After Hours

Cracking Open the Amazon Kindle Fire

By · November 16, 2011, 6:21 AM PST · billdetwiler

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  • Cracking Open the Amazon Kindle Fire

    The Kindle Fire is Amazon's entrant into the rapidly growing tablet market. Having launched the original Kindle e-book reader in 2007, the company is no stranger to mobile devices. But, the Fire is Amazon's first true tablet.

    We've cracked open nearly every Kindle that Amazon's put out, and couldn't wait to get our hands on the Fire. Follow along as I cracked open the Amazon Kindle Fire.

    For an my analysis of the hardware inside the Kindle Fire, check out my blog post, "Kindle Fire teardown: No-frills tablet filled with TI hardware."

    Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Standard Kindle brown cardboard box

    As of this writing, the Kindle Fire is available directly from Amazon for $199.00 (US).

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Box contents

    Included with the Kindle Fire are a power adapter and quick start card.

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Quick specs

    The Amazon Kindle Fire weighs 14.6 ounces (413 grams) and measures 4.7" (W) x 7.5" (H) x 0.45" (D). It's the same thickness as the Apple iPad 2, but even lighter.

    Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Headphone jack, Micro-UCB connector, power button

    Along the bottom edge of the Kindle are the 3.5mm headphone jack, Micro-USB port, and a power button.

    Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Speakers

    Along the Kindle Fire's top edge are two speaker ports.

    Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Back

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Prying off the back cover

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Removing the back cover

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Front panel assembly and back cover

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Back cover

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Internal hardware

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Removing the battery

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: 3.7V, 4,400 mAh Li-ion battery pack (Model: 3555A2L)

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Disconnecting the motherboard connectors

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Removing the speaker assembly screws

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Speaker assembly

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Removing the touchscreen connector screws

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Removing the motherboard screws

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Removing the motherboard

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Removing the power button screws

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Power button

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Separating ribbon cables from the internal frame

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Removing the internal frame screws

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Removing the internal frame

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Internal frame

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Removing the LCD panel screws

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Removing the LCD panel

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: 7" HYDIS HV070WS1-101 LCD panel (1024 x 600 at 169 ppi)

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Front panel and digitizer

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: ILITEK touchscreen controller (2107QS001K A95B9F695 A2135B010-20)

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Motherboard - Front

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Motherboard - Back

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Ambient light sensor

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: WLAN antenna

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: 512MB Elpida B4064B2PB-8D-F RAM chip

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: 1.0 GHz dual-core Texas Instruments 4430 OMAP application processor (mounted under the RAM chip)

    The 1.0 GHz dual-core Texas Instruments 4430 OMAP application processor is mounted under the RAM chip.

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: 8GB Micron NAND flash chip (IRAI8 JW686)

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Texas Instruments TWL6030 Fully Integrated Power Management IC (6030B107 19ZCMX9L)

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Texas Instruments SN75LVDS83B FlatLink 10-135MHz Transmitter (16C4TJT LVDS83B)

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Jorjin WG7310-30 Wi-Fi SiP Module (contains Texas Instruments WL1270B IEEE 802.11b/g/n chip)

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Texas Instruments WS245 4-Bit Dual-Supply Bus Transceiver (SN74AVCH4T245)

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Texas Instruments AIC3110 Low-Power Audio Codec

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Motherboard markings "DA0KC1MB8F0 REV: F"

  • Amazon Kindle Fire: Motherboard markings "MODEL KC1"

  • Amazon Kindle Fire complete teardown

    For an my analysis of the hardware inside the Kindle Fire, check out my blog post, "Kindle Fire teardown: No-frills tablet filled with TI hardware."

Cracking Open the Amazon Kindle Fire

The Kindle Fire is Amazon's entrant into the rapidly growing tablet market. Having launched the original Kindle e-book reader in 2007, the company is no stranger to mobile devices. But, the Fire is Amazon's first true tablet.

We've cracked open nearly every Kindle that Amazon's put out, and couldn't wait to get our hands on the Fire. Follow along as I cracked open the Amazon Kindle Fire.

For an my analysis of the hardware inside the Kindle Fire, check out my blog post, "Kindle Fire teardown: No-frills tablet filled with TI hardware."

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler

Related Topics:
After Hours Innovation Hardware Tech & Work

By Bill Detwiler

Bill Detwiler is Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop support specialist in the ...

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