Project Tango Tablet Teardown: Everything You Need For Handheld 3D

Project Tango Tablet Teardown: Everything You Need For Handheld 3D

Google’s Project Tango tablet is an amazing bit of hardware that made us finally realise that computer vision could be useful for regular people too. So now that iFixit has ripped one apart, we’re pretty excited to see what lurks within it.

We already know that the tablet is powered by Nvidia’s Tegra K, making it, according to Google staff, “basically the most powerful tablet in the world right now.” But it needs rather more in the way of guts than just that silicon. Here are some choice cuts from iFixit’s teardown:

  • Its camera board — which looks a little bit like a Kinect’s — packs an IR projector along with a 4MP RGB-IR camera to help it see in 3D.
  • It also has a front-facing camera with a 120-degree field of view to soak up your surroundings.
  • There’s a ridiculous number of antennas in there too: not just the standard ones aboard its Nvidia baseband module, but extra ones running throughout the casing too. This thing wants to stay connected.
  • There’s also a massive battery: a 7.6V Li-ion polymer dual cell, rated at around 18Wh of energy. That should keep it seeing in 3D for a little while.

In terms of repairability, iFixit rated it a 4 out of 10, so not one for the tinkerers. But still, who cares right now, given this is for devs? To see more of its guts spilling out, go read the full teardown. [iFixit]


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