The Archos GamePad which was made available in Europe at the beginning of last month, remains an elusive device for the US market as the French company has not mentioned a wee bit about it. Until now, that is, where a rough time frame for the US release of the Archos GamePad has been set at sometime in February 2013, and you will need to pony up $169 if you want to bring one of these puppies home. At $169 a pop, it would make it a rather affordable piece of hardware, but some folks might be tempted to go the way of the Amazon Kindle or even Asus’ most recent MeMO Pad announcement.
Basically, the Archos GamePad is a 7” Android 4.1 Jelly Bean-powered tablet that comes with a built-in gamepad wrapped all around, sporting a 1,024 x 600 resolution display, running on a dual-core 1.6GHz Cortex A9 processor with 8GB of internal memory, 1GB RAM, a front-facing camera, Wi-Fi connectivity and a G sensor. Just how well do you think the Archos GamePad will perform in the market?
Archos showcased their new GamePad gaming tablet at CES last week, and we even got our hands on the new device, but the company just announced yesterday the availability and pricing for the new tablet. Starting sometime in February, on-the-go gamers will be able to snatch up one of these for just $169.
What sets this tablet apart from other Android tablets is its 14 physical buttons on the sides, as well as dual-analog thumbsticks, and an exclusive button-mapping tool that allows users to enjoy games without relying on on-screen controls. That said, the GamePad still comes with a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 and support for 16 million colors.
Under the hood there’s a 1.6GHz dual-core processor working with a quad-core Mali-400 MP4 graphics chip that supports 3D games. The tablet also has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage capacity. If you need that bumped up specifically, the device comes with a built-in microSD card slot that can be used to add up to 32GB of extra storage space.
You also have a USB 2.0 port and a miniHDMI port for hooking up to an external monitor or HDTV. It comes with a front-facing camera, a built-in speaker, microphone and G-sensor, and has Android 4.1 Jelly Bean running inside. The Archos’s GamePad measures just 10mm thick and weighs 0.7 pounds — light and thin enough to throw in your backpack to take with you without causing any hassle.
The tablet landscape has changed greatly in a year’s time, at least if you gauge what we’ve seen on the CES show floor. The 2012 expo was led mostly by high-end Android tablets. This year, Windows 8 understandably garnered much more of the spotlight now that it’s available, while Google’s platform mostly surfaced in the budget category, where it was much more prevalent than before. Whatever the platform, we saw our fair share of experimentation — some companies weren’t happy with just a spec bump in a familiar form factor. Check past the break for some of the more daring (or at least well-executed) examples from CES 2013.
We’re used to CES being all about gadgets and technology in general, but this year, there were actually a surprising number of major gaming announcements. NVIDIA positioned itself front and center, leading the charge and talking about a number of new products and services that are bound to get any gamer bouncing up and down with glee. Perhaps the biggest reveal NVIDIA’s press conference held was the reveal of Project SHIELD, a new Android-based games console that’s packing the company’s latest mobile processor, the Tegra 4.
While that’s impressive enough, it gets even better: Project SHIELD won’t just play Android games, but is also capable of streaming games over Wi-Fi from a computer outfitted with a GeForce GPU. During our hands-on time with the device, we got to see it streaming Black Ops II to its 5-inch 720p screen, so there’s certainly plenty to look forward to with this new device. The streaming functionality makes a good segway to another major announcement from the company – NVIDIA GRID.
With NVIDIA GRID, we’re seeing NVIDIA enter the cloud gaming space, outfitting its server racks with enough GeForce GPUs to supposedly match the power of 700 Xbox 360s. A number of key players have failed or otherwise stalled out in the cloud gaming space, so it’ll be interesting to see if NVIDIA can excel. The company also gave us more details about GeForce Experience, which will do its best to optimize your graphics settings so that games run as good as they can on your rig.
Of course, the show wasn’t only about NVIDIA. The company made a lot of major gaming announcements – that much is true – but it had quite a bit of competition for gamers’ attention. Razer had its Project Fiona tablet on hand at the show, only now it’s been renamed the Razer Edge. Making use of Intel’s third-gen Core line of processors (with one configuration even sporting a Core i7) and an NVIDIA GT640M LE GPU, this tablet definitely has some stellar hardware. It will also have a number of accessories available separately, including a detachable controller dock, keyboard dock, 360-esque gamepad, and docking station that has all the ports you need to turn your Edge into a mini gaming desktop.
As you might imagine, we found during our hands-on time that playing games on the Razer Edge is a blast, and seeing triple-A retail titles like Dishonored running on it at excellent frame rates certainly was exciting. It seems safe to say that if the Edge catches on with gamers, then we can look forward to a whole new era in mobile gaming.
Archos was at the show, and though it had a number of different devices on display, one of the more intriguing products was its GamePad. The Archos GamePad is another tablet made specifically for gamers, though it comes with a far less expensive price tag than the Razer Edge. As one of the only Android tablets to provide physical face buttons, this makes the tablet a prime choice for people who like enjoy games but hate touchscreen controls. In our hands-on, we said that though you’ll have to map the physical controls for a fair number of Android games, the process seems pretty easy, and should keep the downtime between downloading and gaming short.
Right before Pepcom kicked off, we heard that Xi3 and Valve would be showing off a new product. Xi3 was there in force at Pepcom, showing off its brand new 7 series modular computer, and while we made a few guesses at what Valve would be using it for, in the end it turned out that we were wrong. It would appear that Valve has invested heavily in Xi3′s modular computer to offer set-top “Steam boxes,” meant for gaming and streaming content, so we’ll be keeping and eye on that.
Switching gears completely to move from hardware to peripherals, there were two companies in particular that were showing off new gaming mice. One was Genius, which let us get a little hands-on time in with its relatively new Gila mouse. The Gila comes with a number of accessibility options, letting users program any of the twelve buttons and featuring highly adjustable dpi settings.
Mad Catz is not one to be outdone, however, giving us a look at its new R.A.T.M and M.O.U.S.9 mice. If you’re a serious PC gamer, these mice seem to be aimed directly at you. Both mice are quite similar, with the M.O.U.S.9 being just a bit bigger than its brother. Both have very unique designs as far as gaming mice go, with buttons everywhere on the pair. They each can supposedly boast one year of battery life as well, so that’s something to get stoked about if you’re always on your gaming PC.
In the end, this was actually a pretty big year for gaming at CES. All of the stuff we saw during the show will of course being popping up more and more as the year goes on, and we’re hoping that we’ll get the chance to spend much more time with Project SHIELD, the Razer Edge, and the Archos GamePad soon. Keep it here to SlashGear for more information on all of these cool devices, and in the meantime, be sure to check out our CES portal for our full show coverage.
You may remember the rumors of a $99 Nexus 7 that were popping up a few months back. That never came to pass, but it looks like Archos is trying its hands at that pricepoint now with the new line of Titanium tablets, including a $119 7-incher. And it feels…OK. More »
The folks from Archos revealed their new 97 Titanium tablet back in December with a Retina-like display and Jelly Bean for a low price, and today they’ve added three new tablets to the lineup. Here at CES the Archos crew just unveiled three new tablets will join their Titanium offering.
While the 97 Titanium is the most expensive of the pack and features a 2048×1536 resolution display, the rest are rather affordable and should make for some good budget tablets. Today Archos took the wraps off the entire family. The models will include the 70 Titanium, 80 Titanium, 101 Titanium and the previously mentioned 97 Titanium HD.
Just like all tablets from Archos the models represent their respective sizes. So we have a 7-inch mode, 8, 9.7, and 10.1-inch to rock out all with dual-core processors and Android Jelly Bean — starting at $119. The full specs haven’t been released but Archos confirms they’ll all have IPS HD displays, and 1.6 GHz dual-core processors to keep things smooth. Obviously we have sleek aluminum or “titanium” designs, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
Archos specifically mentions the 7-inch will also include an HD display, yet will still start at just $119 so we’re guessing this will be a pretty impressive price/performance tablet. Then you’ll be paying $169 for the 8-inch, $199 for the Titanium 101, and $249 for the Retina packing 97 that was announced last year. Archos states their 7-inch is similar to Amazon’s offering at a better price, the 80 competes with the iPad mini, and their 9.7 Titanium is half the price of the new iPad. Obviously build quality won’t be on par, but what are your thoughts on these new tablets?
[CES 2013] What better way to launch a device, or a range of devices, than to use the platform known as CES? Archos has just introduced the Titanium line in its Elements range of tablets, and just as the element’s name suggests, the Titanium line delivers high-end specifications in a bang-for-your-buck experience. In fact, all Titanium range tablets will come with a High Definition IPS display capacitive multi-touch screen, a dual-core 1.6GHz processor that is accompanied by a quad-core GPU with 1080p video decoding capability, running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, all crammed into a sleek aluminum design.
The Archos 70 Titanium (measures 7” naturally) is priced at $119 a pop, while those who want a larger display can settle for the 8” Archos 80 Titanium at $169 – making it an iPad mini competitor. As for the 10.1” Archos 101 Titanium, this $199 tablet is 30% cheaper compared to the competition with comparable features, and for those who want to go broke, the 9.7” Archos 97 Titanium HD has a stunning 2048 x 1536 resolution, costing just $249. They certainly are priced to move, no?
In Archos‘ ongoing initiative to create way, way more tablets than anyone else, the company this morning unveiled four new tablets in what it’s calling the “Titanium” line (not to be confused with the Platinum line, of course). That name doesn’t refer to the actual materials these tablets are made of, but rather their tech prowess — all four feature high-def IPS capacitive multi-touch screens with dual-core 1.6GHz CPUs and an unnamed quad-core GPU, running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. They come in a range of sizes, from 7-inches ($119) all the way through 10.1-inches ($199). We’ll be going hands-on with the newly revealed tablets in the coming hours, so keep an eye out for more detailed impressions and some snappy images (would you expect any less?). For the full pricing on all four tablets, head past the break for the official word from Archos.
Archos first announced its TV Connect ahead of CES 2013, which detailed a two-device approach to bringing the Android experience to televisions. On one end is an HD camera mounted either to the top of your television or set up as a stand, and at the other end is an enormous remote control — what Archos is calling the “TV Touch remote.” The camera end of things also contains a 1.5GHz “multi-core” CPU, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage, all of which powers the experience. Sadly, with a mess of WiFi signals and Bluetooth devices at the Las Vegas Convention Center (TV Connect included), navigating TV Connect’s Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean interface could only be done via physical buttons — the TV Touch remote is otherwise advertised to interact with the camera by placing a cursor on screen, navigable by physically pointing the giant remote at your screen.
In our hands-on time, not only was the cursor bugging out, but the Bluetooth connection dropped altogether at one point. It’s possible that this was just a measure of the demo area’s constraints, of course; we’re reserving judgment until we can test it in our own homes. When it was working, it operated like you’d expect Android to operate. We were able to jump quickly from Google Maps to a game just as easily as you would on any standard Android device, albeit on the big screen. And that’s quite a promising concept — pushing not only apps like YouTube and Netflix to the TV, but more importantly, Google’s Play store. That means games (controllable with the TV Touch remote), media, and more. Whether it’s as exciting as it sounds remains to be seen, but we’ll be sure to find out before it arrives at retail this February for $130. Take a peek at TV Connect in use in our hands-on video, just below.
We’re not exactly used to Archos making waves within the tablet industry, but the company definitely turned some heads when it announced its new GamePad last year. The idea is simple: make an Android tablet and give it physical controls for gaming. Mobile gamers frequently complain about touch controls and how they’re not usually as good as dedicated controls, so why not?
As it turns out, the idea of putting physical buttons and thumbpads on a tablet isn’t quite as crazy as it seems. Adjusting to the GamePad’s controls will definitely take a bit of time to get used to if you’re a daily tablet user, but gamers who use Xbox 360 or PS3 gamepads on a regular basis will probably feel right at home. The GamePad is lighter and slimmer than I expected too, though the downside to this is that it doesn’t feel like it would stand up to much abuse.
Unfortunately, not all games are going to work with the GamePad’s physical controls right from the start. Some will, but for others, you’ll have to map the controls yourself. The process of mapping the controls to the buttons seems pretty straightforward, and of course, you can always use touchscreen controls if you don’t have the the time or the desire to deal with mapping.
You’ve got a 7-inch 1024×600 display to work with, and though it looks decent, it didn’t look as sharp as I think a display on a gaming tablet should. A 1.6GHz dual-core processor and a quad-core GPU are working on the inside, so the GamePad should be able to handle most of the games you download from the Google Play Store. It definitely isn’t the best tablet we’ve ever seen, but it does get the job done and the physical controls are great for those who would rather stay away from touchscreen controls. For $169.99, that’s about all we can ask for. Be sure to check out our CES portal for much more from the show!
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The Archos GamePad which was made available in Europe at the beginning of last month, remains an elusive device for the US market as the French company has not mentioned a wee bit about it. Until now, that is, where a rough time frame for the US release of the Archos GamePad has been set at sometime in February 2013, and you will need to pony up $169 if you want to bring one of these puppies home. At $169 a pop, it would make it a rather affordable piece of hardware, but some folks might be tempted to go the way of the Amazon Kindle or even Asus’ most recent MeMO Pad announcement.
[CES 2013] What better way to launch a device, or a range of devices, than to use the platform known as CES? Archos has just introduced the Titanium line in its Elements range of tablets, and just as the element’s name suggests, the Titanium line delivers high-end specifications in a bang-for-your-buck experience. In fact, all Titanium range tablets will come with a High Definition IPS display capacitive multi-touch screen, a dual-core 1.6GHz processor that is accompanied by a quad-core GPU with 1080p video decoding capability, running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, all crammed into a sleek aluminum design.
