Archos has been a player in the PMP market for a few centuries now (a rough estimate, anyway), and to say that the universe was jazzed at the mere thought of a 7-inch tablet for under $200 would be understating things dramatically. We found more things wrong with the Archos 7 Home Tablet than we could've ever imagined going in, but still, for under two C-notes, we have to believe that a few of you flipped on the blinders and made the purchase anyway. For those in that camp, we're interesting to find how you feel about it now. Is the size right? Is the OS as impressive as you thought it would be? Are you longing for a larger display? Imagine you had the keys to Archos' design lab and had the power to overhaul this bad boy, then have a sip of your favorite fruit juice and drop your thoughts in comments below. In that order, por favor.

How would you change the Archos 7 Home Tablet? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 22:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Speedy browser aside, the Archos 5 Internet Tablet started as the runt of the Android litter, but the ugly duckling is headed towards swanhood -- while officially, it's still stuck with Android 1.6, the tablet's French manufacturer has just transformed the media machine into what looks like a stellar Android game system as well. Archos' 2.0.15 update gives the Archos 5 support for OpenGL, letting it run games like Speed Forge 3D and Racing Thunder at a fantastic clip. Best of all, you won't have to wait two shakes to test it out for yourself; there's a 89MB download with your name on it at our source link. Video after the break.

[Thanks, Tom]

Continue reading Archos 5 Internet Tablet gets game-changing OpenGL support in 2.0.15 update (video)

Archos 5 Internet Tablet gets game-changing OpenGL support in 2.0.15 update (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Get a load of that bezel. With chunk like that we can only be looking at the Archos 8 Home tablet, a device that just lumbered its way through the FCC in a rather unflattering (even for the FCC) photo spread. Archos calls its Model 7800 an Android MID throughout the government docs, but given the bezel-to-display ratio we're guessing it'll pull primary duty as a $199 picture frame with the ability to track down the occasional recipe over WiFi. Other details include the same plodding Rockchip RK2808 SoC found in the Archos 7 Home Tablet and a HSD070IDW1 resistive touchscreen display from Hannstar with 800x480 pixel resolution, 25ms response, 500:1 contrast, 200/300 nits brightness, and poor 140-degree left-right and 110-degree up-down viewing angles -- easy to see where Archos cut out the cost, eh? Oh, and get this, Hannstar says that its display is 7-inches, not 8-inches as Archos claims. Either Archos made a mistake in its FCC submission or the company is hoping to mask reality in that big bezel.

Continue reading Archos 8 Home Tablet just a 7-inch display according to FCC docs

Archos 8 Home Tablet just a 7-inch display according to FCC docs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 May 2010 01:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What can you do when no one's got a phone to jam with you? Why, you can be a geeky one-man band, of course! Web developer Steffest (just one name, like Sting or Madonna) managed to do just that by strapping a couple of Android devices (possibly an Archos 5 and a HTC Desire), a couple of WinMo handhelds (looks like a HP iPAQ h1940 and a HTC Touch Diamond), and an iPod touch on top of a portable speaker. All this just for a forthcoming presentation on mobile cross development -- Steffest had to painstakingly write the same audio program "in Java for Android, in C# for Windows Mobile and in Objective-C for iPhone." Oh, and it doesn't just end there -- turns out this dude can also pluck tap away a good Neil Diamond classic on this five-way nerd-o-strummer. Get on board and check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Phone guitar: iPhone OS, Windows Mobile and Android got all night to set the world right (video)

Phone guitar: iPhone OS, Windows Mobile and Android got all night to set the world right (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 May 2010 04:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos Vision 3 with VGA cam arriving this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 22:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's been a few months since we last heard of Archos's supposed new player lineup, as all the talk lately has been tablet-this and tablet-that, but we finally have some video of a new Vision device, the A43VB. Somewhat tragically, though, it apparently is not a real Archos device at all, rather a re-branded discount media player given the Archos silkscreen and a UI refresh. The good news is this means a low cost -- just €99 (or $135) -- for this 8GB model with a 4.3-inch screen and microSD expansion, but the bad news is that the result is slightly janky. The plastic looks rough and the UI far from intuitive, leaving our friendly video guide below to decry "I cannot exit the cats." That said, this is not a final device we're looking at here, so with any luck things will be a bit cleaned up inside and out before retail. Just don't go hoping for a surprise infusion of Android before then.

Continue reading Archos's budget Vision A43VB PMP caught on camera making kittens sad (video)

Archos's budget Vision A43VB PMP caught on camera making kittens sad (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos Phone Tablet shelved due to lack of carrier support? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos said to have two new Android tablets on track for CeBIT originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos hasn't seemed to secure much love for its latest, the Archos 9 tablet, so maybe it's going back to what it does best for its next suite of products: a quintet of mostly straightforward players along with a titillating new flavor of the Archos 7. First is the simple and cheap Archos Key, a €20 device with 4GB of storage and microSD expansion. Then there's the Archos Vision Slim, a slenderized and button-free version of the original Vision, again packing just 4GB of storage but going for €40 this time. Next is the Archos Yamaha Vision 2, with an internal amp from Yamaha, integrated stereo speakers, and undisclosed storage quantity and price. Next we have the Archos 4 Vision, a 4.3-inch touchscreen model with TV output, microSD expansion, and what was previously understood to be 16 and 32GB of storage. Finally, perhaps the most interesting, is the Archos 3 Vision Camera, an 8GB player with an integrated camera that could make this into a Flip-replacing media player -- depending on the quality of the video, naturally. Oh, and did we forget to mention the purported Archos 7 with Android? It's worth restating. All are decidedly rendery looking and naturally this is all unconfirmed, but golly don't they look pretty.

Six supposed new Archos models rendered for your speculative enjoyment originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, Henri Crohas, you tease. In an interview with French site L'Expansion, the Archos CEO made reference to fate of the Archos phone tablet, saying that the company has built a device with strong multimedia capabilities... but it's not gonna see the light of day without the support at least two major operators.Sad to hear, as the proposed specs -- Android OS, 4.3-inch touchscreen, 1GHz ARM processor, 3.5G bands, 10mm titanium casing, and a possible front-facing camera -- were mighty intriguing. In the meantime, keep dreaming of that Android-powered HTC HD2, k?

Archos phone tablet in limbo, awaiting 'at least two major operators' to sign up originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since it's not a phone and transgresses in all sorts of other Google-pleasing areas, the Archos 5 Internet Tablet hasn't had a full shot at Android thus far, being relegated to merely the open source aspects of the OS. However, with phones like the Droid out and about and making high-resolution compatibility a must for Android developers, not to mention some diligent work from the hacking community, there are now downloadable versions of Android Market, Gmail, Maps and some other Google-specific Android goodies for the Archos 5. Use them at your own risk, of course, but it's not like the Archos 5 is a testament to stability in its current incarnation anyway.

Archos 5 gets Android Market, Gmail and Maps for that Google-blessed experience originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Archos releases developer edition firmware for Internet Tablets

Archos releases developer edition firmware for Internet Tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, we just caught sight of it in all its dissected glory courtesy of the FCC last week, but it looks like the Archos 9 tablet / media player may not be quite so close to a release after all. According to UMPC Portal, Archos now says that the initial batch of pre-orders won't start shipping until "early December" -- well past the already-missed October 22nd launch date -- while the retail release has been pushed back all the way until sometime in the first quarter of 2010. Let's just hope the price doesn't keep going up in the meantime.

Archos 9 pre-orders reportedly delayed until December, retail release pushed to 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like the wait for a real HD PMP is finally over: Hallods of Japan has just released their F43 MP4 player featuring a 4.3-inch 1280x720 screen, easily beating other sub-5-inch, 480p screens found on big names like the Archos 5 and Viewsonic's VPD400. Under that sharp screen is 8GB of internal storage and a hot-swappable microSD slot, along with a battery life of about four hours and ten hours for video and music, respectively. Like many PMPs out there the F43 supports videos encoded in MPEG4, FLV, RMVB and DivX-WVGA. Sure, there's the ironic lack of HDMI output, but for ¥16,800 ($188) this is still a pretty good deal. Let's just hope Hallods will send them over to the US soon.

[Via i4u]

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Video

Hallods F43 MP4 player packs a 4.3-inch 720p screen, outed in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos has been on a real PMP tear as of late, releasing the Archos 2 Vision, 3 Vision, and the Clipper all in one pop back in August. The company's now launched yet another Vision model, the entry-level 1 Vision. This tiny little 4GB dude has a 1.5-inch LCD and supposedly gets about 20 hours of battery life per charge. No video support in this puppy, but the €30 (somewhere in the realm of $45) pricetag should temper some of your crushing disappointment over its lack of features. The Archos 1 Vision should be available in Europe by the end of November.

[Via PMP Today]

Super cheap Archos 1 Vision DMP set for release this month originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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