Gizmodo:
Archos just revealed what that curtain tease was all about: the 6th Gen Archos 5, 5G and 7 series PMPs. The 4.8" flagship 5G ditches the tired interface and buttons of the Gen-5 device for a slick UI and touchscreen-only operation. It's got Wi-Fi, HD video support, web browsing, email, a huge HDD (up to 250GB), and built-in HSPDA 3G connectivity. It's also got dock connectors, GPS, DVR, video/audio recording and more. In short, it's everything that the iPod touch isn't, and I got to touch it.The interface on the 5G is incredibly smooth, scrolling is similar to the iPod touch, and the included Opera web browser does zoom and looks excellent. The device is intuitive and the touchscreen is responsive and big enough to really enjoy movie watching.
The 5 and 7 are also great devices, featuring 4.8" and 7" displays, respectively. They are 3G capable with a separate dongle, and otherwise feature all the great specs of the 5G. The 5 will be available in 60-, 120-, and 250GB varieties, while the 7 carries either 160GB or 320GB under the hood. The products will retail between $350 and $550 when they arrive in September (5), October (7) and January (5G). It's a good day for the little portable-media underdog. Spec sheet down below. [Archos]
Combine this with the new media-management software Dell may be developing and you might have a viable iPod contender on your hands. I wonder if the 7-inch version can display PDF files and how well it would work as an eBook reader? (Battery life would probably inhibit this.)
More specs after the link.
1 comment:
The problem any company faces in trying to compete against the Apple iPod (and now iPhone) ecosystem is that the company has to come out with a vastly superior device and outdo Apple in marketing.
So it won't cut it to come out with something only marginally better in some ways...Apple is too entrenched in the market.
And then one has to overcome the Apple marketing machine and their brand reputation.
Also, one has to realize that more features is not necessarily better. Apple has been great at realizing that it's sometimes better to leave features out.
Just after reading the specs on this device, I find that they are indeed impressive, but I wonder if it's not an overwhelming feature set for most consumers. As I kept reading the features I half expected to get around to one listed as "the kitchen sink."
Finally, it has be as easy to operate as an Apple device. It's great to list features and beat Apple on those. But when one actually plays around with one it's usually a bit more complicated to operate.
So maybe Archos is onto something here...but it's going to take a whole lot to be a serious competitor to Apple.
You've got to have simplicity of operation, elegant styling, virtually flawless functionality ( in other words, it has do what its supposed to do well), and then the most amazing marketing on the planet. Oh yeah, even then you have to compete against the brand equity that Apple has built up over the last quarter century or so.
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