Hasta La Gadget!

Apple announced a completely-redesigned iPod Nano last month during its iPhone 5 event where the company also launched a new iPod Touch. We already saw iFixit’s complete teardown of the new iPod Touch and the iPhone 5, so naturally it’s now the new iPod Nano’s turn up on the chopping block. And since the iPod Nano is so…nano-like, it doesn’t take long for the explorers at iFixit to dismantle the thing.

The new iPod Nano has a teeny-tiny 2.5-inch screen, so it almost looks like mini iPod Touch of sorts. Unlike most other Apple devices, the new iPod Nano is fairly easy to break into, requiring only a Phillips screwdriver and a wedge to take off the front display which reveals the innards of the device.

The display itself and the digitizer are not fused together, which would make repairing either components way less stressful. However, unlike the iPod Touch, the battery is adhered to the back of the display assembly and the wires are soldered to the logic board. There’s a convenient pull tab for the battery, but the adhesive turned out to be much too strong for a simple pull.

It’s not all fun and games, though. Apple ended up soldering a bunch of parts to the logic board, including the battery (as previously mentioned), Lightning connector, button cable, and headphone jack. iFixit gave it a repairability score of 5/10, which is better than the new iPod Touch, but it’s still not an easy task.

New iPod Nano gets complete teardown is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you were thinking of getting a Red Scarlet-X 4K baby cinema cam for that pet film feature, but were on the fence because, well, $11,900 is a lot of cash — there’s good news. The company just announced they would be selling “a whole truckload of Scarlets” for $7,100 each instead, as they had been used on a rental for a “pretty special 3 second shot.” As such, the camera body has less than a minute of recording time, and would come with an SSD module, Canon mount and full warranty for that sum — along with the option to change out the MX sensor to Red’s upcoming Dragon model, presumably. Bear in mind that you’d still lack the SSD drive, LCD, batteries or charger needed to shoot, but even with all that would still be under the regular basic price — meaning you might be able to stop saving up and start shooting.

Filed under: Cameras

Red offers ‘truckload’ of one-time rental Scarlet-Xs for almost $5K off each originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A new Kickstarter project launching today wants to be the first officially licensed iPhone 5 dock, and possibly the last one you’ll ever need for Lightning-bearing. The solid steel Dock+ comes with Lightning support built in, has an application in with Apple’s MFI program and has been engineered from the ground-up to meet Apple’s requirements for its authorized hardware partners. Apple has no plans to ship a dock of its own, so the race to create a definitive third-party solution is on, and Dock+ co-creator David Wurtz believes his product has what it takes.

The Dock+ has a number of benefits over other solutions, according to Wurtz. Unlike the CompleteDock or the newly announced adapter solution for the Elevation Dock, the Dock+ doesn’t just use a pass-through cable solution; instead, it’ll boast its own Lightning connector, so long as it makes it through Apple’s MFI program. That allows it to build a lightning plug that both flexes back and forth for easier removal, and depresses slightly, meaning you can use it with cases and bumpers as well as with a naked iPhone 5.

But other than the clever bit of hardware engineering around the actual Lightning tip itself, Wurtz says the emphasis with Dock+ was always on making something as uncomplicated as possible, without extra ports or features, in order to simplify the manufacturing process and ensure the ability to ramp up to high volume shipments quickly. That’s why Wurtz is very confident they’ll meet their ambitious projected March 2013 ship date – I told him that, in my experience, the Kickstarter project that makes its first projected ship date is very, very rare, but he still seems confident. Really, Wurtz said the main thing that could hold them up would be any hiccups in the MFI approval process.

The Dock+ itself is designed with function as the utmost concern. It’s made of solid steel, and as you can see in the video, that means it won’t budge from the desk or table when you take your iPhone on or off. It also comes in three different colors (natural steel, black and white), and uses readily-available micro USB cables to supply power and syncing, meaning you can fit your own from your existing collection, or choose either a 3- or 6-foot version shipped with the Dock+ itself. Optionally, users can also get a power brick for their wall outlet, or they can supply their own.

Thanks to the shelf design, Wurtz says the Dock+ should work with any changes in hardware design of the iPhone, so long as it retains the lightning connectors (which Apple exec Phil Schiller is here to stay for a while at least). The team has also tested it with the iPad, in the expectation that the next one will have a lightning connector, and it works well. It should also be a perfect fit for the iPad mini, Wurtz says, so long as that device matches the early leaked hardware design.

I never believed I was a dock guy, but it turns out I am, and my time with the iPhone 5 has been sadly dockless so far. Dock+ is a promising new accessory in that regard, and it has a relatively modest goal of $75,000 with 60 days to reach it. Pre-orders start at $49 for early backers, and you can check out the Dock+ in action in the video below.

Let us assume that you are in the market for a used supercomputer, surely you will need to pony up a huge wad of cash just to own one of these puppies, right? Well, assuming you have a love for all things HAL 9000, then you might be interested to hear that a well built replica of the HAL 9000 is now available for pre-order at a whopping $499 a pop. Sure, it will not be able to make short work of you, but it sure as heck will vaporize half a grand from your bank account in the blink of an eye. Your order is tipped to arrive sometime in December this year, making it ideal as a Christmas present.

Just to recap, HAL 9000 is a psychotic computer, and has been rated as one of the most memorable villains in cinema history – ranking 13th overall. HAL 9000 sported a calm, confident voice that is a surefire way to guarantee you that everything was going according to plan, while assuring you that you will need to kiss goodbye to your life. The replica HAL 9000 is made out of CNC-machined aluminum, and was recreated directly from the original 1967 studio blueprints, while sporting an optical-grade glass with its lens copied from the original prop. There are also 15 different phrases included in the HAL 9000 replica that can be activated through a handful of user-selectable modes.
[ HAL 9000 replica does not come cheap copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Tearing down a device the size of an iPod nano is definitely not for the faint of heart (or shaky of hand), but none of that deters iFixit, who just tackled Apple’s latest pint-sized player. We called it the best nano so far, but if the tiny iPod with newfound Nike+ functionality calls it quits, can you do something about it yourself, or will it need to be binned or go back to the repair depot? iFixit is torn on the device, saying that it’s easy to take apart and replace the LCD or digitizer glass, but that the battery is glued solidly to the chassis, and other important parts like the Lightning connector are soldered together. That makes the replacement of those components nigh-on impossible, resulting in a repairability score of 5/10 for the device — not that we’d be brave enough to crack it open ourselves.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Apple

iPod nano hits iFixit’s dissection slab, rated so-so on the repairability scale originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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