Mini computer the Raspberry Pi has got its own app store, where users can share games, applications and tools developed for the computer.
The device’s creator Eben Upton, said he hopes it “will provide young people with a way to share their creations with a wider audience, and maybe to make a little pocket money along the way”.
Interest in the device has far exceeded expectations – the team thought originally that they might get 10,000 out this year.
The device costs just £22 and is aimed at teaching children how to programme and code. The current generation of young developers, the organization says, doesn’t have an equivalent of the Commodore 64 and Amiga machines, thanks to the rise of dedicated gaming consoles.
However, a host of other novel applications for the Raspberry Pi have been suggested, ranging from the Pirate Bay’s idea of sticking the device in a drone aircraft to create a mobile server to building it into a VoIP/high-frequency radio system, as suggested by 091 Labs’ Gerry Kavanagh in an interview with the Irish Times.
View a video from the BBC explaining how the gadget works below:
This video demonstrates one of the Raspberry Pi apps- the ‘Storm in a Teacup’ game- in action:
Read the official blog announcement here
