We’ve recently seen a Pi in a phone, so to see a phone in a Pi is a nice inversion. Known as the Raspberry Pi Pico 2G Expansion, the board comes from Raspberry Pi approved design partner SB Components Ltd. It aims to expand the tiny board in a comprehensively wireless way, adding Bluetooth 3.0 alongside GPS/GLONASS/BDS satnav and GSM/GPRS across the 850/900/1800/1900MHz frequency bands. It can place calls, as well as send SMS and MMS messages, through a SIM card slotted into the expansion board.
The Pico itself is dwarfed by its new expansion board, and slots into a special socket that also breaks out the GPIO pins. A 1.14 inch LCD provides feedback about what’s going on, but the board is mainly for use with other devices via the Bluetooth, UART, GPIO, and USB interfaces.
Sitting at just over £1,000 ($1,373) raised of its initial £500 ($686) target, the stretch goal of 4G connectivity unlocks at £10,000 ($13,729). As we write, there are 30 days left to get there. Remember that crowdfunding a project is not a guarantee of receiving a finished product. Backing a crowdfunded project is akin to an investment, you believe in the project and want it to succeed. You are not purchasing a retail product.
Ian Evenden is a UK-based news writer for Tom’s Hardware US. He’ll write about anything, but stories about Raspberry Pi and DIY robots seem to find their way to him.
