NEC serves up a slice of Pi, will start building Raspberry Pi 3s into its displays

By Jon Martindale October 14, 2016

nec raspberry pi 3 necpi — NEC

NEC’s business-focused displays are going to have a whole new realm of functionality in the near future, as the Japanese electronics maker has announced that it will be incorporating Raspberry Pi 3s into its displays going forward. It is hoped that these displays will facilitate better connectivity with the internet of things (IOT) and will be able to offer customizable functionality to third parties.

The Raspberry Pi project was initially designed to help children learn to program and to encourage bedroom hardware hacking and experimentation. However, in its third generation, NEC sees the Pi as a very capable piece of kit and wants to include it in its future hardware. The 1.2GHz processor is powerful and NEC hopes that when combined with the micro-PC’s varied ports and feature set, the resulting pro displays will really stand out.

“Our strategic initiative to team up with Raspberry Pi is an example of how we continue to ensure that organizations in any sector have the most advanced technology in place to meet their application needs,” said senior VP of marketing at NEC, Stefanie Corinth.

Also front and center in this new development was CEO of Raspberry Pi Trading, Eben Upton, who said: “Overall, this collaboration shows NEC’s confidence with our ability to provide a platform that can be used in a variety of environments.”

The credit-card sized systems will be included in NEC displays as part of the firm’s Open Modular Intelligence platform, specifically in the professional P and V series large-format displays. These are more commonly used in meetings, or in public settings, so this could provide some exciting functionality for third parties that make use of them.

Using the Pi 3’s functionality, these displays could be connected to all sorts of services, or be given whole new functions thanks to the myriad of mods and accessories that can be applied. The main functions NEC is expecting are in cases of signage, streaming media and making presentations to large audiences, but if we have learned anything from the Pi’s evolution over the years, the projects people can create with it are never what you might expect.

Editors' Recommendations

Raspberry Pi celebrates its eighth birthday with a serious price cut

Topics

Computing Coordinator

Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…

Computing

iMac deals: New, renewed and refurbished iMac computers

Apple iMac with Retina 5K Display review close

If you're in the Apple ecosystem and need a desktop computer rather than something like a MacBook, then you'll want to go for the Apple iMac, which is one of the best all-in-one computers on the market. There are quite a few screen sizes and specs to pick from, and if you're willing to go for a renewed option, you can get some older, yes still powerful, iMacs for a great price. Even if you aren't, there are still some great Apple deals you can take advantage of to save yourself some money, which is why we went out and scoured the internet for the best deals we could find.
Apple 21.5-inch iMac (2018) Renewed -- $409, was $460

Even cheaper than any of the MacBook deals going on, this Apple 21.5-inch iMac (2018) might be a few years old but it offers plenty of juice for the price. That's the beauty behind many iMacs -- they last a long time thanks to offering reliable hardware and the benefits of MacOS, which tends to mean they stay fast for awhile. In the case of the 2018 21.5-inch iMac, you get a 2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 processor paired up with 16GB of memory which is a great set of specs for ensuring you can get plenty of work done.

Mobile

How to transfer photos from an iPhone to a computer

The Apple iPhone 15 Plus's gallery app.

As the old saying goes, the best camera is the one you always have with you. If you're like most iPhone users, that means you've likely amassed a sizeable collection of photos on your device. However, while Apple's Photos app is a great way to manage and view your photo library, it's never a good idea to keep all your eggs in one basket. After all, suffering a lost or broken iPhone is painful enough without also losing all your precious digital memories in the process.

Even if you're backing up your iPhone to iCloud or your computer, it's a good idea to keep your photos backed up separately. After all, opening a folder or a photo management app is a much easier way to get at your photos than trying to extract them from an iCloud or iTunes/Finder backup, which requires either restoring them to another iPhone or relying on special software tools.

Computing

Get up to $900 off the Dell XPS 15 and Dell XPS 17 today

A Dell XPS 15 laptop on an office desk next to a monitor.

It’s all change at Dell this year with the Dell XPS 16 replacing the Dell XPS 17 and the Dell XPS 15 gradually seeing fewer updates. That means if you’re still keen to snag a Dell XPS 15 or 17, your chance to do so is running out. That’s why it’s great to see some excellent laptop deals for both models with up to $900 to be saved at the moment. If you’re looking for a new laptop, read on while we guide you through what each laptop has to offer.
Dell XPS 17 -- $1,949, was $2,849

The Dell XPS 17 remains a good option for anyone seeking a powerful laptop that works well as a desktop replacement. It has a 13th-generation Intel Core i7-13700H processor with a massive 32GB of memory so it’s ideal for all kinds of productivity-based tasks such as if you need to manage many spreadsheets at once or if you just prefer to have a lot of windows open at once. It also has 1TB of SSD storage while it can handle plenty of gaming too thanks to its Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. Its display is a 17-inch full HD+ model with 1920 x 1200 resolution, anti-glare properties, and 500 nits of brightness so it looks great. Other quality of life improvements include plenty of USB-C ports, up to 14 hours of battery life, a great cooling system, and a form factor that means it squeezes a 17-inch display into a 15-inch form size. It also has a large edge-to-edge backlit keyboard, comfortable touchpad, and large keycaps so it feels good to work on as you’d expect from the makers of some of the best laptops.