The latest Tamagotchi has arrived, so I thought I would take it apart and see what’s inside.
A lot looks the same. The board has the same IR transmitter and receiver and SRAM as the previous version. There are a few more transistor/diode ICs and no visible debug pads.
Unfortunately, the microcontroller is still covered in epoxy. I tried to scrape it off (with heat) and dissolve it with acetone, neither of which worked.
A cool new feature of the Tamago is that you can put plastic characters on top to unlock certain games.
The contacts look like the contacts of a smartcard reader, but the tiny PCB inside the character is quite simple.
Using a multimeter, this appeared to act as just a jumper (although the copper makes it seem as if it is more complex). Definitely an area to look into
And the contacts on the other side are shaped like hearts. How can you not like that?