Way before the iPad even came into existence, Archos was selling what it called Internet Tablets. They were mostly reserved for tech-savvy users which resulted in being shifted to the sidelines at local retailers. You’d think that with all the iPads and Android tabs flooding the market Archos would fall off the face of the planet.  Not according to recent news from the company.

As it turns out, despite all the overwhelming attention that devices like the Galaxy Tab and Motorola Xoom are getting, Archos is doing just fine. In fact, they’re doing better than fine; they’re growing. This is despite the fact that the average Joe and Jane don’t even know about Archos at all.

In 2009, Archos raked in 57.9 million Euro in revenue. That number increased to 83.3 million Euro in 2010. They’ve experienced at two-fold increase in North America and a 116% growth in Europe. Most of the money, not surprisingly, is coming from its line of tablets like the Archos 70 IT and Archos 101 IT.

“By year end, the success of the Generation 8, especially ARCHOS 70 and ARCHOS 101 tablets, had exceeded all our expectations. The demand was such that we faced shortages in most stores. The demand is maintained at a high level in the current quarter, confirming the strong development potential of the tablet market and validating the strategic choices made very early in this area, more than two years ago.”

They’re still catering to the geekiest of the bunch, but there are more tech geeks today than there may have been a few years ago. And they haven’t even touched Honeycomb yet.

[via CrunchGear]

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The tablet market has really started to heat up this year, but Archos has been doing this kind of thing for years already. Trying to remind you of its pedigree while still offering something new and exciting is the Archos 70 Internet tablet. For starters, it runs on Google Android.

This is not the first time that Archos has dabbled in Android and it certainly will not be its last either. While other tablets are typically being limited to, maybe, 64GB or so of storage, the Archos 70 goes much bigger with its 250GB hard drive. Event hough it has that much more storage, the tablet is able to stay quite thin (0.55-inches) and light (14 ounces).

Aside from the “unique over-molded PVD stainless steel structured” design, the Archos 70 also comes with Android 2.2 Froyo compatibility, Flash 10.1, HDMI output, tethering support, 720p HD video playback, 3D animated photo frame, Appslib, WiFi, capacitive touchscreen, and a built-in webcam.

Just as the Archos MP3 players did little to take a bite out of the iPod’s market share, I don’t really expect this line of Android tablets from Archos to make much of a dent in Apple’s coffers. That said, those looking for an Android alternative might want to give Archos a ring. The Archos 70 Internet tablet is on sale now for $350.

[Gizmodo via Archos]

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Archos 101 Android Tablet with 10.1-inch LCD

Archos was already a major contender in the media player and Internet tablet market before the iPad had landed. Looking to re-establish itself as an industry leader, Archos has just announced no fewer than five new Android tablets. There’s even one that starts at under a hundred bucks.

The largest of the bunch is the Archos 101 Internet tablet with its 10.1-inch high-resolution screen, an HD multimedia support, and an adjustable kickstand. It also boasts a 1GHz processor, Bluetooth, USB, tethering support, HDMI TV out, accelerometer, 3D openGL technology, WiFi-n technology, and a PC-like web browsing experience. The Archos 101 ships this fall in 8GB ($300) and 16GB ($350) variants.

Offering many of the same features are the smaller Archos 70 Internet tablet and the Archos 43 Internet tablet. They get 7.0-inch and 4.3-inch color displays, rounded out by Android and Adobe Flash 10.1 players. The Archos 43 adds a 2MP HD camcorder to the mix as well. Look for the Archos 70 in 8GB ($275) and 250GB ($350) versions this fall too. The Archos 43 is only available as an 8-gigger for $200.

At the smallest end of the scale are the Archos 32 Internet tablet and Archos 28 Internet tablet. It’s probably more appropriate to call these MP3/MP4 players, but they are powered by Android. This means you get email, web browsing, social networking, and other apps, in addition to music and video streaming. The 4GB Archos 28 will be $100 and the 8GB Archos 32 will be $150 when they ship later this month.

ARCHOS introduces five new android tablets starting below
$100 [Archos]

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I’ve been saying for quite some time that I’m a big fan of Nokia hardware. I think their cell phones are great, but the operating system can leave a lot to be desired. Well, it turns out that we just be able to address that with Google Android.

This is nowhere near an official solution coming out of Finland. Instead, the NITDroid project is heralded by some enthusiastic developers and it effectively puts Android on your Nokia hardware. They haven’t done it with a phone yet, but they have managed to do it with Nokia’s Internet tablets.

Getting past that “not always the best user experience,” UK mobile consultant Terrence Eden was able to load Android 1.6 Donut on his Nokia N810. The result? “Android is a much better software environment for Nokia hardware than what Nokia provides.”

Aside from a lack of support for Google Market (and certain apps), the Android-powered N810 is working just fine. Other developers have created a version of Android 2.2 Froyo for the Nokia N900 and it’s actually stable, including the ability to get calls and run Google apps. The camera doesn’t work yet, though.

For those of you brave enough to give it a try, there is an installation guide for getting the Droid action happening on your Nokia device. Proceed at your own risk and discretion.

Nitdroid: Installing Android on the Nokia N810 [Terence Eden Blog]
Nokia Phones Hacked to Run Android [Gadget Lab]

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HP Slate vs. Apple iPad Specs

Everyone is super excited about the new Apple iPad and Steve Jobs couldn’t be happier. At the same time, this is going to open up a whole new market for competitors and it seems like the HP Slate could be a real contender. If you look at the spec sheets recently released, it beats the iPad in several areas.

Sure, the HP Slate hasn’t quite the market yet and the iPad has, but this list of features really seems to put the iPad in its place. For starters, the Slate gets a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Menlow Z530 processor, which should be peppier than the 1GHz Apple A4 processor in the iPad.

Continuing with the HP Slate’s advantages, we find 1080p video support, a multi-card reader with support up to 128GB, a USB 2.0 port, a dock connector for HDMI, a conventional SIM tray, and dual cameras. There’s the front-facing VGA webcam for video calls and a rear-facing 3MP camera for snapshots. The Slate is also slated to be cheaper.

The iPad has some advantages too, like the inclusion of 802.11n Wi-Fi (the Slate only goes up to 802.11g) and the screen resolution is a little bigger on the iPad (1024×768) than on the Slate (1024×600), but that’s partly because of the aspect ratio.

Yes, this is a simple “on paper” comparison and we’ve seen similar charts prepared for devices like the iPhone, so it’s not necessarily representative of how well the HP Slate will actually sell compared to the iPad. Nonetheless, it still provides good food for thought.

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Well, it seems like that day could be coming sooner than we expected. If you happen to be one of the lucky few to buy a Barnes & Noble Nook this year, you’ll find that it can do more than show you some books in digital format. It can also surf the web.

This is far from official support from the Barnes & Noble people, but the kooks at NookDevs have managed to get a full browser up and running on the ebook reader. It’s still in black-and-white, but it means that you browse through your favorite websites on this thing.

Further still, it seems that NookDevs has managed to install Android-based apps for Twitter and Facebook too. Aside from the slower refresh rate, you could almost say that the Nook is a viable tablet. Sort of.

Is this a glimpse into what we’ll see with the Apple Tablet? Maybe.

Source: AndroidGuys

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Michael Arrington published an official post earlier today saying that the nearly 1.5 year project has hit the deadpool. There were rumors of its demise earlier this month, but the assumption at the time was that it was because of increased costs.

Instead, the “entire project self destructed over nothing more than greed, jealousy, and miscommunication.” Arrington and his team were notified that they were no longer involved with the project. That’s right. They were being kicked out of the project that they started in the first place.

Fusion Garage, the company that they commissioned to build the CrunchPad, said that it was going to move forward and sell the device directly and without the involvement of Arrington’s people.
You know how Foxconn builds the iPhone? This would be like if Foxconn decided to ditch Apple at the last minute, saying that they’d prefer to sell the iPhone under their banner instead with no further involvement from Apple.

Arrington says that his team and Fusion Garage “jointly own the CrunchPad product intellectual property,” but his team has sole ownership of the CrunchPad trademark. He says, “It’s legally impossible for them to simply build and sell the device without our agreement.”

And so the saga continues?

Source: TechCrunch

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It’s not like the Camangi WebStation is entirely new, since it’s been making its rounds in the rumor mills for a few months, but now we’re starting to get a look at the real thing. This is a 7-inch tablet, so you get a big touchscreen and a virtual on-screen keyboard.

The device gets loaded up with the Google Android 1.5 treatment and the 7-inch glass touchscreen display has a resolution of 800×480 pixels. Other features include integrated 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, GPS, microSD slot, 2-megapixel camera, secondary VGA webcam, and a USB port that could be used to add 3G connectivity.

There’s word on the street that the Camangi WebStation will be ready for a retail release next month and they’re shooting for a $400 price point. That seems more than reasonable, considering that you’d spend about the same on a smartphone or netbook.

Source: Gizmodo

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We first heard about the Nokia N900 way back in May, but nothing was being confirmed out of Finland regarding its existence or its specific specifications. That has now changed, since Nokia made an official announcement for this new device ahead of the upcoming Nokia World event next week.

Perhaps one of the most notable changes for this Internet Tablet is the move away from a Symbian-based operation to one that uses the Linux-based Maemo 5 platform. Could this represent a pending switch in Nokia smartphone world too? We can’t say for sure, but Maemo sure looks pretty to me.

The features and specs are very much in line with early predictions, providing us with a 3.5″ WVGA touchscreen display, HSPA and WLAN wireless connections, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 1GB RAM, OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics acceleration, 32GB internal memory, and microSD expansion slot. The built-in Nokia Messaging client can handle up to 10 email accounts.

You’ll have to wait until October to get your hands on a retail Nokia N900 Internet Tablet and, even then, it will only be available in “select markets” for 500 Euro, not including taxes and subsidies.

Source: Slashphone

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