internals
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Visualized: Sauber F1 cutaway car is half the vehicle it used to be (video)
Ever wondered what goes on inside a Formula 1 car? No, we're not talking about Jenson Button's delicate elbow movements, we mean inside the car. Well, it turns out that we're not the only ones, and fortuitously for us, some people with the actual means to find out -- the Sauber F1 team -- have done the noble thing, and cut one in half. Yes, a real F1 car. Cut in half. It took two years to achieve, but from tip to tail, it's all there on display. That precious steering wheel you see drivers carry with them? Halved. Clever layered fuel system for lower center of gravity? Carved open. They even bring a driver in, the only thing to remain intact. Race on past the pit stop break for the visuals.
Sony Xperia U gets torn to pieces, FCC destroys something beautiful
There's not much we don't already know about Sony's Xperia U (formerly the Kumquat), the entry-level Gingerbread handset for the company's revamped mobile offerings. Fortunately, those brave boys down in the FCC's underground bunker decided to dissect the handset and delve into its internals, where we can still see some of that Ericsson branding -- presumably it doesn't see any harm in using up some of its old parts if they're hidden from view. Old-timey livery issues aside, the appearance of the handset bodes that all is on schedule for arrival in the second quarter of the year.
iPhone 4 to have 512MB of RAM, double the 3GS and iPad?
Apple has traditionally been -- how shall we put it -- cagey with revealing memory and CPU specifics of its mobile devices, but MacRumors is today reporting its discovery that the fourth-gen iPhone's RAM apportionment will be a very healthy 512MB. We've heard similar rumblings from reliable sources of our own. What it means is that iPhone 4 users can look forward to not only the same processor (though potentially at a lower speed) as their iPad compatriots, but also double the memory allowance. Of course, this will hardly be the first handset to offer half a gig for the OS to dance inside, but at least Apple's keeping up with the times. Wouldn't wanna disappoint all those pre-orderers now, would we?
FCC reveals iPad internals; you still don't have one (update: iFixit has 3G pics!)
Wowsa, looks like those FCC folks really take their jobs seriously. With the iPad they didn't just bother to test out the radiation and maybe take a little peek for themselves under the covers, but instead disassembled the whole machine on camera. Unfortunately they took it upon themselves to cover over the specific chips, so we'll have to wait for one of those pro bono teardowns to get the full lay of the land, but it's still a unique look at the makeup of this thing. Check it out in the gallery below. Update: The dudes and dudettes over at iFixit are analyzing the board and the components in uncensored fashion -- head on over if you considering yourself a "nerd." Update 2: iFixit's now got photos of the iPad's 3G communications board as well, even though it'll be another month before the 3G version comes out! %Gallery-89636%
Nintendo's Wiimote gets dissected, inspected
While the console launch frenzy has given us some exciting innards to look at lately, it's good to see someone finally take a big step away from that potentially hazardous (and sued) Wiimote, pick up a screwdriver, and delve right in. Similar to the precise movements that splayed the Wii itself, these folks used utmost caution (and a fairly nice digicam, too) when dissecting their brand new Wiimote. Beneath the casing was the IR sensor, capacitors, a Broadcom BCM2042 Bluetooth chip, vibration motor, LEDs, accelerometer, EEPROM, and a myriad of other random forms of circuitry. Interestingly enough, the kids behind the scenes got a little carried away and found that the "EEPROM contained all the constants like Bluetooth ID, firmware revision, etc.," while the Wiimote "functionality was burned into the Broadcom" chip itself. So if cramming a SIXAXIS controller into a model airplane is too amateur for you, crack open that Wiimote (before it does the same to you) and get to hacking.[Thanks, Kevin]
Free Mac OS history PDF
Amit Singh (the same guy who hacked the 'book motion sensor), author of the newly released "Mac OS X Internals: A Systems Approach," has made an expanded version of first chapter of the epic 1700 page tome available online as a free PDF download. Entitled "A Technical History of Apple's Operating Systems," the piece covers the entire gamut of operating systems that Apple has ever shown the least bit of interest in since its birth 30 years ago. Weighing in at 140 pages and 3MB, the chapter delves pretty deeply into the technical aspects of Operating Systems, and might be a bit dense for some less tech savvy readers. I haven't yet read much more than the first few pages yet (other than skimming), but I can tell this will be an interesting and invaluable read that will give me a better grasp on OS X by showing me where it has been.Via MacUser
