On February 28, 2017, Eben Upton, the founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, announced the release of the Raspberry Pi Zero W, an updated version of the Raspberry Pi Zero, which was released in November 2015. The Raspberry Pi Zero W uses a Cypress CYW43438 wireless chip to provide 802.11n wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, and sells for approximately US$10 plus tax (the previous Raspberry Pi Zero costs US$5). Upton also announced that the Raspberry Pi Foundation sold over 12 million devices since launching in 2012, with 4 million devices sold over the past year alone. The success of the Raspberry Pi proved that there was significant market demand for single-board computers and end-user programming development kits. Despite the release of development kits from ARM, Atmel, Broadcom, Intel, Libelium, and other manufacturers, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has continued to draw developers and grow the maker market using its devices by lowering the traditional barriers to entry.
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Five Years of the Raspberry Pi
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NEWS
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On February 28, 2017, Eben Upton, the founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, announced the release of the Raspberry Pi Zero W, an updated version of the Raspberry Pi Zero, which was released in November 2015. The Raspberry Pi Zero W uses a Cypress CYW43438 wireless chip to provide 802.11n wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, and sells for approximately US$10 plus tax (the previous Raspberry Pi Zero costs US$5). Upton also announced that the Raspberry Pi Foundation sold over 12 million devices since launching in 2012, with 4 million devices sold over the past year alone. The success of the Raspberry Pi proved that there was significant market demand for single-board computers and end-user programming development kits. Despite the release of development kits from ARM, Atmel, Broadcom, Intel, Libelium, and other manufacturers, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has continued to draw developers and grow the maker market using its devices by lowering the traditional barriers to entry.
Drawing in Developers
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IMPACT
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The original Raspberry Pi launched in 2012, and targeted the education market to promote the teaching of computer science. Only a few thousand units of the original device were expected to sell. For the launch of the Raspberry Pi Zero W, there were 80,000 initial units on sale from global distributors and partners, with the Raspberry Pi Foundation stating that it will make 25,000 units per week moving forward. Despite the increase in available units and new distributors, some developers reported struggles to buy this device and other Raspberry Pi Foundation devices in the past. Distributors like Adafruit Industries sold out within hours. Others only had the device in brick and mortar locations. However, one common problem affecting distributors is that the US$10 device ends up costing developers much more than that. Distributors offered kits that contained other products and accessories, and those that offered the device on its own, like CanaKit, charged US$9.95 for shipping, which costs almost just as much as the device itself. The device may be listed for only US$10, but it will cost developers more, either in terms of time or money, to actually get the device in their hands.
The device itself is essentially identical to the previous Raspberry Pi Zero device. The Raspberry Pi Zero W reduces the need for a hub and provides developers with the tools needed for experimenting with IoT applications. The Raspberry Pi Zero W feature list is listed below:
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1GHz, single-core CPU
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512MB RAM
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Mini-HDMI port
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Micro-USB On-the-Go port
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Micro-USB power
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HAT-compatible 40-pin header
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Composite video and reset headers
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CSI camera connector
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802.11n wireless LAN
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Bluetooth 4.0
Kits like this allow developers, as well as enterprises, the ability to quickly test and prototype products that can be used in a variety of verticals and industries, saving time and resources. The hardware kit providers offer developers the chance to build connected product designs that they otherwise would not have had either the resources or experience to create.
Other Development Kits
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COMMENTARY
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Companies show no signs of slowing down the release of IoT development kits in 2017. The Raspberry Pi Zero W launch comes on the heels of other IoT enablement devices that were announced for Mobile World Congress. Dell, EpiSensor, and Asavie announced a new development kit that combined Dell’s IoT gateway, EpiSensor’s industrial sensors, and Asavie’s IoT connectivity management platform. The development kit is aimed at allowing developers to scale their IoT projects so that minimal changes to hardware and software need to occur to bring a project from development to launch. Avnet and AT&T also announced plans for their Avnet Global LTE IoT Starter Kit combing AT&T IoT Platform Access, development boards, and system peripherals that enable developers to create sensor-to-cloud applications and services.
On February 27, 2017, Libelium announced a slew of new IoT solutions aimed at enabling enterprises and developers the resources necessarily to launch smart environment projects. Libelium packaged these solutions in the form of IoT development kits in its IoT marketplace, which contains 50 prepackaged product solutions that enable enterprises to accelerate the adoption of IoT. Smartis and Libelium designed a Green Cities Solution Kit that monitors sound levels and dust particles, while ENSURAC&C created a Flood Prevention Solution Kit with Libelium. Libelium and its partners offer more vertical-centric kits than some of the more open-source offerings from Raspberry Pi Foundation and Arduino. The market for prepackaged vertical-centric kits is growing, but so too is the market for open-source kits and solutions.
