Heard in the Channel: RS Components, element14 Offer Raspberry Pi A+

Nov. 18, 2014
New and improved Raspberry Pi Model A+ combines enhanced value and ease-of-use with smaller size and lower power consumption; plus news from Avnet, Future Electronics, Rochester Electronics, and more.

Two top distributors are offering the newest Raspberry Pi, the credit-card sized programming computer popular with professional engineers and hobbyists alike. Britain-based RS Components and element14 announced the availability of Raspberry Pi Model A+ this month, pointing to its enhanced value and ease-of-use combined with a new smaller size and lower power consumption for applications such as industrial controls, remote monitors, and multimedia devices.

RS Components is a trading brand of Electrocomponents plc and a sister company to U.S.-based Allied electronics, which also offers the new model. Element14 offers the product globally via the element14 community online.

Technical specifications of the new product include:

  • 700MHz Broadcom BCM2835 CPU with 256MB RAM
  • 40pin extended GPIO
  • The smaller board footprint is fully HAT compatible
  • 1 x USB 2 port
  • 4 pole Stereo output and Composite video port
  • Full size HDMI
  • CSI camera port for connecting the Raspberry Pi camera
  • DSI display port for connecting the Raspberry Pi touch screen display
  • Micro SD port for loading your operating system and storing data
  • Micro USB power source

In other industry news:

  • Distributor Avnet Electronics Marketing teamed with startup company SteadyServ® Technologies to create the iKeg®, an RFID-based solution that helps users track information including how much beer is remaining in a keg, when it will run dry, how much is in inventory, when the next delivery is due and a wealth of other valuable data intelligence.
  • Avnet also announced it will host a series of SpeedWay Design Workshops™ featuring Freescale Semiconductor’s K2 next-generation Kinetis® ARM® Cortex®-M microcontrollers and enablement tools.
  • Electronics distributor TTI, Inc. released the seventh issue in its comic book series featuring the The Specialist. Entitled The Adventures of the Specialist, the issue features The Specialist and Agent Phoenix, showcasing solutions from TTI and Honeywell.  The distributor also announced the newest in its video series featuring the Specialist. The episode focuses on value and customer service.
  • Distributor Future Electronics and global technology company Laird announced a new distribution agreement. Though its Future Connectivity Solutions business unit the distributor will promote and sell Laird Embedded Wireless Solutions’ line of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy and Proprietary wireless modules in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
  • Mouser Electronics, Inc., in conjunction with its recent global release of MultiSIM BLUE, offers a full-featured support site with documentation, downloads, video tutorials and user forum to get engineers’ designs to market faster. Available as a free download on Mouser.com, MultiSIM BLUE is an easy-to-use, fully integrated platform for circuit simulation and design from PCB to BOM. The distributor also updated its Solar Power Technology site. Mouser's updated technology site provides developers with the resources they need to learn about the latest advances in solar power generation systems and the newest components available from Mouser for building solar power systems.
  • Mouser also announced it has entered into a distribution agreement for Europe and the Americas with Advantech, which develops and manufactures high-quality, high-performance embedded and automation products and solutions.
  • Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, a business region of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), will host a series of SpeedWay Design Workshops™, featuring Freescale® Semiconductor’s K2 next-generation Kinetis® ARM® Cortex®-M microcontrollers and enablement tools.
  • Distributor Rochester Electronics announced a new ASIC solution that can alleviate the possibility of more system re-designs in the future. The distributor also continues to expand its state-of-the-art wafer bank to support semiconductor end-of-life (EOL) announcements. Rochester now has two wafer/die storage facilities that provide added risk mitigation from potential disaster.

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