By applying 3.0 to 3.2 volts DC, (I used two "AA" batteries) it was found that the TFT screen would light to about a 1/2 grey shade.  All these little gold pads MAY be connectors for testing and programming the board after assembly.

These gold pads were chosen to connect a USB cable to check if direct access to the flash memory module could be established.  When connected, a Windows XP laptop reported an "unknown USB device".  Multiple attempts to load drivers failed, and really, Windows XP should not need any drivers to connect to a "mass storage device".  Trying a USB snooper from Parallel Technology, (http://www.usbfireinfo.com) with the wiring configuration outlined above showed little information except a manufacturer was reported as EMPIA Technology Inc.  A Google search located a WEB site, == EMPIA Technology Inc. == and notably they do produce interface chips for flash drives, but little else was gleaned from the information available on their site. 

There are other gold pads that are of interest, some located in or near the circled areas in the photograph above.  Next of interest will be the ones labeled R1, R2, R3 near the smaller circled area.  The system setup I put together to test requires wires be soldered onto the pads of interest and these wires are stuck into a breadboard.  The four leads from a USB cable are also stuck into the breadboard and the connections can rather easily be changed without too much soldering.  I hope this sparks some interest and others help with the testing.  It may be possible to recover fried cameras if we can find a way to directly access the flash memory.

Much thanks to Mr. Maushammer for the most excellent pictures which were the base for the edited photos above.  Interested folks should visit his site at Ritz Dakota Digital / Pure Digital PV2 Camera