TornDown
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Sony SmartWatch torn down and dissected, wishes it were a Pebble
Wondering how the innards of Sony's SmartWatch compared to the Motorola's MotoACTV? Wonder no more. One cmw has dissected the aforesaid timepiece, noting that most of what's inside doesn't live up to the superior hardware found in Moto's unit. Aside from finding a 110mAh battery (compared to 258mAh in the MotoACTV), there's also a Micrium uC/OS-II. For those just here for the eye candy, there's a bit of that down in the source link, too. When asked for comment, Pebble simply quipped: "Everyday I'm Shufflin'." [Thanks, John]
Fusion Garage's Grid 4 smartphone sails through the FCC, Grid OS details flow from user manual
Go on, Fusion Garage -- get down with your bad self. While we'd previously heard that the outfit's $399 Grid 4 smartphone wouldn't hit shelves until "closer to Q4," a surprise stop by the FCC this morning makes us cautiously optimistic that it'll happen -- at least in the US -- sooner rather than later. For those who've forgotten, this guy's packing a 4-inch 800 x 480 LCD, dual-core Qualcomm CPU, 16GB of storage and dual cameras to boot. Moreover, the included user manual sheds a ton of light on how Grid OS will act, and it's the first real in-depth look at how it'll differ from what's already out there. We're told that there's a built-in web browser, Grid Launcher, support for Yahoo / Google data importing, a contacts app that'll suck names in from just about anywhere, full integration with email / Facebook / Twitter and a "GridDesktop" application that's used to load media from your PC or Mac onto the device. The guide also talks up the status bar, which is located at the top of the Grid 4 screen in order to show "indicators and widget controls for wireless networks, notifications, music playback and volume control." The oddly-named TaoBar is described as a "unique feature that shows details on your current notifications, events and ongoing sensor information, while also offering suggestions that might be of interest." Examples? Things like similar artists whilst listening to music, or pinging you with lunch recommendations when noon rolls around. Eager to see what else the feds put your future unlocked phone through? Give that source link a poke. Update: We've added a gallery of the FCC's teardown images below. %Gallery-134870%
Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook gets iFixit teardown, lays bare its telling internals
It's already made an early debut, just to sell out in a matter a hours, and now Samsung's answer to the Chromebook, the Series 5, is getting some attention of a more destructive sort. The folks over at iFixit have proven once again that ripping apart consumer electronics is not only therapeutic, but also enlightening, this time putting Google's ultraportable under the knife. On top of the specs we already have, this Chromebook's inner workings reveal 2GB of non-upgradable DDR3 RAM (the CR-48 apparently packed upgradable RAM), Intel NM10 graphics, a Qualcomm Gobi WWAN board, an Atheros AR9382 802.11n WiFi chip, and a 16GB SanDisk SSD. If you want even more intimate details (and have some cash to burn) you can wait to rip into the Chromebook yourself -- or you could to do the practical thing, and click on the source link below.
Apple's 2011 iMac undergoes teardown, shows off fancy new upgrades
Yesterday, you saw the new 21.5-inch iMac fully specced out and up for sale on Apple's online store, and you were even treated to the sight of its 27-inch sibling pushing three displays and 11 megapixels of resolution. Today, you get to witness Apple's latest all-in-one computer fully disassembled. iFixit is doing the honors, as usual, and the investigation starts with the detachment of that familiar LG-produced IPS display and a Sony Optiarc optical drive, followed by the discovery of an Intel controller for the solitary Thunderbolt port on board (there are two on the larger model). Other notables include an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics chip and a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 CPU, but you'll have to punch the source link to see them up close and personal.
BlackBerry PlayBook pried open, gyroscope and other goodies discovered
What's in a PlayBook? No, literally, what is in that thing? Well, most of the specs were known ahead of today's release, but there was a bit of confusion about whether RIM's 7-inch tablet did or didn't have a gyroscope, which has now been set straight (it does!) by the crew at iFixit. They did their usual study of what it'll take to repair your own PlayBook should the need ever arise, and gave it a repairability score of 7 out of 10. Replacing the front glass would be a bit of a pain to do, but then that's the case with most portable devices. The motherboard also got a thorough examination, with all the power management, wireless connectivity, and memory chips getting identified and recorded for posterity. If you want to check iFixit's work, feel free to visit UBM Tech Insights as well, who have their own component list and closeup photography of that dual-core TI OMAP4430 system-on-chip. Yes, closeup photography.
iCade hits FCC, gets torn asunder
The Ion iCade, our favorite April Fools' joke turned actual product, has just passed through the FCC and moved one step closer to retail reality. The arcade cabinet for your iPad had all its Bluetoothy bits laid bare and even brought along its user manual, in case you're the type who bothers to read those sordid things. There aren't too many surprises here except, perhaps, the inclusion of an Ikea-esque hex key -- some assembly required. With the green light from the feds, though, that means the iCade is right on schedule for its May 31st release. If you want to ensure you nab one of the first batch, you can pre-order it now for $99 from either GameStop or ThinkGeek. And, while you wait for the blissful marriage of Atari's Greatest Hits and Bluetooth joystick, you can peep the pics in the gallery after the break.
Visualized: Smart Cover magnets can turn your Apple tablet into a FridgePad
Has the iPad 2 not proven its versatility to you yet? Well, buy one of those "don't call it a case" Smart Covers that Apple launched with it and you'll be able to turn your new dual-core slate into a bona fide FridgePad. Just add fridge.
Motorola Xoom and Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Pro get torn down
The Xoom's big attraction may be the ethereal Honeycomb that oozes within it, but it's still a gadget made of metal, silicon and plastic, so we're as keen as anyone to see what its insides look like. iFixit has dutifully performed the task of tearing one down to its constituent components and found an Atmel touchscreen controller capable of picking up 15 inputs at a time, a Qualcomm MDM6600 chip capable of 14.4Mbps HSPA+ speeds, some Toshiba NAND flash memory, and of course, NVIDIA's beloved Tegra 2 dual-core SOC. The conclusion reached was that the Xoom is relatively easy to repair, though you should be aware there are no less than 57 screws holding the thing together, so free up a nice long afternoon if you intend to disassemble one yourself. Aside from Moto's flagship tablet, iFixit has also gotten to grips with Apple's latest MacBook Pro, the one that can do Thunderbolt-fast transfers with as yet nonexistent peripherals, though discoveries there were predictably few and far between. The wireless card now has four antennas instead of three and there are some changes made to the cooling systems, but the real reason you'll want to see this is the quad-core Sandy Bridge CPU lurking within -- it's as big and imposing as the performance it promises to deliver.
Alleged Nintendo 3DS roams the wild, gets thoroughly dismantled
You had to expect that as the 3DS got closer to its global release, stray units would manage to break out of Nintendo's manufacturing fortress and dash out into the wild. We already saw one such escapee earlier this month and, if we're not terribly mistaken, that very same unit has now gone through the ritual of having its body disassembled for the sake of curious 3D gamers everywhere. There's little to thrill the superficial viewer -- we already knew about the 1300mAh battery, for example -- but maybe you'll care to scrutinize the silicon more closely. If so, the source link is your nearest and dearest friend. [Thanks, Adam]
Dell Streak 7 torn down on video, we still can't find the reason it's running Froyo
The Dell Streak 7 might, in many people's eyes, be seen as what the original Streak should have been -- a 4G-equipped tablet with a spicy dual-core filling and the dimensions of a legitimate handheld computer. Unfortunately, it's launching quite a bit later than its precursor and few will be happy to hear it's running Android version 2.2 (Froyo) when we've just been graced by the brilliant light of Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) on other machines launching within the same time frame. That said, it's still a gadget, it's got circuit boards and connectors and tiny, minuscule things, and it's been tenderly disassembled for you on video right after the break. Why not try to figure out what makes the screen look so bland?
Google Cr-48 laptop torn down and destroyed in one unlucky day (video)
Boy, we know the Cr-48 is supposed to be a test platform and all, but even by that standard, Google's Chrome OS laptop has had a very rough first day on the job. Ambushed by one of our kindly tipsters upon its arrival, the Cr-48 has been gutted and disassembled (mostly, the motherboard is mercifully left attached to the chassis), revealing the typical arrangement of tiny electronics, which includes Hynix memory chips and a SanDisk-branded SSD. We're just glad to see that masking tape isn't playing a structurally integral role in its construction. Things don't really get much better for the slinky 48 once it gets back home to Google HQ, however, as its makers have put together an entire video composed of creative destruction methods for it. Cruel, cruel people. %Gallery-110278%
Samsung Galaxy Tab undressed, reveals massive battery (video)
It's getting to be the norm when tearing down the latest piece of tech that the first thing to confront the inquiring disassembler is a big bad battery pack. The Galaxy Tab doesn't disappoint in that respect, with a chunky white slab of power storage dominating the majority of its subdermal real estate. There are also comparatively large speakers and other little curios to explore, but we're not going to spoil the show for you. Just head on past the break for the full video.
Nokia N8 teardown reveals easily replaceable battery, 'beefy' construction
Surprise, surprise. The iFixit team have cornered themselves a dark grey Nokia N8 and have proceeded to do the one thing that comes naturally to them: disassembled it. It's mostly good news all around with this teardown, which found the BL-4D battery cell was only two Torx screws away from being user-replaceable, while the overall N8 construction was praised as being the "beefiest" of any phone this year. There are plenty of bodacious highlights within, including the massive Xenon flash and the pair of camera modules -- which are regrettably not removable from the main board. The touchscreen controller in the N8 is the same as has previously been used on the Kin Two and BlackBerry Torch. Perhaps that's not the best pedigree in the world, but the (complete in one case, and relative in the other) lack of success of those phones was never really about the screen's responsiveness. Hit the source link for a full gallery of images and the complete deconstruction guide.
PlayStation Move gets broken down -- so easy, an end-user could do it
Another week, another well-detailed tear down from the kids at iFixit. Blessed with an eight out of ten on the repairability index, the PlayStation Move was said to be one of the easiest devices yet to break down and reassemble, so there's a good chance that any novice DIYer with a steady hand and a Phillips screwdriver could accomplish what's shown in the link below. No huge surprises were found once the PCB's clothing was removed, but we were told that the Move controller contains a great many components that are found in today's modern smartphones: a processor, accelerometer, gyroscope, Bluetooth transmitter, vibrating motor, and even a MEMS compass. The sphere at the top can flash any color thanks to the included LEDs, and the integrated Li-ion battery can be disconnected (and thus, replaced) from the device without any soldering. Hit the source for the nitty-gritty, and hop on past the break for the highlights. Oh, and as a reminder, you can grab your own Move starting today if you call North America home.
iPod nano (2010) splayed open in the name of miniature science
What, you didn't think iFixit would stop at just disassembling the new iPod touch, did you? The all-new nano has also been sat atop the workbench, handed a bottle of hard liquor, and told to close its eyes and count to 120 million. The 6th-gen device weighs in at 67 percent of the volume of its precursor, with a slightly thicker body and that integrated clip on its back. Its 240- x 240-pixel display offers a 220ppi density, which, within Apple's ranks, is bettered only by the Retina Display on the fourth generation iPhone and iPod touch devices. Regrettably, just as with those two machines, the 2010 nano has its front glass, LCD and touchscreen assembly fused together. One handy bit of news here is the battery size, which at 105mAh is what you might call paltry, but still doubles up the 2010 shuffle's 51mAh. All in all, the conclusion from this dissection is that the new device feels more like a shuffle with a screen than a miniaturized nano, which, when you look at the form factor, makes all sorts of sense. More at the source.
iPod touch (2010) torn down, found to contain an awful lot of battery
As predictable as the sun rising somewhere over east Japan, the iFixit crew have put their tools and wits to the task of deconstructing the latest generation of iPod touch. Their teardown is still ongoing (exciting, isn't it?), but here are their observations so far. The new touch is noted as being the easiest to crack open yet, and yes, its retina-busting 640 x 960 LCD is fused to the external glass, just like the iPhone 4. There's an 11-gram EMI shield between the front end and the battery, accounting for a lofty 10 percent of the portable media player's weight. Beyond it, you'll find a chunky 3.44Whr Li-Pol cell, which is soldered to the board as is usual Apple practice, but a novelty here is that the headphone jack isn't. Great, tie down the thing we might want to replace and untether the one we don't care about. We'll keep you updated with any other salient info as it arises, but for now, go check out the source link for more pictures of the undressed iPod touch. The front-facing camera has been found, as expected, to be the exact same module as built into the iPhone 4. The WiFi antenna is located just under the front glass panel, a position said to have allowed for the new all-aluminum back on the iPod touch. Another shock: the A4 chip that drives the iPad and iPhone 4 is also found on the 2010 touch, and its markings confirm a 256MB RAM allowance.
BlackBerry Torch teardown offers few surprises, much like the phone itself (video)
The new BlackBerry flagship has been put through one of the more important ceremonies of acceptance into the smartphone world: a teardown. The CrackBerry crew have disassembled a Torch to see what makes it burn and produced some glamor shots of naked hardware for us to gawp at in the process. As you can see by the exploded shot of the phone above, most internals are either integrated or soldered down, but this undressing does afford us an opportunity to take a look at the biggest novelty in this new BlackBerry, namely its slider mechanism. It's impressively thin, rated for 150,000+ cycles, and yours to witness on video just past the break.
Droid X torn down, found to contain stuff
We've gotta tell you, looking at that belligerent red eye gracing the visage of the Droid X, we weren't entirely sure the thing wouldn't go all robot apocalypse on us if we ever tried disassembling it. Thankfully, someone else has taken that risk for us, and now we've got all sorts of nude pictures to gawk at. This teardown comes complete with some very practical how-to instructions, including the advice to use your nails to pry the case open instead of a metal screwdriver -- but only if you don't want to leave your roided-up Droid with battle scars. Hit the source link for more of the good stuff.
Sony Ericsson X10 Mini teardown reveals densely packed, tiny hardware
The crew at iFixit were jonesing for something to disassemble recently, and Sony Ericsson's X10 Mini seems to have been the nearest thing they could lay hand and screwdriver upon. We'll admit HTC has us kind of spoiled with the colorful interiors of its phones, so we were a little underwhelmed by the demureness of the X10 Mini. Everything is packed into the utilitarian logic board, and although you get to decouple the screen and antenna assembly, it's still mostly a thick slab of highly integrated technology. Still, if you want to see a Qualcomm MSM7227 all naked and exposed to the elements, this is your chance. The source link contains all the intimate photography you could wish for.
Samsung Galaxy S gets torn down, looks equally beautiful on the inside (video)
You'll be hard pressed to find a sane individual who'd argue that Samsung's Galaxy S isn't a lust-worthy piece of kit on the outside, and after watching the video past the break, we doubt you'll get too many takers on proving things unsightly within. Equipped with a Super AMOLED display and a bit of that Hummingbird goodness within, there weren't too many bits and pieces to tear apart. What was found, however, leaves a new appreciation for steady hands. Go on, give it a look-see -- the real deal will be out and about before you know it.
