© ifixit
Teardowns | December 30, 2014
See inside Amazon's tabletop Siri, the Echo
It lives in your home. It's always listening. It's the Amazon Echo, a voice-controlled smart speaker, and it's the closest device yet to the computer in Star Trek.
The Echo's auditory assistant, called Alexa, seems more responsive than Siri—and it's about on par with recent Apple fare on the repair front, too. But the Echo's tricky construction makes disassembly a tad difficult without a manual, so the Amazon Echo earned itself a reasonable 7 out of 10 for repair.
Teardown Highlights: At 9.75" x 3.27", the Amazon Echo stands just a bit bigger than a couple cans of soup. Amazon sealed the Echo up tight, with nary a fastener in sight. But peeling up the foot reveals four impressively long T10 screws holding the bottom stage of the Echo rocket in place. The heavy duty woofer has an even heftier magnet than its tweeting twin. Amazon promises "deep bass response," thanks to this woofer and some funneling by the reflex port. The reflex port boosts the bass while minimizing distortion. Its strange shape takes full advantage of the limited space inside the Echo while allowing Alexa to yell at you from across the room. Now for the fun part! The volume dial contains the user-interactive bits: The top portion spins freely, using a greased-up gear to turn an encoder. The Echo uses a gearing system and encoder to track motion of the outer wheel, whereas the Nest Thermostat uses an optical sensor to watch the outer ring spin by. Around the edge of the wheel, we find the microphones responsible for hearing your commands (six on the perimeter, plus one in the center of the board), and LEDs used to indicate Alexa's acknowledgement.
Chips on the Echo boards:
- Texas Instruments DM3725CUS100 Digital Media Processor
- Samsung K4X2G323PD-8GD8 256 MB LPDDR1 RAM
- Texas Instruments TPA3110D2 15W Filter-Free Class D Stereo Amplifier
- Texas Instruments TPS53312
- Texas Instruments TLV320DAC3203
- SanDisk SDIN7DP2-4G 4 GB iNAND Ultra Flash Memory
- Qualcomm Atheros QCA6234X-AM2D Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Module
- Texas Instruments TPS65910A1 Integrated Power Management IC
- Texas Instruments LP55231 Programmable 9-Output LED Driver
- Texas Instruments TLV320ADC3101 92dB SNR Low-Power Stereo ADC
- Texas Instruments SN74LVC74A Dual Positive-Edge-Triggered D-Type Flip-Flops
- S1053 0090 V6 Microphone
500 jobs lost as Molex decides to close facility
Component manufacturer Molex, has announced that it will shut down production and close its Shannon, Ireland, a decision that will affect about 500 employees.
NTU Singapore and GF to explore next-gen memory technology
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and GlobalFoundries will jointly be exploring the next-generation of embedded memory for smart systems.
EU Commission clears Infineon's acquisition of Cypress
The European Commission has, under the EU Merger Regulation, approved the acquisition of US-based Cypress Semiconductor by German semiconductor company Infineon Technologies.
Sponsored content by Sourceability NA LLC
Component Aggregators vs E-Commerce Marketplaces
What is the difference between electronic component aggregators and a marketplace? 67% of a buyer’s journey is now done digitally. Learn how marketplaces emerged as full-cycle procurement platforms and challenged the traditional component aggregators.
Ad
GLOBALFOUNDRIES buys Smartcom’s PDK team
GLOBALFOUNDRIES has acquired the process design kit (PDK) engineering team from Smartcom Bulgaria AD to enhance GF’s scale and capabilities.
New head of Zeiss Research Microscopy Solutions
Effective 1 October 2019, Dr. Michael Albiez became Head of the Research Microscopy Solutions strategic business unit (RMS SBU) at Zeiss and, with this appointment, a member of the management team for the Zeiss Industrial Quality & Research (IQR) segment. He has also been appointed Managing Director of Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH.
ams is not backing down – launches new offer for Osram
The Austrian sensor manufacturer says that it intends to launch a new all-cash takeover offer for Osram Licht for EUR 41.00 per share.
Sivers IMA and NXP collaborate on 5G
NXP Semiconductors and Sivers IMA Holding AB announces a collaboration to deliver a state-of-the-art solution for 5G-NR (New Radio), such as gigabit Fixed Wireless Access applications.
LEMO opens new facility in the Netherlands
To support the unprecedented growth of its Benelux business, LEMO has invested in a new, purpose-built, hi-tech and eco-friendly facility near Amsterdam.
Wafer capacity by feature size shows rapid growth at <10nm
Leading-edge processes (<28nm) took over as the largest portion in terms of monthly installed capacity available in 2015. By the end of 2019, <28nm capacity is forecast to represent about 49 percent of the IC industry’s total capacity.
Elatec USA appoints Paul Massey as CEO
Elatec USA Inc., developer and manufacturer of RFID products, has named Paul K. Massey as Chief Executive Officer. In this newly created position, Massey will report to the Elatec Board of Directors and Managing Director Stefan Haertel.
Data Respons reports on record high quarterly results
Data Respons presented figures for Q3 showing both solid revenue growth and a good margin increase. The company reports 35 percent growth in operating income and 68 percent growth in the operating profit, reaching an EBITA margin of 12.1 percent in the third quarter.
EC imposes interim measures on Broadcom
The European Commission has ordered Broadcom to stop applying certain provisions contained in agreements with six of its main customers. This will "prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition likely to be caused by Broadcom's conduct, which prima facie (at first sight) infringes EU competition rules".
Specialisation kept Universal Robots agile through the years
Universal Robots, the Danish robotics company that many analysts credit with both creating and taking over the collaborative robot space.
2Q/2019: Memory business is approaching bottom
“Combined DRAM and NAND revenue was USD 25.4 billion in 2Q/2019, down 5% from Q1 and down 39% year-over-year as sluggish demand and elevated inventory levels continued to plague the memory markets”, says Simone Bertolazzi, Memory Technology & Market Analyst at Yole Développement.
Tridonic supplies new Beijing airport with light-on-demand
Tridonic supplies the new mega airport Beijing Daxing International Airport with drivers, intelligent lighting control and light-on-demand with daylight tracking.
Infineon-radar technology in Google Pixel 4 Smartphone
Whether for artificial intelligence, augmented reality or the Internet of Things – 5 billion people worldwide 1 will be using smart devices to sense their environment next year.
NVIDIA leads way but competition is intensifying
Diversity is the name of the game when it comes to the edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) chipset industry. In 2019, the AI industry is witnessing the continual migration of AI workloads, particularly AI inference, to edge devices, including on-premise servers, gateways, and end-devices and sensors.
Nidec continues Polish investment
Nidec Motors & Actuators continues to expand in Poland and decided to invest a further PLN 165.2 million (EUR 3.8 million) in Kraków's special economic zone in Niepołomic.
Phoenix Contact builds R&D centre in Skolkovo
German electronics company Phoenix Contact is building a regional development and competence centre in Moscow's high-tech cluster Skolkovo.
Elektrobit opens software lab in Berlin
Kickstarts the new office by signing a collaboration agreement with Daimler subsidiary MBition.
Smiths Detection scanners keep laptops and liquids in the bag
Recent implementation of Smiths Detection’s checkpoint scanners at Melbourne Airport pave way for reduction of passenger journey time by 50 percent.
Murata develops Millimeter-Wave RF Module for Terragraph
Murata Manufacturing is working to develop an RF module solution for Terragraph, a gigabit wireless technology developed by Facebook. The module solution aims at meeting the growing demand for reliable, high-speed internet access in urban and suburban environments.
Ynvisible Interactive enters manufacturing agreement with Invisense
Ynvisible Interactive has entered into a partnership with Invisense AB, a developer of passive humidity sensors. The agreement between the companies establishes Ynvisible as the preferred manufacturing partner for Invisense’s growing range of humidity sensor products.
Load more news
