The Best Pi Ever Made: Raspberry Pi 3 Coming With Built-in Wi-Fi And Bluetooth LE

In a recent FCC (Federal Communications Commission) filing by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the first pictures of the upcoming Raspberry Pi 3 mini computer have been leaked. If we take a look at the history — Raspberry Pi 2 was launched in February 2015 and Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ was announced in February 2012 — February looks like the perfect month for announcing a new Pi board.

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B will be the first member of the family to feature wireless networking in the form of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE). The previous models of the affordable ARM-powered computers used Ethernet or USB Wi-Fi adapters.

Based on the FCC documents, it has been speculated that the new Raspberry Pi 3 board will support 2.4 GHz networks. This means that it’ll just support 802.11n, not the faster 802.11ac standard.

The documents submitted to US communications watchdog the FCC confirm that the single board computer will be shipping with enhanced hardware capabilities. As the Raspberry Pi 3’s models, drawing, parts lists etc. have been withheld from public access at the request of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the exact configuration of the new board is unknown.

From the pictures, the Pi 3 looks a lot like its predecessor with HDMI and Ethernet jacks, a microSD card reader, four USB ports, and a 40-pin connector.

Here are some pictures of the board, take a look:

Are your excited about the Raspberry Pi 3? Share your views in the comments below.