The Raspberry Pi Pico, released in Jan 2021, delivered a highly affordable and powerful micro-controller into the hands of users that was ideally suited for education and practical applications alike. The board was/is fully loaded with the hardware and flexible I/O options that make this board perfect for beginners and experts alike. If it was held back by anything it was that it featured no wireless connectivity... until June 2022. Last year saw the release of the Raspberry Pi Pico W a wirelessly enabled a wireless-enabled variant of the Pico platform. In the year since their release there has been over half a million boards sold and they are literally everywhere!
The Wireless functionality of the Pico W came from its onboard Infineon CYW43439 device, which contains a 2.4 GHz radio providing both 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2, supporting Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) functionality. When the Pico W first launched, we knew that a future firmware update would enable Bluetooth, and we are pleased to inform you that that day has arrived.
The Raspberry Pi Pico W now has Bluetooth:
Importantly no extra purchase is required. If you already have a Pico W, a firmware update is all you need to switch it on. Now, with the release of version 1.5.1 of the C SDK, and the latest MicroPython build, your existing Pico W has gained the ability to communicate with Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE devices.
For more information on this update, please see this post on Raspberry Pi News.
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