Raspberry Pi has announced an updated version of Peak 2 Microcontroller board with integrated Wi-Fi chip. called the Peak 2WIt's powered by the RP2350 microcontroller, which you can find in all sorts of DIY gadgets and fun gadgets like the tiny Thumby Color GBA clone. Best of all, it costs $7, just two dollars more than the $5 Pico 2.
The Pico 2 W's Wi-Fi chip adds a 2.4GHz signal using the Wi-Fi 4 standard (aka 802.11n) and brings Bluetooth 5.2 along for the ride. Wi-Fi 4 is an older, low-bandwidth standard that is still used in many smart home products today, from basic sensors to security cameras and smart speakers like the HomePod Mini.
As for the microcontroller itself, Raspberry Pi released the RP2350 in August as a dual-core chip using Arm and RISC-V architectures. The original Pico used the RP2040, the first self-designed chip released by Raspberry Pi. (It's also the chip that powers the DockLite G4 board and allows me to use an old iMac G4 as an external display.)
You'll find all kinds of uses for Pi's low-power boards. Some people create custom IoT sensors and controllers (people in a subreddit dedicated to the Raspberry Pi Pico line mentions its use to power watches, custom smartwatches, IoT weather stations or environmental sensors, and more. One person even says they're “contemplating some ideas for a cat toy.”
At the time of publication, the Pico 2 W is only available for pre-order at one of Raspberry Pi's preferred retailers, but you can buy it at three others.
