Looks like Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) is coming to the Raspberry Pi. But even without Android, the Raspbian OS (Debian Linux-based operating system optimized for the Raspberry Pi) turns this credit card sized computer into a powerful tool.
The single-board computer comes equipped with the Broadcom BCM2835 SoC (system on a chip, includes an ARM-11 700MHz processor, VideoCore IV GPU, and 256MB RAM.) While the computer does not have any Flash Memory on-board, the SDCard socket allows adding up to 64GB Flash Memory.
The HDMI video and audio support, Ethernet socket, and the two USB sockets, allow the device to be used as a mobile computing platform or embedded system. However, its complexity and lack of analog inputs will probably not make to many Arduino enthusiast jump ship just yet.
The size, price, available hardware features, combined with a Debian-based operating system make this board the perfect prototyping, learning, and teaching device for more than just basic computer science.
Arduino
Uno ATmega328
- 5V Operating Voltage
- 7-12V Input Voltage
- 14 Digital I/O Pins (incl. 6 w/ PWM output)
- 6 Analog Input Pins
- 40mA DC Current per I/O Pin
- 40mA DC Current for 3.3V Pins
- 32KB Flash Memory
- 2 KB SRAM
- 16MHz Clock Speed
- No USB host ports
- No Video out
- No Audio out
- No Ethernet
Arduino
Mega ATmega2560
- 5V Operating Voltage
- 7-12V Input Voltage
- 54 Digital I/O Pins (incl. 15 w/ PWM output)
- 16 Analog Input Pins
- 40mA DC Current per I/O Pin
- 40mA DC Current for 3.3V Pins
- 256KB Flash Memory
- 8 KB SRAM
- 16MHz Clock Speed
- No USB host ports
- No Video out
- No Audio out
- No Ethernet
Arduino
Due AT91SAM3X8E
- 3.3V Operating Voltage
- 7-12V Input Voltage
- 54 Digital I/O Pins (incl. 12 w/ PWM output)
- 12 Analog Input Pins
- 2 Analog Output Pins (DAC)
- 130mA DC Current total on I/O Pins
- 800mA DC Current for 3.3V Pins
- 512KB Flash Memory
- 96 KB SRAM
- 84MHz Clock Speed
- 1 USB host ports
- No Video out
- No Audio out
- No Ethernet
Raspberry Pi
Model B
- 3.3V Operating Voltage
- 5V (1A) Input Voltage
- 17 Digital I/O Pins (incl. UART, I2C, SPI)
- No Analog Input Pins
- 2mA to 16mA DC Current per I/O Pin (configurable)
- All GPIO voltage levels are 3.3 V.
- up to 64 GB Flash Memory via SDCard Slot
- 512 MB SRAM
- 700MHz Clock Speed
- Two USB 2.0 host ports
- Composite Video and HDMI Video out
- 3.5 mm TRS jack and HDMI Audio out
- 10/100 wired Ethernet RJ45
