The official battle for next-gen kicked off as Microsoft launched its Xbox One, Friday, following Playstation 3 release the previous week.
The biggest feature for Xbox One is its integration of Kinect 2.0 featuring improvements on voice, vision and motion controls. Featuring a 1080p HD wide-angle camera along with multi-microphone, it processes two gigabits of environmental data per second. Powerful is an understatement as the camera can not only see in the dark, but read emotions and heart rate.
Not surprisingly, it didn't take long for the folks at iFixit to deconstruct Kinect 2.0 tick and see what makes it tick. Overall, iFixit gave the device a repairability score of 6 out of 10, which means it'll take quite an effort to pry it open and disassemble it.
Tools used in Teardown:
T10 Torx Security Screwdriver
Phillips #0 Screwdriver
T6 Torx Screwdriver
Soldering Iron
Plastic Opening Tools
Spudger
Metal Spudger
One of the first things purchasers of the Xbox One will realize is that the new Kinect's connecting cable comes fully connected, increasing the difficulty of disassembly. The first step in tearing apart Microsoft's camera/mic is the removal of the warranty invalidation sticker above two long screws holding the outer case together. With the innards exposed, iFixit realizes that Microsoft designates the new Kinect as model 1520.
Next up is the device's internal 5 volt DC manufacture by Nidec fan, requiring minimal disassembly. As tinkering continues, it's revealed that the Kinect features chip by STMicroelectronics as opposed to previous maker Chipworks and has 1GB of DDR3 SDRAM from Samsung.
Texas Instrumental manufactures the device's synchronous buck converter. For the uninformed, a buck converter is a switched-mode power supply that uses two switches. iFixit folks also found the purple filters covering the Kinect's three IR blasters featuring Microsoft's Active IR technology that gives it night vision mode.
Watch "Xbox One Kinect Teardown" video below.
