Hasta La Gadget!

Archos announced it was working on Android-based multimedia tablets in lots of form factors long before the iPad got everyone tablet-crazy. This week, the company began shipping its 4.3-inch and 7-inch models to customers in the US and Europe, while some Europeans may have gotten their 10.1-inch units early.

The Archos 43 is straightforward: 4.3″ FWVGA screen (480×854 pixels), Android 2.2 OS with an Archos skin, 1GHz ARM processor and 16 GB of flash memory for $250. (The tech specs say it also comes in an 8GB version, but that’s not an option now at the Archos store.)

The Archos 70 is a little more interesting, if only because it’s actually slightly more retro. It’s got the same guts as the 43, but a slightly lower-resolution screen (800 by 480) and a 250 GB hard drive (the kind that spins) option that’s forthcoming for $350. (Right now, only the 8GB flash model for $280 is available — which doesn’t seem like so much of an upgrade over the 43, with fewer pixels and less memory.)

Archos also has a 2.8-inch Froyo PMP for $100 — a nice little iPod Touch/Nano replacement — but most of its Android units are still officially unavailable. The 10.1-inch version was briefly reported to be shipping in Europe, but has since either been pulled or sold out. There’s also a 3.2-inch PMP with a video camera that’s still on the way.

That 250 GB hard drive reminds me that most of the companies releasing Android tablets now have been developing them for years — long enough that they were never really designed to compete with the iPad, but the iPod Classic and iPod Touch. It’s as if the iPhone’s touchscreen created an evolutionary fork in media players, with the slim, oversized iPad going one way and the square, high-capacity Archos 70 going another.

See Also:

• Archos 101 Android Tablet: iPad Rival or Giant Phone?
• Archos Unveils $500 Tablet
• Archos Promises Android-Packed Media Tablet/Phone
• New Archos Tablet Is a Kid's Toy, Not Suitable for Adults …
• Elegant New Archos Players To Come With 3G
• Your Froyo Tablet Probably Won't Support Android Market
• First Look: ELocity's Android Tablet Makes Great Media Player …

Archos wasn’t going to settle for shipping a single Android device out today, no sirree — the French PMP specialists are pumping out these 7-inch Archos 70 Internet Tablets effective immediately. $279 buys you a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 8GB of flash storage, and Android 2.2 running on an 800 x 480 capacitive multitouch screen, with an OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics accelerator, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth and a front-facing VGA camera in an 11oz, 0.43-inch thin package that screams to be held. Sadly, you still won’t find Android Market on here, though we’ll give Archos credit for ditching most of the proprietary connectors and ports, which should make sideloading your own apps somewhat less of a chore. (There’s also a microSDHC card slot.) Expect a 250GB hard-drive model to debut any day now for $350… along with our full review.

[Thanks, androidboi]

Archos 70 Internet Tablet now shipping for $279 with 8GB storage, Android 2.2 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 22:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile is announcing this evening that it’s now got 75 live HSPA+ markets online, with coverage for roughly 200 million Americans up and running by the end of 2010. That footprint will start off at a theoretical max downlink of 21Mbps, but the carrier will be looking to scale that to 42Mbps in 2011 with the capacity to upgrade to 84 and 168Mbps down the road — all without ever worrying about LTE. The veracity of T-Mobile’s insistence that this is a “4G” network remains debatable — particularly in light of the ITU’s ruling that only LTE-Advanced and WiMAX 2 qualify — but then again, that same ruling would mean that neither Sprint, Verizon, nor T-Mobile really have 4G up and running in the strictest of terms, and it’s hard to argue that these guys are pushing speeds that meet or exceed what either LTE or WiMAX can offer today.

To that end, the carrier is kicking off a new television ad campaign today where it proudly boasts that it’s operating the nation’s largest 4G network, which is sure to ruffle some feathers and set the stage for some drama-filled mudslinging among the big boys as they ramp up their next-gen networks across the country. New markets include Chicago, Colorado Springs, Ft. Wayne, Louisville, Raleigh-Durham, and Wilmington, NC, and new devices include the myTouch 4G — officially launching tomorrow — and the Dell Mini 10 4G, which as you can probably guess is a garden-variety Mini 10 with HSPA+ compatibility on the AWS band. Follow the break for T-Mobile’s full press release.

Continue reading T-Mobile moves up to 75 live HSPA+ markets, says it’s running the largest ‘4G’ network in the US

T-Mobile moves up to 75 live HSPA+ markets, says it’s running the largest ‘4G’ network in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, N-Trig’s DuoSense combined pen / capacitive touch technology has become a household name when talking about Tablet PCs, and most recently has popped up in the HP Slate, but as you may expect the company is planning on pushing into other tablet territories. N-Trig’s VP of Marketing Gary Baum told us earlier today that the Israel-based company will certainly support other operating systems (flavors of Linux, such as Ubuntu, etc.) and is in fact working with hardware partners on Android tablets. That means those latter slates would have capacitive touchscreens that support both pen and finger input — something we haven’t yet seen on any other non-resistive Android tablets. It’s certainly a differentiator, and Baum wasn’t shy about stating that “the most useful Android slates will be pen-enabled.” (Funny enough, he told us the guys at N-Trig call the other contenders out there “JAAS,” or “just another Android slate.”) However, like us, you’re probably thinking: what about the apps? Considering there are very few (if any) Android apps that take advantage of pen input, it’s an question mark, and though Baum wouldn’t comment on any specific upcoming stylus-optimized programs / software, he hinted that they’d come. Curious about availability and partnership? We hear ya, but unfortunately, that part of the equation is still missing.

N-Trig: ‘the most useful Android slates will be pen-enabled’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Continuum turns up on Verizon’s holiday site originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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