Archos' Android tablet blitz: Heading your way in October

[Bateluer]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/31/archos-unleashes-five-five-new-android-froyo-tablets-we-go-h/

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Portable Audio / Video, Tablet PCs
Archos unleashes five (five!) new Android Froyo tablets, we go hands-on
By Joanna Stern posted Aug 31st 2010 2:43PM
Hands-On
"How do you tablet?" Oh yes, that's Archos' new tag line when it comes to its growing number of Android tablets. Good timing since, you know, it just went ahead and released a quintuplet of new gadgets. The offerings range from small PMP-like devices with 2.8- and 3.2-inch screens to higher-end 4.3-, 7- and 10.1-inch tablets. All will ship with Android 2.2 "Froyo" and will include accelerometers, while only some have capacitive touchscreens, front-facing cameras and 1GHz processors. There's a lot more to them all -- we're talking five different devices, of course -- so we suggest hitting the break for a short rundown of each of them along with our early impressions. And don't forget to check out the the gallery of hands-on pictures and videos below.

Don't much care about the sub 5in devices myself, but the 7 and 10in devices have me interested.

October is going to see a number of compelling Android tablets.

Edit - http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archos_101it/index.html?country=us&lang=en

Looks delicious and addresses all the failings of Archos previous devices. On paper anyway.

 

[gsaldivar]

the 10inch looks awesome

Edit: this killed it for me

all of the tablets come with Archos AppsLib -- there's no Market access or Google apps preloaded thanks to Google's restrictions.

 

[Bateluer]

the 10inch looks awesome

Edit: this killed it for me

Heh, if the hardware is good and the devices are moderately popular, how long do you think that'll last?

Edit 2 - Also, if they get an upgrade to Gingerbread, they should be 'Google sanctioned' for tablet market?

 

[s44]

From my link on the 7" thread:

Despite the large size, it isn't that farfetched that Samsung would add a call feature. It's been reported that Google will deny a license for their Android Marketplace application to devices that do not meet certain hardware standards. Being that Google conceived Android as a mobile OS, many believe one standard is voice-calling capability.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I haven't read any positive reviews of Arcos' products yet.

Maybe they'll get this generation right, but I'm not holding my breath...

 

[Bateluer]

I haven't read any positive reviews of Arcos' products yet.

Maybe they'll get this generation right, but I'm not holding my breath...

In all fairness, the current versions of Android that are shipping with Android tablets, Eclair and Froyo, are not 'tablet' OSs. They're geared for phone use, heck, my new A81E have both the phone icon on the launcher and shows the cellular signal strength indicator, even though that functionality isn't even present. Once Gingerbread is released, and tablets begin using it, we'll see better stuff. Current crap seems rather 'slapped' together.

You have to admit though, the shots of Archos' new designs look very sexy.

Augen is back too, with their own next gen tablets in the 200-400 dollar range.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/01/augen-planning-its-next-generation-of-tablets-not-giving-up-wit/

 

[Spoooon]

My last Archos PMP was pretty good. I would stay away though. I think they stopped support (patches, updates, etc.) for my particular device a year after it was released.

 

[preslove]

I had an archos Gmini XS 200 20 GB MP3 Player. It was pretty nice because it was drag and drop file transfer, smaller than an ipod, and cheaper, too. It lasted about 4 years, which is pretty good for a hd based player.

These are interesting, as they're the first Archos tablets with actually competitive specs, capacitive touch, 1 ghz processor, accelerometer etc. the ~$300 price is very nice. We'll have to wait for the reviews to see if they're any good.

 

[dguy6789]

I am kind of turned off by the whole 16:9 tablet form factor. I think 4:3 is better for tablet computers.

 

[rudeguy]

still no leaks/rumors about launch dates or prices???

I see they are up on Archos' site but nothing about a launch date or price.