ARM11 processor clocked at 1 GHz and 512 megabytes of RAM. The ARM11 processor is claimed to be 40 percent faster than the original Pi computer. The Pi Zero is also running on Raspbian like all other Pi computers. Raspbian is an operating system lifted from Linux. This operating system is both free and open source.
"We really hope this is going to get those last few people in the door and involved in computer programming," Pi co-founder Eben Upton said in the Raspberry Pi Zero video announcement.
The size of the Pi Zero is smaller than a credit card (65 mm X 30 mm X 5 mm). Still, the single board computer includes the essential ports for plugging in screens, mice and keyboards. However, purchasing the computer will only get you the board. No cables and other accessories included. Full specs are as follows: Broadcom BCM2835 application processor, 1 GHz ARM11 core, 512 MB of LPDDR2 SDRAM, micro-SD card slot, mini-HDMI socket for 1080p60 video output, micro-USB sockets for data and power, unpopulated 40-pin GPIO header and unpopulated composite video header.
The Pi Zero is also available for free for those who purchase the December issue of The MagPi, which is available today only in the United Kingdom for £6. The MagPi is the official magazine of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The December issue of The MagPi features an interview with the Pi Zero board designer, Mike Stimson.
The Raspberry Pi Zero micro-computer is available in select retailers in the U.K. and United States. International buyers should expect a higher price from resellers.
