Kindle 2 teardown reveals some surprising surprises

By on Feb 25, 2009 at 8:08 AM
General February 25, 2009

The Kindle 2 is one of those gadgets that people either love or hate. One the one hand it’s a glimpse into the more versatile, eco-friendly and portable future for the written (and spoken) word. On the other hand it is also the devil’s dandruff, a little white monster that is attempting to ruin the noble and glorious history of the written word. But no matter what people think of it, most everyone is fascinated by the Kinde 2 and the technology that lurks underneath those understated looks. Thankfully the jewelers screwdriver-wielding maniacs at iFixit did their thing because we’re quite fascinated by some of the findings:

  • The Kindle 2 is powered by a 532MHz ARM-11 Freescale MCIMX31L processor
  • The 3.7 V 1530 mAh Li-Pol battery makes up roughly 10% of the weight of the Kindle 2 coming in at 31g
  • Upon disconnecting the battery from the unit, the E-Ink display continued to display the last image before the power disconnect
  • An outline of a SIM card is present indicating the potential for international versions of the Kindle 2
  • A Samsung 2GB moviNAND and two 32MB DDR RAM chips perform all memory duties
  • Only 26 screws and four connectors need be removed to completely disassemble the Kindle 2

There are of course a few more pics after the jump, but before we have to say it; the Kindle 2 has a processor that is faster than the iPhone 3G and on par with the Curve 8900. So sad and so true, but we’re so over it.

[Via Gizmodo]

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  • Pythagoras

    Cool! Very useful info.

  • rick

    Old news.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

  • http://www.paragoncasino.net paragoncasino

    yeah, I was thinking about it

  • SwissFreek

    Why are we surprised that the display retains its image even when disconnected from the battery? That’s the entire reason-for-being of e-paper.

  • TheKingBoar

    I posted this on engadget too, but I seriously doubt that’s a SIM card outline. For one, SIM cards have 6 contacts not 3. The contacts here are also on the wrong side of the card, and it looks (could just be the angle though) too fat to be a SIM card.

  • JustAGuy

    I just took my SIM card out of my phone and held it up to the picture, and the contacts SEEM to be in the right place to me, and I think I see six of them… Maybe you need a new prescription….That would be where the SIM card would lay on top of, so it is mirrored to an actual SIM card, unless the card was part of the board itself, but I don’t think that seems likely or intelligent

  • http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com tnkgrl

    There’s indeed a missing SIM holder below the WWAN card – which means a GSM/UMTS version of the Kindle is planned!

    But that’s a standard mini-PCIe WWAN (EVDO) card – beyond adding the SIM holder, you’d just have to swap the EVDO card for EDGE/HSDPA card. Then you’s have to hack the firmware to use the card – that’s the hard part :)

    But I wonder – perhaps one could scope the AT commands being sent to the EVDO card, then insert the card into a PC and send the same AT commands for unlimited (free) data…

  • http://www.ListBuildingClub.com bonkus

    AAAH THE HORROR! I’ve got a kindle in my hands right now and it’s crying (via Text to speech), shaking (maybe that’s me), and it’s poor screen has gone white from shock (or from an automatic update, I can’t tell)…. one way or the other, I feel for that poor dissected kindle…when are we going to stop taking out our savage curiosity on lesser beings! it’s not right!

    And to post it on the internet! you should all hang your heads in shame, getting your jollies by peeking at the poor things circuits!

    No wonder technology takes over and kills us all. It’s posts like this that will enevitably enrage skynet.

  • Jim

    I dropped my K2 and cratered the screen! Ouch! Now I would like to replace it … rather than pay Amazon $200 for a new one. Any idea where to get a replacement screen?

  • Jim

    I just wrote about needing a replacement screen for my K2 and forgot to switch the “notify me of any responses” box. Consider it switched.

  • William

    Prime View International makes the 9.7″ displays — they’re a Chinese company. They recently partnered with e-Ink from here in the USA. The display itself OEMs for around $60 US, but you may have difficulty getting it directly from e-Ink or PVI if you are not an original equipment manufacturer.

  • Jim

    Thanks, William. Now, if I can just figure out how to get a screen as an OEM …

  • http://Fluidtv.com Dave

    William We are all looking for these screens. Can you please inform us if you find a supplier

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