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Apple's newest AirPort Extreme base station gets dissected
The skyscraper? The hauteur router? The dapper WAP? All reasonable nicknames were considered, but in the end, Apple's sticking with "AirPort Extreme." The newest base station -- the one introduced alongside the company's Haswell-infused MacBook Air at WWDC -- takes on a new look and gains 802.11ac support, but that's not what you're here for. You're here for two reasons: first, you want to see this thing reverse engineered, and second, you want to get an idea of just how repairable it is. The gurus over at iFixit have done their usual teardown, offering up a plethora of lovely JPGs and settling on a respectable 8 out of 10 on the Repairability Index. Eager to learn more? Give that source link below a soft tap... with the key word being soft.
OUYA console gets torn down, found to be highly repairable
Now that OUYA consoles are shipping out to the masses, the folks at iFixit were able to grab a box and immediately undo all of the precious packaging work accomplished at the factory. In its usual style, the site gently dissected the world's best-known Android game console, commenting on "a very clean and simple layout." Overall, the splaying seemed to happen with little to no fuss, with the fan being the only modular (and moving) component in the entire thing. All told, the OUYA notched a 9 out of 10 on the all-important Repairability Meter, aided by the fact that only standard-head screws were used, and that no abstract glues or other black magic was used while piecing it all together. You'll definitely want to give the source link a look if you're yearning for more eye candy.
Garmin GLO Portable GPS and GLONASS receiver hit the FCC, get torn down for good measure
Hasty, no? Merely hours after being announced to the world, Garmin's GLO Portable GPS and GLONASS receiver have touched down in the FCC's database. Per usual, that's a fairly solid indicator that the devices will be available for sale on US shores within a few weeks, and if you're curious, there's even a draft user guide tucked in the source link below. Truth be told, there's not a ton here that wasn't already made public -- it's obviously "Made for iPod / iPhone / iPad," and Garmin asserts that the included battery will take three hours to charge but 12 hours to deplete. The manual also asserts that Android users "may need to use an application to allow the sensor to properly communication over Bluetooth," and just in case you're thinking of getting wet and wild, the outer casing is said to be "rugged, but not water-resistant." For shame -- we were totally looking forward to geotagging our next romp down the Gauley. %Gallery-160289%
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]
ASUS Transformer Prime, disassembled: NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3 sees daylight
While the FCC already had its wicked way with ASUS' Transformer Prime, its intimate inner workings have now been spilled over at Wireless Goodness. Nestled between NAND memory from Hynix and some Elpida RAM is NVIDIA's great tablet hope, its new quad-core chip. The full gallery of shots has disappeared from the FCC site, but silicon fans can still check out the chipboards in full glory at the source link below.
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%
Xiaomi Phone gets dissected, phone status confirmed
The Xiaomi Phone managed to pique our interest by packing a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor into a fairly sleek, inexpensive package -- and, like all interesting new devices, it's now been torn completely apart. You can thank the folks at LeiPhone for doing the hard work in this case, the results of which can be found at the source link below. We'll soon also have some more impressions of the (intact) phone ourselves, and it looks like Xiaomi will be giving its own forum members the first crack at pre-orders for the device. Those start at 10PM Eastern tonight for those with the requisite number of points, and we're told that the first 600 orders (200 each day from the 29th to the 31st) will receive an "engineering special edition" version of the phone -- not to mention a slight discount off the list price. [Thanks, Adam]
Samsung Galaxy S II gets torn down, found to be just as beautiful on the inside
Here's a tidbit of interest: it took the moving of three million Galaxy S IIs before we saw a bona fide teardown. But hey -- maybe this thing's just too darn delightful to crack open for the sake of cracking it open. iFixit and ABI Research have both sliced into Sammy's best smartphone yet, discovering an Exynos dual-core apps processor, newfangled CMOS-based antenna switch, a low-power XMM6260 cellular chipset from Infineon and a single-packaged multi-band, multi-mode PA from RFMD. 'Course, knowing the surrounding technobabble is only half the fun; for the other half, dig into those source links below.
HP Veer gets bricked, disassembled after checking 'Organ Donor' box
There's a saying 'round the webOS world... something to the effect of "it's impossible to brick a webOS device." Turns out, that's hardly the case these days -- the newfangled Touch to Share technology that's tucked into the latest round of HP devices is mighty fickle, and one Rob Whitby has somehow managed to turn his Veer 4G into a bantam paperweight. Rather than using it as a projectile with a mind to make his security deposit vanish, he did the only remaining intelligent thing to do: rip it open, while taking pleasure in refusing it an epidural. There's no video of the presumably gut-wrenching procedure, but there's a shockingly detailed account of the teardown linked below. Eye candy's just a click away, and yes, donations for a replacement are being accepted. The funeral date, however, remains undetermined.
Sony Internet TV with Google TV ripped apart, messy Intel internals exposed
Sony's Internet TV with Google TV (we heard you like TV, so we put TV in your... etc.) actually turned out to be pretty much our favorite implementation of Google TV. Imagine our shock and horror, then, to discover what an untidy tangle of wires its cables turned out to be, particularly in comparison to the mega-clean insides of the Revue or the ultra-compact Boxee Box. What gives, Sony? Just because it's a TV doesn't mean it doesn't matter. Don't feed yourself that nobody-loves-me-guess-I'll-eat-worms trash. You have to have a little self respect. If you don't give a damn, who will? Okay, we're done.
Logitech Revue with Google TV torn down, netbook specs found within
There's a lot we already know about Logitech's Revue with Google TV, and after our walkthrough on Saturday's Engadget Show, we also know just how NSFW the search results can be. All jesting aside, we did notice some amount of stuttering during our testing, and now we know why: for all intents and purposes, it's a netbook. The knife wielding gurus over at iFixit tore into the Revue in order to see what kind of internals were powering it, and sure enough, a 1.2GHz Atom CPU was at the core. That's marginally faster than the 1GHz A4 housed in the newest Apple TV, but there's a lot more to process here than on Cupertino's darling. There's also 1GB of DDR3 memory as well as a grand total of 5GB NAND Flash (split between a Samsung and Hynix chip). Essentially, the hardware here is on par with netbooks from fall 2008 (the Dell Mini 9 is accurately mentioned), with "tons of open space" allowing the box to stay cool under pressure. So, you down with paying $300 for hardware you could've scored two years ago, or are you just now realizing that a basic HTPC isn't that hard to setup.
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.
iFixit goes beige with RCA Studio II teardown
The RCA Studio II is already a pretty rare sight as is, but rarer still is a detailed look inside what's been described as one of the worst game consoles of all time. Thankfully, the folks at iFixit have now come through once again, and followed up their dissection of the Magnavox Odyssey 100 with a teardown of the circa-1977 "Home TV Programmer." In addition to an abundance of beige, the team also discovered a considerable amount of solder that's characteristic of 70s electronics, and even a few surprises like some white chip packages that are rarely (if ever) used these days. Hit up the link below for the complete blow-by-blow, and keep en eye out for even more vintage gadget teardowns during the rest of the week.
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.
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.
Microsoft Kin Two gets torn apart, reveals Sony image sensor
Sure, we already know most of the Kin Two's main specs, but there's nothing like a proper teardown to find out exactly what makes something tick, and the folks from Chipworks have now kindly ripped one apart so you don't have to. Among the highlights are the expected NVIDIA Tegra APX2600 processor, a slew of chips and memory from the likes of Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Hynix, and Samsung and, perhaps most notably, an image sensor from none other than Sony. That sensor, the IMX046, is one of the smallest in its class with a pixel size of just 1.4 microns and, according to Chipworks, something of a surprise -- they were expecting a sensor from OmniVision. Hit up the links below for the Chipworks' complete blow-by-blow account, as well as some further analysis from the folks at iFixit -- and, no, there isn't a teardown of the Kin One just yet.
Apple's A4 system-on-chip gets decoupled from iPad, investigated with the help of an X-ray
Ever so gently, we're starting to peel away the layers of mystery surrounding the A4 system-on-chip that powers Apple's fancy new slate device. iFixit, helped by reverse engineering firm Chipworks, have gone to the trouble of both dissecting and X-raying the iPad's central processing hub in their quest to lift the veil of ignorance. Their findings confirmed that the A4 is built using a "package on package" method, meaning that the 256MB of Samsung-provided SDRAM is stacked immediately atop the CPU, which is noted as being reductive to both latency and energy use. With a single core processor inside, the iFixit team concluded the iPad had to be running on a Cortex A8 -- which is very much the likeliest choice at this point -- but their assertion that it couldn't be a Cortex A9 MPCore inside is inaccurate, as those chips also come in single-core options. Either way, it'll be interesting to see how it stacks up against Samsung's Hummingbird chip, which was designed by Intrinsity, the same company Apple is being rumored to have recently acquired. Finally, the visual inspection of the iPad's mobo puts a model number to the already known PowerVR GPU, narrowing it down to the SGX 535, while also naming and picturing a number of other exciting components, such as the always popular capacitive touchscreen controller. Hit the source link below for all the lurid images.
JooJoo ships to actual consumers, gets dissected for good measure
Can you believe it? No, seriously -- can your mind handle this realness? After months upon months of teetering on the brink of eternal vaporware, the JooJoo tablet is shipping to actual end-users. Yeah, we've had our media unit for a few days, but when you think about how many startups have dreams of shipping devices as substantial as this, just the sight of an unopened FedEx box from its warehouse makes an impact. Frankly, the timing here couldn't possibly be worse, but we're guessing a fair amount of to-be tablet buyers were holding back on plunking down their cold, hard cash to a company that was having issues with the most basic of business processes. So yes, Fusion Garage is actually shipping these to mere mortals today, and just in case you were curious about the insides, one of our engineering tipsters put his Harvard skills to good use by breaking into the casing and having a glance at the nuts and bolts. He told us that getting inside required the removal of just ten screws (using the correct screwdriver, mind you), and that the RAM slot (1GB provided) was easily accessible. For that matter, the mini PCIe SSD and extra mini PCIe slot were as well, and while he located a 3G SIM slot, he couldn't spot the 3G antenna. On the software front, he noted that he was having all sorts of issues, from Hotmail not loading (it demands an upgrade to a "newer browser" to Netflix streaming not being supported at all. Not exactly reassuring news, but hey, if you're up for hacking Windows 7 onto this thing, at least you can count on getting a product when you hand over those digits. [Thanks, Ashwani] %Gallery-89685%
