Teardown of the Sony Tablet S uncovers some clever industrial design and new chippery

The teardown answered why the Sony Tablet S feels so sturdy compared to some other Android tablets - besides the quality plastic used, there is an additional frame inside for added rigidity, which wraps up all elements, and has to be removed before any attempts to reach the battery are undertook. The battery itself turned out user-replaceable, and the tablet introduced a few chips that are not common for Android slates.

Sony's engineers have integrated the Tegra 2 silicon inside other elements on the motherboard, thus saving up space, and have also included IR remote control chippery, plus an advanced Audience earSmart A1026 Voice Processor, both something that is not often seen in other tablets.

Sony usually prides itself and executes fine on two fronts - design and audio quality, and the Tablet S seems to be no exception. Where it doesn't usually do well, though, is the price point, but the situation here is bearable - the 16GB Tablet S version goes for around $500, which is as much as the iPad 2.

source: Techrepublic