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Steps 125: Palm Pre Teardown
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Palm Pre Teardown
ntroduction
e got our hands on the new Palm Pre fromprint! Oh joy, our all-nighter in front of theprint store paid off! We're finished disassembling it now. Follow our updates @ifixit on twitter.
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Teardown
Teardowns provide a look inside a device and should not be used as disassembly instructions.
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Welcome to another exciting teardown
brought to you byiFixit. Today we will
be disassemblingthe newest
sensation in the mobile phone market, the Palm
Pre from Sprint.
You can write a teardown just like this!
Take something apart and wow the
world with what you find!
We arrived at the Santa Barbara Sprint store at
2am and were first in line!
Two blocks down the street at a local shoe store
were 18 people stolidly entrenched in line for
Kanye West's new Air Yeazy shoe. Some of
them had been in line since Monday!
By the time we got our Pre at 8 am, there were
about 25 others waiting.
It took several tries to activate the phone (about
five minutes total), but no where near as bad as
Apple's iPhone 3G launch activation woes last
summer.
We tested out Sprint's 3G EVDO network on the
road home and didn't notice any interruptions.
Uploads and downloads were fast, and
Pandora's application ran like a champ.
WebOS is so cool! We love how natural it feels
to swipe between applications and multitask
with Web, Twitter, AIM, and Pandora.
Contents of the box:
Palm Pre phone
AC Phone Charger, Standard Li-Ion Battery
Stereo Headset, Carry Pouch
Micro USB Sync Cable
Get Started Guide and Features Guide
A prepaid plastic recycling envelope in the
box, making it easy to recycle your newly
obsolete phone. This is a fantastic move on
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2/10
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Palm's part, but of course recycling is a last
resort if you can't fix it.
And a partridge in a pear tree...
Users preferring physical keyboards will be
satisfied, but iPhone veterans may be left
disappointed at the lack of a software keyboard
option.
Revealing the keyboard feels awkward and
interrupts the smooth WebOS experience. Try
before you buy, because this keyboard could be
enough to deter picky users.
The Pre comes with a stylish and rugged case,
a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, earbuds and
USB cable.
The Pre is "Inspired by and designed in
California,"while the iPhone is merely
"Designed by Apple in California."
The battery came only partially charged, and we
managed to drain it on the 1.5 hour drive back
from Santa Barbara.
We'll just charge it briefly with the MicroUSB
connector before ripping it apart. :)
You get a full one year warranty on hardware,
but for software Palm only promises "software
will perform in substantial conformance to their
program specifications for a period of ninety
(90) days."
The lineup: Apple iPhones vs. Palm Pre
We love the feel of holding the Pre in our hands.
In its closed position, it feels much more
comfortable to hold than the iPhone.
Notice the extra thickness of the Pre
compared to the iPhone (17mm vs
12mm). Not only does this allow the
engineers more flexibility in designing the
physical layout of components, but it also makes
the Pre conform really well to our palm.
To see your face better while taking photos for
MySpace, the Pre includes a mirror on the back.
Unfortunately, the mirror distorts
everything in sight-- it conforms to the
slight curve of the phone. It also gets
easily covered in fingerprints. Your digits will
gravitate to this region while holding the phoneopen.
Cheese does not cut Pre. Evidently it
only works the other way around.
The 3 megapixel camera does take great
pictures though (we took the last photo here
using our Pre in the car).
http://gizmodo.com/5279413/palm-pre-cuts-the-cheesehttp://www.ifixit.com/Info/Environmenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#comment8/3/2019 Palm Pre Teardown - Ifixit
3/10
Step 8
Step 9
Step 10
Step 11
Step 12
The back panel snaps off easily to reveal the
battery.
The Pre's battery capacity is 1150 mAh, exactly
the same as the iPhone 3G, though the Pre is
reported to have slightly worse battery life due
to its background process capability (but we
don't mind).
Though Sprint will eventually sell
replacement and/or backup batteries,
our store did not have them available
today.
The battery from the Pre on the left, and the
iPhone 3G on the right. Although they're
different shapes, both weigh in at 23 grams.
In contrast to Apple's iPhones, the battery on the
Pre is user-replaceable. Thanks Palm!
The back of the phone and speaker.
The speaker in the Pre is substantially better
than the one in the iPhone.
Palm didn't skimp on antennas. They're exposed
for all to see as soon as you remove the back
panel.
The antenna design is three dimensional to
optimize signal quality. The iPhone's antennas
also use this technique.
The small sticker labeled palm visible in the
third image is probably there to prevent people
from doing what we're about to do...
Removing one of the six T5 screws required to
seperate the backplate from the phone.
The screw in the upper right corner is coveredby a sticker labeled "Palm."
There are interlocking tabs securing the
backplate.
Carefully work around the phone releasing the
tabs as you go.
We found two antennas.
One was labeled GPS (its obvious what its for)
and the other one was labeled DIV (fordiversity
antenna - thanks microbreak!).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_diversityhttp://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Antennas/Theory/http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#comment8/3/2019 Palm Pre Teardown - Ifixit
4/10
Step 13
Step 14
Step 15
Step 16
The two volume buttons are still connected to
the front half of the phone. Completely
separating the two halves requires first removing
the plastic volume button cover, then peeling up
the volume button electronics.
The back frame seperated from the rest of the
phone.
Two connectors need to be disconnected in
order to remove the black PCB.
The PCB is glued to the rest of the Pre. A gentle
pry with the spudger separates the two.
Removing the keyboard bezel.
The hardware keyboard and its associated
sliding mechanism weighs 32 grams. That's
nearly 25% of the weight of the phone! Even if
you're not a fan of a hardware keyboard, there's
no denying that packing the keyboard into a
device that's not much larger or heavier than the
iPhone is a very impressive engineering feat.
The Palm Pre is the first phone using Texas
Instrument's new OMAP3 (Open Media
Applications Processor) platform.
The processor is a 600 MHz ARM Cortex A8 +
PowerVR SGX 530 GPU + 430MHz C64x+ DSP
+ ISP (Image Signal Processor)
The chip covered by a white sticker on the LCD
is CP6944BA 0907 A 04 KOR 604022.
We found a water damage sensor on the logic
board, just below the Micro USB port, indicated
by the red box on the second image.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Instruments_OMAPhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#comment8/3/2019 Palm Pre Teardown - Ifixit
5/10
Step 17
Step 18
Step 19
Step 20
Step 21
Removing four more small connectors, and the
main logic board is finally free.
Like the original iPhone, the Pre has two main
boards, the logic board and the communications
board.
Unfortunately, everything interesting is carefully
hidden beneath metal EMI shields. Not only are
the shields soldered to the board, there's epoxy
holding them down as well. Palm definitely didn't
make it easy to see what makes the Pre tick.
Finally, prying the logic board out.
The Pre is definitely not an easy
phone to service. There are lots of
fragile and tricky tabs that will make
putting the phone back together challenging.
We wish manufacturers would put more effort
into making their devices easily repairable.
This is an incredibly thin, flexible PCB.
The Pre has an integrated 3 megapixel digital
camera with LED flash.
The camera is one of our biggest complaints
with the iPhone. The iPhone suffers from both
poor quality photos and a long shutter delay.
While the quality is definitely improved on the
Pre, it's still pretty slow snapping photos.
You can see the standard phone vibrator next to
the camera.
Internal components, from left to right:
Earpiece speaker, LCD display and digitizer,
microphone, communications board.
Original rear panel and plastic framework.
Battery, internal metal framework and spring
mechanism, keyboard.
Camera board and main circuit board.
Main plastic framework containing antennas,
antenna cabling, and the surprisingly
excellent speakerphone.
Communications board with high-resolution
shots of the front and back.
Samsung K5D1257ACC-D090
Qualcomm MSM6801A
AVAG0 FEM-7788
http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/dNPHEwnb2irEMbmhhttp://s2.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/GaQO4UrFyuFTCruNhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#comment8/3/2019 Palm Pre Teardown - Ifixit
6/10
Step 22
Step 23
Step 24
Step 25
0CEQ 86K H33F
The back of the display, complete with what
appears to be a manufacture date at the
beginning of January.
Unfortunately for repair, it doesn't look like the
LCD and digitizer are easy to separate.
Both the iPhone and the Pre sport a HVGA
display. However, the iPhone's display
measures 3.5" diagonally, while the Pre's is only
3.1"
A high resolution version of this image.
Logic board with shielding removed (high res).
Chip markings:
Texas Instruments TWL5030B 8CA28MWC
Marvell WiFi chip under the silver EMI cover,
marked W8686B12. Directly above it is the
CSR bluetooth chip. They're both on a
daughterboard soldered to the logic board.
Samsung SDRAM KMCMG0000M-B998
ELPIDA K2132C1PB-60-F 08510N060.
There is clearly another BGA chip
underneath this one, but we don't yet know
what it is.
Unbrandedchips: 3335A ADJ RNX, 89A8
850
The top of the board is labeled 888-3 94V0 1
309 - F3. The bottom of the board is bereft of
chips or markings, something Apple has never
done.
Component comparison between the iPhone
and the Palm Pre.
Hardware-wise, the Palm Pre is very impressive.
Our only hardware complaint was the physical
keyboard, although some people may
appreciate the hardware keyboard.
The Pre logic board is substantially smaller
than the iPhone logic board, which is very
impressive considering how renowned Apple's
engineers are for shrinking hardware footprints.
It's amazing the difference a year can make.
In general, this Palm hardware reminds us a lot
more of Apple's engineering style than any of
hardware we've taken apart by other
manufacturers (like Dell).
For more technical analysis, see the analysis
our partners over at PhoneWreck just posted of
the Pre.
Component diagram from phoneWreck's
detailed chip analysis.
http://www.phonewreck.com/2009/06/07/palm-pre-teardown-and-analysishttp://www.phonewreck.com/2009/06/07/palm-pre-teardown-and-analysis-review-coming-soon/http://s2.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/gOYCqydNCNKY2EPYhttp://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/3Pv5njUqZMZTvrDohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HVGAhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#commenthttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#comment8/3/2019 Palm Pre Teardown - Ifixit
7/10
Page 1 of 1
otes: Step 4
by rmonge Jun 6 2009 @ 4:24 PM
A real keyboard! If the touch screen and applications work anywhere near iPhone qualitythis makes the Pre a very good option for people who actually want to create lots of text
content on their mobile device.
by microbreak Jun 7 2009 @ 9:08 AM
Div stands for Diversity Antenna.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_div...
otes: Step 10
by c4rlob Jun 10 2009 @ 3:21 PM
If the speaker is on the back doesn't that make it more difficult to hear and more likely tobe covered by your hand? So in the end does the sound end up being worse in practicalusage? The iPhone speaker placement seems to make more sense acoustically.
by iceman10 Jun 16 2009 @ 11:10 AM
Does anyone have an idea of the manufacturer of the 3D antenna?
otes: Step 12
by Miphnik Jun 7 2009 @ 3:00 AM
"DIV" likely stands for "Diversity", a second antenna for the CDMA receiver that reducesthe impact of spatial variations in signal strength and thus increases the average datarate available. Pretty common in CDMA EVDO designs these days.
by nxthxn Jun 7 2009 @ 12:07 PM
Re: Step 15
"...there's no denying that packing the keyboard into a device that's no larger or heavierthan the iPhone is a very impressive engineering feat."
At 87% volume of the Pre, the iPhone also weighs 2 grams less.
If they hadn't packed the keyboard in, I'm sure your statement would be true, except forthe 'very impressive engineering feat' part.
by dculberson Jun 8 2009 @ 10:54 AM
Quote from nxthxn:
At 87% volume of the Pre, the iPhone also weighs 2 grams less.
If they hadn't packed the keyboard in, I'm sure your statement would betrue, except for the 'very impressive engineering feat' part.
Is two grams really enough for a human to notice the difference? It's within rounding error- if given in ounce units both would weigh 4.7 ounces.
otes: Step 19
by n8b Jun 7 2009 @ 12:55 PM
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8/10
iFixit Staff
iFixit Staff
Does the camera come off the board that has the phone vibrator without a solderingiron?
by emooretc Jun 7 2009 @ 1:22 PM
Quote from n8b:
Does the camera come off the board that has the phone vibratorwithout a soldering iron?
I have torn mine apart, and it does not appear to come off easily. It may even be difficult
with a soldering iron because of the extremely thin flexible pcb. That is why I asked ifthey had any ideas.
You may be able to snip the leads coming out of the camera module, but that would be apretty permanent solution I imagine.
by RolfB Jun 7 2009 @ 3:57 PM
Does anybody know what the copper coil does that is on the back panel? See photoabove (step 23) lower right corner.
by Kyle Wiens Jun 7 2009 @ 7:56 PM
Quote from n8b:
Does the camera come off the board that has the phone vibratorwithout a soldering iron?
No, the camera is surface mount soldered onto the board.
by Kyle Wiens Jun 7 2009 @ 7:57 PM
Quote from RolfB:
Does anybody know what the copper coil does that is on the backpanel? See photo above (step 23) lower right corner.
That copper coil on the back panel that comes with the Touchstone charging kit. We talkabout it in ourtouchstone teardown.
by n8b Jun 8 2009 @ 9:13 AM
Quote from emooretc:
You may be able to snip the leads coming out of the camera module,but that would be a pretty permanent solution I imagine.
Man that's too bad. The treo 700p was pretty easy to pull the camera on. Just pull a fewscrews and the camera just unplugged. I was wondering if that thing it was mounted toowas a board or a cable. I guess I'll have to stick with my treo for now and see how thenew iPhone looks. I've had a palm in my pocket ever since the 99 when the IIIe came
out.
by RolfB Jun 8 2009 @ 11:34 PM
Quote from kyle:
That copper coil on the back panel that comes with the Touchstonecharging kit. We talk about it in our touchstone teardown.
Thanks Kyle. when I saw the coil I thought of it but I wasn't sure. I just saw the latestBrink on TV and they mentioned it: the Pre's wireless charging. It's funny that electrictoothbrushes got that feature 10 years ago (though a little simpler) and we see it just nowappearing in a very obvious application. It looks like that all the engineers who wanted todo this "stuff" (keyboard, wireless charging...) at Apple (and weren't "allowed) went toPalm... It will be interesting to find out what these "big old boys" carriers and other old-
style companies (Nokia, Moto....) will come up with when they propose the new"standardized" charging solution for our cells. It should be wireless! Maybe Palm is goingto set some standards again (for a while). I hope the Pre will be doing well. We needcompetition. Otherwise the iPhone will just fade away with its next iteration...nothingmuch new this year as we found out today.
by motoman Jun 9 2009 @ 9:48 PM
Quote from RolfB:
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9/10
iFixit Staff
Does anybody know what the copper coil does that is on the backpanel? See photo above (step 23) lower right corner.
It is the inductive charger for the pre called the touchstone charger. The phone is held onto the touchstone by means of the four magnets around the coil. When in place,inductive charging occurs. In other words the phone gets charged without plugging incables.
otes: Step 20
by Sebastian Nov 3 2009 @ 11:19 AM
At my Pre the earphone piece is a bit loose. I can swipe it with my fingernail up and
down. Is this at other pre the same or is mine broken?
I mean the small silver bar above the screen on the front.
otes: Step 21
by blah Jun 7 2009 @ 2:30 AM
http://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/20...
by emooretc Jun 7 2009 @ 11:23 AM
Can you see anyway to remove the camera without damaging the rest of the phone.Those of us that aren't allowed to have cameras in our workplace would greatlyappreciate it. Thanks!
by cellularme Jun 7 2009 @ 11:31 AM
Well done for your teardown! Just wanted to point to an erroneous identification of thebluetooth chip. On your pics I can clearly see Marvell's 8686 WLAN chip. However it'snot a combo WLAN+Bluetooth chip as there is another chip right next to it that comesfrom CSR (you can read it on the packaging) and that's CSR's bluetooth SoC. Also the
chip underneath the Elpida DRAM die is Texas Instruments's OMAP 3 chip. The other TIchip next to it (TWLXX) is the power management unit that works with it. THx
by Kyle Wiens Jun 7 2009 @ 8:01 PM
Quote from cellularme:
Well done for your teardown! Just wanted to point to an erroneousidentification of the bluetooth chip
Fixed, thanks!
by StefRi Jun 16 2009 @ 4:15 AM
You have two major errors in the blockdiagram and the PCB info here:
The TriQuint Cellband PA-Duplexer in the new small 7x4mm package is completelymissing in your list and the block diagram! It is TriQuint part number TQM613026A. (Youcall it a "Duplexer" only, which is wrong.
http://www.triquint.com/docs/o/TQM613026...
The Avago PCS band part is a larger and older PA-Duplexer Module in 8x5mm packagecalled AFEM-7738 (not FEM-7788), see:
http://www.avagotech.com/docs/pl47pibsep...
otes: Step 23
by g2sb Jun 7 2009 @ 10:50 PM
The BGA chip under the ELPIDA memory package is almost certainly the TI OMAPprocessor.
by bsnguy Jun 16 2009 @ 3:43 PM
Quote from g2sb:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#c2301http://www.ifixit.com/User/89676/bsnguyhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#c2035http://www.ifixit.com/User/88545/g2sbhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#s4380http://www.avagotech.com/docs/pl47pibsep2008http://www.triquint.com/docs/o/TQM613026/tqm613026.pdfhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#c2282http://www.ifixit.com/User/89603/StefRihttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#c2033http://www.ifixit.com/User/2/Kyle+Wienshttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#c2020http://www.ifixit.com/User/88473/cellularmehttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#c2019http://www.ifixit.com/User/88472/emooretchttp://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2005/050504_rfr6500.htmlhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#c2008http://www.ifixit.com/User/88438/blahhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#s4377http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#c5844http://www.ifixit.com/User/109578/Sebastianhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#s4374http://www.ifixit.com/User/89676/bsnguyhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#replyhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#inappropriatehttp://www.ifixit.com/User/88545/g2sbhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#replyhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#inappropriatehttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#newNotehttp://www.ifixit.com/User/89603/StefRihttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#replyhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#inappropriatehttp://www.ifixit.com/User/2/Kyle+Wienshttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#replyhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#inappropriatehttp://www.ifixit.com/User/88473/cellularmehttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#replyhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#inappropriatehttp://www.ifixit.com/User/88472/emooretchttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#replyhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#inappropriatehttp://www.ifixit.com/User/88438/blahhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#replyhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#inappropriatehttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#newNotehttp://www.ifixit.com/User/109578/Sebastianhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#replyhttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#inappropriatehttp://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Palm-Pre-Teardown/809/1#newNotehttp://www.ifixit.com/User/88807/motoman8/3/2019 Palm Pre Teardown - Ifixit
10/10
The BGA chip under the ELPIDA memory package is almost certainlythe TI OMAP processor.
I doubt it. It's would not be that big... looks like a NAND memory chip to me.
by bsnguy Jun 16 2009 @ 3:46 PM
Quote from bsnguy:
I doubt it. It's would not be that big... looks like a NAND memory chipto me.
I just reread this and was confused... the unmarked chip looks like NAND memory. TheCPU is probably hidden under the ELPIDA chip as noted. Sorry for the confusion.
otes: Step 24
by telmon Jun 7 2009 @ 12:39 PM
also if you didnt notice there is no offset from the slide upper to the top of the first row ofkeys of the QWERTY is pretty much zero. This is a very bad design as it gives no roomfor your finger to press that row....can get awkward.
by telmon Jun 7 2009 @ 12:48 PM
also, could you please post a teardown of the keypad itslef:
-what is the backlight method (side fire LED w/ light guide, or EL)
-is the keypad a single film or singulated
-are the actuators pucks on the EL or the keypad film/keycaps
-how many dimples do the popples have (i assume 3-4)....do you know the actuationforce?
-how is the keypad tactility?
-how do you find the backlighting brightness?
by rheide Jul 13 2009 @ 12:15 PM
Is that an AT&T 3G SIM Card in the picture? Looks exactly like one. (white with a littleorange on the left side and blue on the right side)
by rheide Jul 13 2009 @ 12:16 PM
Quote from rheide:
just realized it was a comparison - I feel dumb :-)
by Jonny Jul 27 2009 @ 6:18 PM
Could you tell me the dimensions of the camera module?
xit:
ture:
nks:
licy:
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