What to know

  • Raspberry Pi has launched the Pico 2 W, a wireless-enabled microcontroller board priced at $5, featuring WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity.
  • The board packs dual-core processors (Arm Cortex-M33 and RISC-V Hazard3) running at 150MHz, with 520KB RAM and 4MB flash storage.
  • It maintains full compatibility with previous Pico boards while adding enhanced security features and improved performance.

The tech world has a new pocket-sized powerhouse to play with. Raspberry Pi just dropped its latest creation - the Pico 2 W microcontroller board that packs quite a punch without breaking the bank.

The new board keeps the same compact dimensions of 21mm x 51mm as its predecessors but cranks things up several notches under the hood. You get dual-core processors that can hit speeds of 150MHz, nearly double the RAM at 520KB, and a beefed-up 4MB of flash storage.

What sets this tiny titan apart is its wireless capabilities. The board comes equipped with 2.4GHz WiFi and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, thanks to an Infineon CYW43439 chip nestled under a metal shield above a PCB antenna.

Security hasn't taken a backseat either. The Pico 2 W boasts Arm TrustZone technology, secure boot capabilities, and hardware defenses against fault injection attacks. It even includes a SHA-256 hardware accelerator for all your cryptographic needs.

For the tinkerers and makers out there, the board serves up plenty of connectivity options with 26 GPIO pins, multiple UART interfaces, SPI controllers, and I2C controllers. You can program it using C/C++, or MicroPython, making it accessible for both beginners and seasoned developers.

Raspberry Pi promises to keep this board in production until at least January 2040, giving you plenty of time to develop and maintain your projects. Whether you're into IoT, or robotics, or just love to experiment with microcontrollers, the Pico 2 W offers a compelling package at just $5.

Source: Raspberry Pi | Via: TechCrunch