To start this blog, I’ll present you one of the few tablets that is already available, while many announced tablets can’t be bought until now. In September 2009, Archos started selling their Android based Archos 5 Internet Tablet, long before Apple revealed their iPad. At that time that was quite impressive for me.
But the tablet was also critisized as it did not support flash and only loaded mobile web pages, due to the Android browser. As the first to hit the markets with an Android tablet, they were confronted with several problems, as Android was mainly used for smart phones at that time and apps were not developped for big tablet screens.
Ok, let’s have a look at the specifications of the Archos 5 Internet Tablet:
| Specifications | Archos 5 Internet Tablet |
|---|---|
| Processor(s) | ARM Cortex-A8 800MHz 32bit + DSP @ 430 MHz 32bit |
| RAM | 128 MB (Low-Power Double Data Rate SDRAM) |
| Screen | 4.8-Inch / 800 x 480 px / 16 Mio. Colors / Touchscreen |
| Storage | 8GB / 32GB / 64GB Flash or 160GB / 500GB Harddisk |
| A/V Input | HDMI / FM Radio / Microphone |
| A/V Output | Headphone / FM Transmitter / Speakers |
| Network | WLAN (802.11 b/g/n) / Bluetooth with a 3G Phone |
| Connectors | Mini USB 2.0 / Dock Connector |
| Sensors | GPS / Accelerometer |
| Battery | Lithium Polymer battery (not exchangeable) |
| Extras | micro SD (SDHC) (only in the Flash Version) |
| Price Range | 249$ – 489$ |
| Manufacturer | Archos |
Now that’s already a nice set of parts. But it will get even better. Archos announced two Android-based successors of the Internet Tablet. In April 2010 they will start to sell the Archos 7 Home Tablet followed in May 2010 by the newly designed Archos 8 Home Tablet. Both Home Tablets will have nearly the same specs, but the Archos 8 HT will be looking more like a digital photo frame than the other Archos Tablets.
While the Archos 7 Home Tablet will look similar to the other Archos Tablets…
… the Archos 8 Home Tablet will look like this:
archos.com
Until now not all specs are known. GPS, Bluetooth and 3G seem to be missing, also I found nothing about additional sensors. There’s a bit less confirmed information about the Archos 8 HT, so some specs are missing there. That’s what I found out about the specs of these devices:
| Specifications | Archos 7 Home Tablet | Archos 8 Home Tablet |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | ARM9 600Mhz Rockchip RK2808 | ARM9 600Mhz Rockchip RK2808 |
| RAM | 128MB | 128MB |
| Screen | 7-inch / 800 x 480 / Touchscreen | 8-inch / 800 x 480 / Touchscreen |
| Storage | 2GB / 8GB | 4 GB |
| A/V Input | Built-In Microphone | ?? |
| A/V Output | Speakers / Composite Video Out | ?? |
| Network | WLAN | WLAN |
| Connectors | Mini USB | Mini USB |
| Sensors | ??? | ??? |
| Battery | ??? | ??? |
| Extras | micro SD | micro SD |
| Price Range | €149 ($203) for 2GB / €179 ($244) for 8GB | €149 ($203) |
| Manufacturer | Archos | Archos |
Charbax from ARMdevices.net has a video online showing him being quite enthusiastic about the Archos 7 HT he tried at CEBIT 2010:
But these three devices are just the beginning of a wonderful friendship between Archos and Android. The company announced that they will release a complete new range of Internet Tablets, based on ARM Cortex processors up to 1 GHz with a richer set of features and screen sizes from 3” to 10” this summer. If they all will run Android, 2010 will be the year of the Android Pads. Stay tuned!
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