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We took out the main board, and the teardown of the PS Vita was coming to an end. At this point, we started to break down the backside capacitive touch sensor. The PS Vita is the first consumer machine that is equipped with such a touch sensor. It seemed that the sensor was attached to the back half of the PS Vita's case and difficult to be removed.

We stopped work for about 40 minutes before the squad member came back with a "T2-type" star-shaped screwdriver.

Thus far, the PS Vita had been torn down only by Nikkei Electronics Teardown Squad. But, at this point, some engineers joined us as helpers.

In the front half of the PS Vita's case, there were three moderately-large printed circuit boards (PCBs). One of them was the main board that was equipped with an application processor, etc and located in the center of the case. And the other two PCBs, which seemed to be mounted with a keypad, etc, were located to the right and left of the main board.

We split the case of the PS Vita in two and decided to examine the back half of the case first, leaving the front half containing the main board for later use. It seemed that the back half contains not only a backside touch panel but also an antenna, lithium-ion (Li-ion) rechargeable battery and speaker.

Nikkei Electronics Teardown Squad started to break down the "PlayStation Vita" (PS Vita), a portable game console that Sony Computer Entertainment Inc released Dec 17, 2011.

Sony Corp exhibited a bio battery that generates electricity by using paper as fuel at Eco-Products 2011, a trade show focused on green technologies, which runs from Dec 15 to 17, 2011, in Tokyo.

Yano Research Institute Ltd conducted a research on the global market for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries (LIBs).

Sharp Corp exhibited a prototype of a residential electric storage unit using a lithium-ion (Li-ion) rechargeable battery at Eco-Products 2011, a trade show that runs from Dec 15 to 17, 2011, in Tokyo.

Fujifilm Holdings Corp will acquire the US-based SonoSite Inc, a major company in the field of portable ultrasonic diagnostic devices.

Denso Corp will release an automotive seat cushion that circulates air in hot weather and generates heat in cold weather in early January 2012.

Renesas Electronics Corp announced Dec 14, 2011, that it has developed a technology for mounting flash memory manufactured by using 40nm process technology on a microcomputer.

Toshiba Corp developed the "Portable Gamma Camera," which enables to easily find so-called "radiation hotspots."

Lithium Energy Japan Co Ltd (LEJ) announced that it will start the second-phase construction of its Ritto Plant Dec 15, 2011.

Teijin Ltd and General Motors Corp (GM) announced Dec 9, 2011, that they will collaborate to apply Teijin's CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) using thermoplastic resin to GM's production vehicle.

Suzuki Motor Corp announced Dec 9, 2011, that it will release the "e-Let's" electric scooter (motorized bicycle) equipped with a detachable battery Jan 9, 2012, in Japan.

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd developed an elemental technology to advance the manufacturing process for spin-transfer-torque MRAM (STT-MRAM) beyond 20nm generation.

Kowa tmsuk Co Ltd exhibited one- and two-seater compact electric vehicles (EVs) at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show 2011, which opens for the public from Dec 3 to 11, 2011, in Tokyo.

Denso Corp developed a service that enables to operate a smartphone application on the screen of a car navigation system.

Nihon Dengyo Kosaku Co Ltd (Dengyo) developed a new product in the "Microwave Regenerative Converter" series of 2.4GHz-band rectennas.