Las Vegas –
Archos plans to upgrade its 8-inch and 10.1-inch G9 Turbo Android tablets with
the addition of dual-core 1.5GHz processor to replace 1.2GHz dual-core
processors. The upgraded models ship in January at prices to be announced.
In the mid-
to late first quarter, the company plans to offer an upgrade from the tablets’ Android
3.2 Honeycomb OS to the Ice Cream Sandwich OS, which is Google’s converged OS
for both Android smartphones and tablets and offers such new features as
nearfield communications and facial recognition, said Archos marketing director
Craig Terblanche.
The new G9
models, like their predecessors, will come in a 16GB embedded-flash-memory
version and a 250GB hard-drive version. The 16GB versions also feature MicroSDHC
memory slot supporting 32GB memory cards.
Although prices
on the new versions weren’t released, the current 1.2GHz dual-core Turbos are
priced at a suggested $319 and $369 for the 16GB and 250GB versions,
respectively, of the 8-inch Archos 80 model. The 16GB and 250GB versions of the
10.1-inch Archos 101 are priced at a suggested $399 and $449, respectively.
Like the
current turbo models, the new turbo models will access Google’s Android Market.
The current
and new Turbo models feature 1080p video-file storage and playback, capacitive
touchscreens, mini HDMI output with HDCP copy protection, GPS, 720p webcam, USB
slave and host ports, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and ability to accept a planned
U.S.-market 3G/4G-equipped USB modem that accepts SIM cards and fits flush in a
slot on the tablets’ back side.
They also
come with Microsoft UPnP to stream audio and video from a Windows PC.
The 10.1-inch
Turbo features a 1,280 by 800 screen, and the 8-inch model features a 1,024 by 768
resolution. Like before, the devices will be 11.5mm thick.
