Xoom teardown shows few surprises; easy access to internals

iFixit has torn down the Motorola Xoom. The Xoom, launched on Feb. 24, it said to be the first real iPad rival with a 10.1-inch screen and Honeycomb, also a first --- the first tablet-optimized version of Android.

As we already knew, the Motorola Xoom sports NVIDIA's Tegra 2 dual-core system-on-a-chip (SOC). It has an Atmel touchscreen controller capable of receiving 15 inputs at once, and a Qualcomm MDM6600 chip which is the same as in the Verizon iPhone 4. That means that, sans a modification, on GSM carriers, the Xoom would be capable of 14.4Mbps HSPA+ speeds.

Although iFixit found the Xoom very easy to tear down and take apart, meaning repairs would be easy, they also commented that some of the ease was likely to be related to the upcoming (free) LTE 4G upgrade for the device. The device has a unique two-piece rear case design that makes accessing the internals of the device easier.

However, the device has some 57 screws. At least they are using Torx screws and not the pentalobular screws Apple uses to keep folks out of its iDevices.

On the front side of the motherboard, iFixit found:

• Broadcom BCM4329 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, and FM Tuner. There's also a Broadcom BCM4750 Single-Chip AGPS (located nearest the top right corner).
• Hynix H8BCSOQG0MMR 2-chip memory MCP
• AKM 8975 Electronic Compass
• Qualcomm MDM6600 supporting HSPA+ speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps
• Nvidia Tegra T2 dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and ultra-low power GeForce GPU.
• Texas Instruments 54331 Step Down SWIFT DC/DC Converter with Eco-Mode
• Samsung K4P4G154EC DRAM

On the rear of the motherboard, iFixit found:

• Qualcomm PM8028 RF Power Management IC
• Atmel TINY45 8-bit RISC-based Microcontroller with 4KB in-system programmable flash
• Toshiba THGBM2G8D8FBA1B NAND Flash
• ST Ericsson CPCAP 2.2TC22 DC Power Management
• According to Chipworks, the CPCAP 2.2TC22 is a single chip SoC that integrates analog and mixed signal functions, including power management, energy management, audio, and interfaces.
• Check out the die photo of the CPCAP 2.2TC22, courtesy of Chipworks.

It will be interesting to see how iSuppli's teardown matches up in terms of cost of the Xoom. It will also be interesting to compare the Xoom with the iPad 2, once that is launched and torn down.

Via: iFixit