RapidRepair
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TUAW TV Live at 5 PM ET with a special guest (no, it's not an iPad)
About three weeks ago, I had the opportunity to chat with Aaron Vronko, the service manager at RapidRepair in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The topic? What we thought would be the technical underpinnings of an Apple tablet. That chat turned into a post with a lot of prognosticating about the hardware that would make up the device. Now that the curtain has been pulled back and we know a lot more about the Apple iPad, Aaron will be joining me this afternoon to talk about what we know about the actual iPad hardware. You can join us and ask Aaron your questions through the Ustream chat tool when we get together for another TUAW TV Live. The fun starts just a little before 5 PM ET here at TUAW. See you then!
Steve Sande02.03.2010
Talking tablets with Aaron Vronko of RapidRepair
As the clock ticks slowly towards the introduction of the Apple tablet, a lot of people are speculating on what the device design will be like. TUAW recently spent some time interviewing Aaron Vronko, Service Manager for RapidRepair. RapidRepair, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, has repaired and provided parts for all sorts of electronic gadgetry over the last six years, but Apple iPhones and iPods make up the bulk of their business. As an expert in the technology used in Apple's products, Vronko has gleaned information from various sources -- including component suppliers, industry trends, and just plain rumors -- and has come up with his best estimate of what we'll see in an Apple tablet. What will it be used for, and what kind of OS will it run? Aaron's comments in this area mirrored my personal thoughts about the tablet. "It just doesn't make sense as a 'larger iPhone'," said Vronko. "Considering the size and the expense of the device, the tablet will need to converge towards light productivity functions and replace a netbook or compact laptop. To do this, the device must be able to run Office-type apps that are accessed in a meaningful way, and the only way a tablet can do this is through easy user input. People buy solutions, not devices, and the tablet is going to have to fulfill a need that the target market has." Aaron continued, saying "User input will have to be the biggest surprise from Apple. Perhaps we'll see 3D gestures for more useful input, or some sort of split on-screen touch keyboard. The virtual keyboard was the real innovation of the iPhone; the tablet needs to bring this to the next level."
Steve Sande01.16.2010
Amazon Kindle DX gets torn apart, examined
Just as soon as we finally get our hands on a new unit to test out, the boys over at Rapir Repair are racing to rip one apart. And that's just what they've done here with the Amazon Kindle DX. Inside it's got the requisite boards, wires, tape and cat hairs (just kidding), plus an E727NV WN2 wireless card, memory, CPU and Epson E-ink panel controller. It's actually pretty sparse and clean inside of there -- we'd expect nothing less! Hit the read link for the full, glorious disassembling (though there is one more shot after the break).
Laura June Dziuban06.11.2009