The new IMT will integrate voice capabilities to deliver robust, powerful mobile phone tablets addressing both entertainment and communications needs
DALLAS and IGNY, France, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Providing new ways for consumers to access feature-rich content and connect with others, ARCHOS, an award-winning technology innovator and leader in the portable media player market, announced plans to extend its product line with a new ultra-thin Internet Media Tablet (IMT) combined with a mobile phone, by merging Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s Android telephony stack and the ARCHOS’ multimedia framework. This new IMT will also incorporate the OMAP(TM) 3 platform from Texas Instruments, Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN).
Android provides the IMT with all the functionalities of a premium smartphone and access to its fast-developing applications environment with ARCHOS’ rich and proven multimedia framework will deliver the best entertainment and web-browsing experience.
With the integration of voice, ARCHOS is looking to expand beyond portable media players to provide solutions for the converged space, where a foundation in high-quality video content delivery is a benefit. In addition to Android functionality and voice support, the new ARCHOS’ IMT will offer:
- PC-like Internet experience enhanced by a high-resolution 5″ screen and full-width page viewing
- Adobe Flash(TM) and Flash Video(TM) support, full screen
- Access whenever and wherever to TV, movies, photos, music and games
- Uncompromised TV recording and High Definition (HD) playback, all formats
- Hundreds of hours of video storage, up to 500 GB
- Innovative design: compact 10-mm ultra-thin tablet
- Long battery life, 7 hours’ video playback
- 3.5G 7.2 Mb/s HSUPA
- Laptop-like performance from the first implementation of OMAP3440 processor based on the ARM(R) Cortex(TM) superscalar microprocessor and DSP
ARCHOS selected TI’s OMAP 3 applications processor, connectivity and analog products not only for offering low-power, high performance solutions, but to leverage the company’s experience in developing compelling, highly-competitive products based on the Android telephony platform. The level of software investment made by TI on the Android platform allows ARCHOS to quickly and cost effectively deliver an Android-based device that supports advanced features such as the newly integrated voice capabilities.
“ARCHOS was proud to announce the introduction of its ARCHOS 5 HSDPA IMT last year with SFR. We are continuing to advance our efforts in the IMT space with the introduction of this new product,” said Henri Crohas, CEO and ARCHOS founder. “Support for an Android-based device represents a historical opportunity for ARCHOS to combine all the best of our IMTs with a phone in a single device delivering high quality video and a full web experience in true mobility.”
“TI remains committed to helping ARCHOS advance its product line and deliver a new class of devices that builds on a history of delivering rich multimedia experiences,” said Remi El-Ouazzane, vice president and general manager for TI’s OMAP platform business unit. “The OMAP 3 platform, with its support for the Android OS, is a powerful tool to support HD video, high quality multimedia and connectivity anytime and anywhere. ARCHOS’ use of TI technologies, including connectivity and analog solutions, helps to push the boundaries with new products and as we see today, new business models, to be a leading innovator with its new IMTs.”
ARCHOS is marrying its rich digital media history with voice functionality to tackle new markets. ARCHOS’ new Android-based IMT with voice functionality will be released in 3Q 2009.
About ARCHOS
ARCHOS released the first pocket-sized HD-based MP3 player with the Jukebox 6000 in 2000 and since that time has revolutionised consumer electronics devices. The company invented the portable media player in 2003 and was the first to bring television recording, wireless and touch screens to Portable Media Players.
ARCHOS have also introduced the Internet Media Tablet range – the 5, 5g and 7 – offering users instant, uncompromising access to the internet, media content and TV.
Established in 1988, ARCHOS has offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. ARCHOS is listed on Euronext Paris, Compartment B, ISIN Code FR0000182479. www.archos.com.
About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through manufacturing, design and sales operations in more than 25 countries. For more information, go to www.ti.com.
Trademarks
OMAP is a trademark of Texas Instruments Inc. All other registered trademarks and trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Archos has announced that they will be bringing a new, Android-powered Internet Media Tablet to MWC. The “new ultra-thin Internet Media Tablet (IMT)” expands Archos’s multimedia player lineup with a web-surfing, media-playing tablet that doubles as a mobile phone. The new Archos Internet Media Tablet will apparently sport an impressively thin 10mm profile that packs in a 5-inch touchscreen display, up to 500GB of storage, 7 hours of continuous video playback, support for HD video playback, and a 3G (HSDPA) data connection allowing for speedy full-screen web-surfing with Flash support.
Hi I got my Archos 5, 4.8” screen 60 GB hard drive, just a month ago, from Best Buy, Canada. Mainly it was OK for the month and a half that I used it. Average day usage was 3-4 hours to watch the internet news, movies and read Pdf files with documentation and listen music. It looks that movies quality is pretty good screen is bright and clean, resolution is good as well and that you can see the normal format DIV X or Mpeg4 movies. On one charge for the brand new batteries It worked for four hours that was not bad you may watch 1.5 – 2 movies, brightness set to medium. When you read Pdf documents I faced with next problems: Archos work just the same hours as it do with the movies 3-4 hours, change of the pages takes for a while like a 5-10 seconds, option for zoom is not operates well: the font sizes some times are two small to read, and it is not support all the fonts as well (Cyrillic for instance). Another problem with the reading is the blinking screen, not only the reflection but the change of brightness during operation. Unfortunately all those problems do not permit to enjoy the quality of the reading. When you work with the Internet It is very hard to press the proper links using only finger and it do not have bigger zooming to get proper screen knob size. When you work with Google map that is something horrible it is so hard to get proper map size, in comparison with my son’s I pod-tuch that I even dropped all attempt to do this after second attempt. With this kind of big screen they could give you mach more possibilities and simplicity then it really have. It is strange but the resolution for YouTube looks mach better on Ipod-tuch then on Archos. Sound quality and strength, loudness from the speaker is much worse then from Ipod-tuch as well, even when you using it with the headphones the quality is not very good.
Another issue is the customer support and warranty. The screen of this thing is very sensitive to the different kind of pressures and touches. I would recommend to use at least with screen protection because as soon as I moved my finger along it, I had a small piece of dry scab on my finger, and this small thing left the scratch on the screen. Do remember that this very sensitive SCREEN is NOT COVERED BY THE ARCHOS WARRANTY AT ALL! And the REPARE OF THIS SCREEN WILL COST YOU around 150 USD plus shipment cost to the nearest office, check where it have to be shipped, because for me it was USA, Illinois. MY SCREEN BECOMES BROKEN WITHOUT ANY EXESSIVE PRESSURE AND DROPPING IN A MONTH AND HALF, I used it very carefully: always put my Archos in the Archos case that I purchased together with the device.
In they web site they specify that they are not accepted any RMS’s from any countries except from the USA then they Warranty getting even more miracle.
Customer support looks to me kind of strange as well because during a week they could not send me by E-mail the information where I have to send my device for repair and I waited for an hour and a half to get this information from ARCHOS representative by phone.
For this device I paid 250 + 30 for case + taxes (around 316 CAN) and I used it for 1 month and a half, after they asked me to pay extra 150 for screen repair. I think I will never buy one from ARCHOS again.