Raspberry Pi Model B+ Accidentally Sold to Customer, Possible Release Date to be Announced

It has been more than a couple of years since the very first Raspberry Pi PC came out on the market. Now, as the developers have shipped a new computer module as well as some accessories, it's basic design hasn't changed much over the years.

There is, however, a new model that is about to arrive in retail markets in a few days, the Raspberry Model B+. The device made its appearance briefly at European retail site Reichelt over the weekend, but the product page was removed after about an hour. Some details as well as some photos were able to be taken though before the Model B+ sales page disappeared.

Model B+ is about the same size as the original $35 Raspberry Pi Model B. It has 4 USB ports instead of 2, a microSD card slot instead of a full-sized SD card reader, but no RCA video connector. This model also seems to have 40 GPIO pins instead of 26 as well as a new digital signal processor for better audio performance.

Most of the remaining specs are unchanged. B+ still sports a 700 MHz ARM11 processor, 512MB of RAM, and Broadcom Video Core IV graphics. While those specs look pretty short in 2014, keeping the same CPU means that software developed for the original Raspberry Pi Model A and Model B will possibly work on the Model B+, which is important since the most compelling thing about this tiny, inexpensive community is the developer community that's developed around it over the last few years.

According to Hack A Day, Element14 accidentally shipped at least one Model B+ to a customer who had ordered a Model B, and European Raspberry Pi distributor RS Components has posted a spec sheet and schematics and priced the Model B + at €29.90. The original Model B sells for €27.40.