Archos Prepping an Android-Based Internet Media Tablet

Archos has announced plans to release later this year an ultra-thin Internet Media Tablet (IMT) with a 5-inch screen and mobile phone features. This will merge Google's Android smartphone platform with Archos' multimedia software.

"Support for an Android-based device represents a historical opportunity for Archos to combine all the best of our IMTs with a phone in a single device delivering high-quality video and a full Web experience in true mobility," said Henri Crohas, CEO and Archos' founder.

Android will provide this as-yet-unamed product with smartphone features and access to a fast-growing collection of third-party applications. Archos' multimedia framework will add what the company promises is the best entertainment and web-browsing experience available.

A Mobile Video Player

Archos says this model will have a high-resolution 5-inch screen, and be able to display Adobe Flash and Flash Video full screen.

But that's just the beginning. It will also allow TV recording and High Definition (HD) playback, and its 500 GB of on-board storage will allow for hundreds of hours of video storage.

This mobile Internet device will be based on the OMAP 3 platform from Texas Instruments. Archos says a OMAP3440 processor based on the ARM Cortex superscalar microprocessor and DSP will give it laptop-like performance.

A Smartphone, Too

In addition, this upcoming model will have access to 3G cellular wireless networks, including 7.2 Mb/s HSUPA support. Because it will run Android, it will include a suite of applications -- email, calendar, address book, to-do list -- that can be synchronized with Google services.

Despite all these features, it will have a compact 10-mm ultra-thin design, and a long battery life -- 7 hours of video playback.

Archos isn't scheduled to debut this IMT/MID until the third quarter of this year.

Via Archos, Engadget