An upgraded version of the $35 Raspberry Pi Linux computer is now available.

The new board has 512MB of memory, double that of the existing model, but will sell for the same price. It is available through electronic distributor Premier Farnell through its element14 brand.

Doubling the memory should help the device run more demanding mobile apps and future versions of the Android 4.0 OS, according to Premier Farnell. A working version of the Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Android OS has already been ported to the device.

The specs for the rest of the board remain the same, with a 700MHz ARM chip inside a Broadcom BCM2835, a single USB port and 128MB of memory, with an additional $10 buying a souped-up version with two USB ports and 10/100 Ethernet.

Despite its budget price, the Raspberry Pi still packs a punch, with the multimedia capabilities of an original Xbox console, 1080p video playback, and general processing power of a Pentium II or III.

The board is being manufactured in the UK by Sony UKTec, as part of the multimillion-pound manufacturing deal that was announced last month.

Owners of the Raspberry Pi board are putting it to an array of uses, from piloting drones to controlling homes. For any new owners of the Pi there is already an ecosystem of accessories and add-ons to complement the board.