Hasta La Gadget!

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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We hate to be the bringers of bad news, but it looks like the Archos 9 might be serving as a bit of a morality tale, showing why and how PC hardware and software might not be quite ready for the large form factor tablet experience. That’s not to say there aren’t some plusses to the device pointed out by UMPC Portal in its review, like the great build quality and style of the tablet, the sensitive, flush touchscreen, and some great connectivity, but the sum seems less than its parts. The primary blame can be laid at the feet of the 1.1GHz Atom Z510 processor, which is sluggish and single-threaded, and Windows 7 Starter, which is lacking in the standard Windows 7 tablet functionality. We don’t know all the reasoning at play here, but the result is a slow computer with a hacked-on touchscreen keyboard at a $550 pricepoint that doesn’t the hit handheld UMPC size sweetspot and can hardly stand against a netbook in cost or utility. Sounds kind of mean when we say it like that, doesn’t it?

Archos 9 reviewed: too big, too slow, too ‘Starter’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A few days ago in a land a few time zones away, one tablet became another and, just for a moment, stopped everyone speculating about Apple’s entry into the decidedly fledgling market segment. According to Pocket-lint Dell is similarly jumping aboard, said to be set to unveil a five-inch tablet running Android, specs that would put it right up in the Archos Internet Tablet’s grill and, thankfully, should mean a much lower price-point than the Joojoo. Word is we’ll all be getting a glimpse of the thing at CES next month, and knowing Dell it’ll probably be a very fleeting one. We’re guessing this is the Streak, but would love to be surprised by something entirely new.

Tablet Wars: Episode V – Dell Strikes Back at CES? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Archos 5 Internet Tablet hasn’t had the smoothest ride into the commercial realm, but thanks to a few firmware updates, the Android-based player seems to finally be humming along just fine. That said, not everyone’s interested in shelling out big bucks for a capacious version, which makes the latest edition perfect for those simply curious to see how Google’s mobile OS fares on a portable media player. The 8GB model has surfaced over at Radio Shack, bringing with it all the goods on the larger siblings but with far less internal space. The best part? That $249.99 price tag (and that little “In Stock” icon beside it).

Android-based Archos 5 Internet Tablet surfaces in 8GB form for $250 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:28:00 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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