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Archos Adds Android-Based Tablets, Cordless Phone

Denver – Archos will push the envelope for
tablet processing power and storage with the planned September shipment of two
Android-based tablets that incorporate dual-core 1.5GHz processors and 250GB
hard drives.

The features will
appear in an 8-inch tablet and a 10.1-inch model, both of which will be the
company’s first Android tablets to use the Honeycomb OS designed expressly for
tablets.

The company is
also bringing Android to two new product categories: a home cordless phone and
a tabletop Internet radio, both equipped with touchscreens. Both will ship in
September with ability to download apps.

The two new Wi-Fi
tablets are the 8-inch Archos 80 G9 at a suggested $279 and the 10.1-inch
Archos 101 G9 at $349. With TI-made ARM Cortex dual-core A9 processor running
at 1.5GHz, the tablets deliver more processing speed than other tablets
announced to date. The Hewlett-Packard TouchPad and a recently announced Huawei
tablet, for example, offer dual-core 1.2GHz processors, while the HTC-made Evo
View 4G for the Sprint network uses a 1.5GHz single-core processor.

The additional
speed, Archos claimed, loads web pages up to 50 percent faster than tablets
running the dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 1GHz processor, and it enables the tablets
to decode 1080p H264 High Profile videos, whereas other tablets have difficulty
in smoothly playing 720p H264 High Profile video, the company said.

With 250GB Seagate
hard drive, the two tablets and a 7-inch Archos tablet unveiled last year are
the only tablets announced to date with hard drive, the company said. The hard
drive holds more than 250 hours of full 1080p HD video, which can be
transmitted through an HDMI output for display on a 1080p TV.

The tablets are
also the industry’s first with an optional 3G USB stick that slides into the
back of a tablet and disappears. The $49 stick, which also plugs into laptops,
can be used with month-to-month prepaid service. The company didn’t specify the
3G technology used.

In home products,
the Android-based Archos 35 Home Connect Internet radio is due in September at
a suggested $149 with AC/DC operation, Wi-Fi, dual speakers, preloaded Internet
radio app to stream thousands of Internet radio stations, and the Archos alarm
clock app that streams weather, traffic and news. It also features front-facing
webcam and video-calling application for video chats with PC and Android mobile
phone users.

The Archos 35
Smart Home Phone, due in September at a suggested $159, brings Android
smartphone capability to a DECT cordless phone. With front-facing webcam, it
can be used for video chats when used with ADSL landline service. It also
enables contact sharing with Android smartphones, caller photo display, web
browsing, email access and downloading of Android apps.

The cordless phone and Internet radio download apps via Wi-Fi from Archos’s own app store.

The charging dock
is separate from the cordless handset.

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