PiJuice

PiJuice [8] is a new HAT module for the Raspberry Pi. The PiJuice creators claim their product is the "ultimate Raspberry Pi project platform." PiJuice, which was launched on Kickstarter on the February 28 (to coincide with the Raspberry Pi third birthday), was fully funded in only eight hours. The PiJuice is a very neat looking power supply module for the Raspberry Pi, which makes use of an off-the-shelf 1400mAh mobile phone battery that is slim and fits perfectly within the size specified for HAT modules.

In addition to the battery, PiJuice has a very efficient lithium polymer battery-charging feature, a real-time clock (RTC), and a microcontroller (MCU), so the PiJuice is capable of a low-power deep sleep mode as well as wake-on-alarm, meaning you can set the device to wake the Raspberry Pi from its deep sleep at a specific date and time – perfect for remote monitoring and photography applications. The PiJuice is even capable of communicating its battery fill level to the Raspberry Pi, allowing it to act as a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) and shutdown safely in the event of a power cut. If you need a little bit of extra "juice," you can substitute the on-board battery for any LiPo (lithium polymer) battery, meaning you can go to 5000mAh and above should you need to. Also included is an onboard EEPROM; last but not least, the units offers a solar option for anyone who wants to power their Raspberry Pi outdoors for free.

Official Pi Case and WiFi Dongle

As if the Raspberry Pi Foundation were not busy enough with the release of the Raspberry Pi  2 Model B, as well as squirreling away with EMC testing and preparations for the launch of the display add-on, they have also been preparing two new accessories for the Raspberry Pi. These accessories come in the form of an official Raspberry Pi case (which will fit the A+,  B+, and 2B) as well as an official WiFi dongle.

The beautiful red and white case simply clicks together, requiring no screws or other mounting hardware, and it is apparently designed to look great as a media center case. The case is modular and made of five separate parts, as seen in the picture. Retail prices have not been announced officially, but the price is likely to be around £5 ($8), so the case will be very affordable.

We caught up with Eben Upton (CEO of Raspberry Pi Trading, the wholly owned subsidiary of the Raspberry Pi Foundation charity) at the Raspberry Pi third Birthday Party event in Cambridge at the end of February, and he explained that the new WiFi dongle is based around the BCM43143 chip, which is the same chip found in the two-port USB hub and WiFi dongle released by Broadcom. The price is likely to come in at an extremely affordable $5 excluding local taxes, so the UK is looking at a retail price of around £4 to £5, which is extremely reasonable for an officially supported device.