Cheaper Raspberry Pi computer goes on sale

A cheaper version of the bare-bones Raspberry Pi computer has gone on sale in Europe.

The Model A lacks some of the features of the bigger version such as a network jack and has less memory.

The Model A has also been designed to use less power to make it more suitable for projects involving robotics, remote sensors or which rely on solar power.

Cutting out a few components means the gadget is even cheaper and now costs $25 (£16).

In a blogpost about the Model A, Liz Upton, community manager for the Raspberry Pi Foundation, said it was "very, very pleased" to have the new version go on sale.

"It's what we said we'd do all along," she wrote. The release of the A version fulfils the promise to make a computer for about £15 that was made when the first prototype Raspberry Pi computers were unveiled in early 2011.

The Model A Pi has less onboard memory than the Model B which has been on sale for almost a year. The A lacks ethernet networking and has only one USB port.

Initially, the Model A is only available in Europe but this restriction will be lifted "very soon" said the foundation. Orders placed from outside Europe would be honoured, she said, though there would be a delay as the order is processed.

More than one million Raspberry Pi bare-bones computers have been sold since the official launch in late February 2012. The credit-card sized computers have been used in a huge variety of DIY computing projects. One reached an altitude of 25 miles (40km) attached to a high-altitude balloon.