Raspberry Pi 3 - New $35 Micro Computer now with Built-in Bluetooth & WiFi

While celebrating its computer's fourth birthday, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has launched a brand new Raspberry Pi today.

Great news for all Micro-computing fans – A new, powerful Raspberry Pi 3 Model B in town.

Months after introducing just $5 Raspberry Pi Zero, Raspberry Pi Foundation has introduced its third major version of the Raspberry Pi, the successor of the Raspberry Pi 2 that was launched back in February last year.

The Raspberry Pi is a highly simple computer that looks and feels very basic, but could be built into a number of geeky projects. Due to its low-cost appeal, the Raspberry Pi has become the most popular computer yet with 8 Million units already sold.

Raspberry Pi 3 — Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Although previous versions of Raspberry Pi needed USB adapters to get Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, credit card-sized Raspberry Pi 3 Model B has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

The new version of the Pi supports 802.11n Wi-Fi (2.4GHz only) and Bluetooth 4.1, freeing up its four USB ports for other purposes.

The Raspberry Pi 3 is also getting a speed jump from a 32-bit processor, 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex A7, to a faster 64-bit processor, quad-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A53 CPU.

The new Raspberry Pi is expected to give 50 percent faster performance than the previous version due to architectural improvements and increase in clock speeds, says Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi.

At a launch event today the Raspberry Pi Foundation said it has worked closely with Microsoft to ensure full compatibility between the new Pi 3 board and Windows 10 IoT.

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B: The $35 MicroComputer

The Raspberry Pi 3 is still just $35, but might be the biggest when looking at its specifications:

• 1.2GHz Quad-Core Broadcom BCM2387 ARM Cortex-A53 processor
• Graphics upgrade from 250MHz to 400MHz Dual Core VideoCore IV GPU
• 802.11n Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 4.1 (Bluetooth Classic and LE)
• Support 1080p video at 60fps using the H.264 format, up from 30fps
• 1GB RAM (same as the previous version)
• MicroSD Card Slot
• Operating System: Operating System Boots from Micro SD card, running a version of the Linux operating system or Windows 10 IoT
• Ethernet connectivity remains at 100Mbps
• Requires a 2.5A input power
• Video Output: HDMI (rev 1.3 & 1.4, Composite RCA (PAL and NTSC)
• Audio Output: 3.5mm jack, HDMI, USB 4 x USB 2.0

The all-new and powerful version of Raspberry Pi 3 brings a host of new hardware that makes it a much more powerful computer.

The Raspberry Pi 3 costs $35/£30 only (nearly Rs. 2,400), same as the Raspberry Pi 2 and is available for sale from its partners Element14 and RS Components.

The company said it will also introduce a Raspberry Pi BCM2837-based Compute Module 3, an even smaller board designed for industrial applications, in the next few months. The Compute Module won't include any WiFi connectivity, but will have the same 1.2GHz Cortex A53 processor and 1GB RAM as the Raspberry Pi 3.

France won't Ban TOR & Free Wi-Fi

Despite the French Ministry of Interior's demands, France will not ban the TOR anonymity network or Free public Wi-Fi as a way to help the law enforcement fight terrorism.

French Prime Minister Manual Valls has gone on record saying that a ban on Free public Wi-Fi is "not a course of action envisaged," and he is not in favor of banning the TOR anonymity network, either.

Following the deadly terror attacks on Paris last month, an internal document obtained by Le Monde indicated that French government wanted to block communications of TOR as well as ban the use of Free Public Wi-Fi during states of emergency in an effort to fight terrorism more efficiently.

TOR and Free Wi-Fi Safe in France, PM Says 

"A ban of [free public] Wi-Fi is not a course of action envisaged [and never has been]," Valls said (translated) on Wednesday. 

Neither he is in favor of banning the TOR network, which encrypts and re-routes user traffic through a network of volunteer-operated servers, masking the real identities of users.

"Internet is a Freedom, is an extraordinary means of communication between people, it is a benefit to the economy," Valls added. "It's also a means for terrorists to communicate and spread their totalitarian ideology."

Therefore, he said the police must take some measures to improve their fight against terrorism in light of recent Paris attacks, but whatever measures they take to combat terrorism "must be effective."

The whole world response to recent Paris attacks involves lawmakers in the United States and Europe calling for new laws on technology, forcing the tech companies to put "backdoors" in their products and hand over encryption keys to the government on court orders.

France wants to BAN TOR & Free Wi-Fi Services

Now this was to be done, Sooner or Later – The Government.

In the wake of the recent deadly Paris terror attacks, the French government is considering new laws that would Ban access to Free Wi-Fi and the Tor anonymity network, according to a recent report by French newspaper Le Monde.

The report cites an internal document from the Ministry of Interior by French Department of Civil Liberties and Legal Affairs (DLPAJ) that lists two proposed bills – one around the State of Emergency and the other on combating counter-terrorism.

Last month's Paris attacks started blame games, calling Edward Snowden and end-to-end encrypted services responsible for the ISIS-sponsored massacre.

Now, the government has started renewing their assault on encryption and reviving their efforts to force tech companies to hand over encryption keys, and the document obtained by Le Monde hints the same.

Proposed Pieces of Legislation

State of Emergency Proposal: In this law, the French government is considering to Forbid the use of Free and Shared Wi-Fi connections during a state of emergency. Also, if the owners of public Wi-Fi networks did not disconnect, they could face criminal penalties.

According to the police, the reason behind restricting access to free or shared Wi-Fi is that it is apparently difficult to track suspects who use public Wi-Fi networks to communicate, so the law would shut down public Wi-Fi hotspots during a state of emergency.

The state of emergency increases the powers of the police in the country. During the state of emergency, French police may search residences without a warrant, tighten border controls, and even ban public protests.

Proposal for Combating Counter-Terrorism: This legislation proposal says the government is banning or blocking communications of the Tor network as well as requiring service providers to hand over encryption keys to police – not just during a state of emergency.

Indeed, in this section of the document, the Department of Civil Liberties and Legal Affairs questioned whether such proposed pieces of legislation might violate the French Constitution.

The Onion Router, or TOR, is an anonymising network maintained by volunteers, which routes users’ data requests globally, making it very hard (but not impossible) to discover the actual user behind the computer screen.

Tor is an easy tool to hide your real identity on the Internet and is used not only by journalists, whistleblowers, and privacy concerned people, but also by terrorists, pedophiles, and cyber criminals.

Both pieces of legislation, according to Le Monde, could appear as soon as January 2016.

If block, France would be the first European country to block TOR. Though there is no easy way to block the anonymising network, China and Iran have both made successful attempts to block TOR.

Li-Fi is 100 Times Faster than Wi-Fi Technology - Practically Proved

Yes, it's time to shift from Wi-Fi to Li-Fi — an alternative technology that is 100 times faster than the average speeds of Wi-Fi.

Scientists have just field-tested the new wireless technology called Li-Fi for the first time and achieved marvelous wireless speeds that are 100 times faster than current WiFi speeds.

What is Li-Fi Technology?

Li-Fi is a new wireless technology that transmits high-speed data using light (i.e. Visible Light Communication or VLC) rather than radio bands.

In short, Li-Fi is a Super-Fast alternative to Wi-Fi.

Earlier this year, scientists achieved mind-blowing speeds of 224 gigabits per second (Gbps) in the lab using Li-Fi. It's believed that this technology has the potential to change everything about the way we use the Internet today.

And Yes, it will.

Test Results: Li-Fi is 100 times Faster than Wi-Fi

An Estonian startup company called Velmenni took the technology out of the laboratories and into the real-world offices, and industrial environments in Tallinn for the first time and, believe me, it's really, really fast.

The company was able to transmit data at 1GB per second, which is almost 100 times faster than the Wi-Fi speeds.

"We are doing a few pilot projects in different industries where we can utilize the VLC technology,"Velmenni's CEO Deepak Solanki told IBTimes UK.
"Currently we have designed a smart lighting solution for an industrial environment where the data communication is done through the light. We're also doing a pilot project with a private client where we're setting up a Li-Fi network to access the Internet in [our] office space."

Unlike Wi-Fi network signals, Li-Fi is based on light and can't penetrate through walls, which makes it more secure from external sniffing. Meanwhile, it also means there is less interference from other devices.

Who Invented Li-Fi?

The Li-Fi technology was originated in 2011 by German physicist Harald Haas, who outlined the idea of using light bulbs as wireless routers during a TED Talk. He demonstrated that with a flickering light from an LED, one could transmit more data than a cellular tower.

You can watch the full video of Haas talk about the Li-Fi technology in 2011 given below.