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)

According to a press release dated this morning, Archos is making proof-of-concept “developer edition” firmware available for its ARCHOS 5 and ARCHOS 7 Internet Media Tablets. Based on the Angstrom Linux distribution, this is by no means a commercial distro (no multimedia software) but since you’re taking it upon yourself to code the next great multimedia / social networking / productivity / time travel app anyways, you don’t really want to be bogged down by such pedestrian fare. According to the PR, the company “eagerly anticipates seeing its hardware platform used as a foundation for creating exciting new usage models and applications that the developer community brings.” And so do we! Read all about it after the break. Continue reading Archos releases developer edition firmware for Internet Tablets Archos releases developer edition firmware for Internet Tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds

Archos has already made it abundantly clear that its Windows 7-based Archos 9 media player is US-bound, but just in case you were worried over legalities, this FCC filing should crank your stress level down a notch. Best of all, this particular entry includes external and internal photographs, meaning that the camera-toting employees within the deep, dark FCC labs are actually credited with handling the (admittedly messy) dissection. Shocking pixels await you in the read link, so make sure you go in fully prepared. [Via jkkmobile ] Filed under: Handhelds Archos 9 PMP sneaks into the FCC, gets dissected when caught originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read

Archos has been on a real PMP tear as of late, releasing the Archos 2 Vision, 3 Vision, and the Clipper all in one pop back in August. The company’s now launched yet another Vision model, the entry-level 1 Vision. This tiny little 4GB dude has a 1.5-inch LCD and supposedly gets about 20 hours of battery life per charge. No video support in this puppy, but the €30 (somewhere in the realm of $45) pricetag should temper some of your crushing disappointment over its lack of features. The Archos 1 Vision should be available in Europe by the end of November.

Charbax of ArchosFans.com reports that the majority of issues encountered by early adopters of the Android-equipped Archos 5 Internet Tablet (not to be confused with the older Internet Media Tablet , ugh) have been remedied by the caped crusader that is firmware revision 1.1.01. Forum members do seem to corroborate that the previously habitual lockups are no more, but the complex update procedure has already (probably temporarily) bricked one user’s device, while another still has random disconnects when transferring files from his PC under the new firmware. Still, if you’ve been among the unfortunate victims of the sloppy original software, this is a ray of light for you, and the read link — featuring input from a source within Archos — should be considered required reading. Filed under: Handhelds , Portable Audio , Portable Video Archos 5 firmware 1.1.01 rights all wrongs? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:51:00 EST.

It was only just allowed out to play, but Archos’ five-inch, Android-sporting internet tablet has been called back in by its fastidious mother, a role played by Amazon in this case. Only the hard drive-based 160GB model is affected at present, with the 32GB version selling as normal and the half terabyte option out of stock already. Charbax of ArchosFans.com , a man in the know on this subject, has suggested this might have been caused by a firmware update wiping out some pre-installed Android apps, which is now being addressed. His site’s forums and Amazon customer reviews, however, paint a different picture: there are consistent complaints about bugs and lock ups — software issues that could well affect the other models in the line — with some going so far as to suggest Archos has used its customers as Beta testers. There doesn’t appear to be anything structurally wrong with the device, meaning a robust firmware update could remedy all ills, so now it’s just a matter of waiting for Archos to do what it should have done before release.

I wasn’t too impressed when I took a look at the Archos 5 and the guys at T3 are of the same mindset. The Archos 5 is good as a PMP, but the Android “concept just doesn’t add up.” The hardware on the Archos 5 is “well built” and “very pocketable,” says T3. But it really comes down to the fact that the Archos 5 uses a mobile operating system, but doesn’t have the ingredients of a mobile phone, including 3G. They were able to tether a phone to the device, but we all know that’s usually more annoying than screaming kids on an airplane. The second major downer is the missing Marketplace . Because it doesn’t have a camera or compass, Google wouldn’t approve it being included and Archos had to come up with its very own App Labs.

We’d heard that Archos had teased an Android-based phone when it launched the new Archos 5 Internet Tablet , and now we have video proof. We don’t speak French well enough to translate what’s being said here (or, really, translate anything other than “le singe conduit l’autobus”) but that spec sheet isn’t too hard to figure out: we’re looking at a 1GHz ARM Cortex processor under a 4.3-inch 854 x 480 screen in 10mm thin titanium casing with what looks like a front-facing camera. Yeah, not too shabby at all, especially considering Archos has that interesting media layer running on top of Android already — let’s hope we find out even more soon. Video after the break. [Thanks, Fernando] Continue reading Archos Android Phone Tablet introduced on video Filed under: Cellphones Archos Android Phone Tablet introduced on video originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

The 4.8-inch screen tablet won’t get full Flash support until December-ish , but you can slap down your plastic now if you don’t wanna wait: 160GB ($330), 500GB ($430), 32GB SSD ($380). No word yet on the shipping date. [ Amazon ]

The portents have hung in the air for a while, but it’s clear now that the traditional dumb PMP is dead, like a dull and rusted Swiss army knife. In their stead we’ll have…smart PMPs. Not to put too fine a point on it, but yeah, we’re talking about the iPod touch model: It’s about platforms . That run apps.