Archos (pronounced: [ɑː(ɹ)koʊs]) is a French portable electronics company (FOREX ticker ACOSF), established in 1988 by Henri Crohas. Archos manufactures electronics products - portable media players and portable storage devices.

These devices range from standard MP3 players, to PVPs (portable video players), USB flash and hard drives, digital video recorders to a Portable Media Assistant which consists of the features of players as well as wireless Internet capabilities (Wi-Fi) and PIM applications.

The Archos name is an anagram for the company founder's surname (Crohas), also the Greek translation for the name Archos (αρχος) means master. The slogan has changed from 'Think Smaller' to 'On The Go'.

Archos manufactures a variety of products, each briefly explained below:

• USB Portable Hard Disk Drives
• Portable MP3 Players
• Portable Video Player and Recorders
• Portable Digital Video / Photography Snap-Ins
• Memory cards (Previously produced, now ceased)
• Digital Media Player and PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)

Announced along side the 05 Series, the Archos TV Plus is the first stand alone DVR station from Archos and is expected to perform similarly to a 5th Gen player with a Dock. It will also include the new Qwerty remote for navigation and internet use.

The Archos 04 series is an upgrade to the previous AV Series primarily the AV500, and all 6 models build upon the same base as the previous model. The 6 current 4th generation models include the 404, the 404 camcorder, the 504, the 604, the 604 WiFi, and the 704 WiFi. All players in the 04 series are Microsoft PlaysForSure compatible.

Archos employed a philosophy of producing a modular player, making the standard 04 unit base price cheaper with the option of adding on additional features for additional costs. Using the DVR Station or the DVR Travel Adapter, each unit can record from TV and other standard video sources (DVD players, satellite systems and cable boxes among others). The DVR Station and DVR Travel Adapter are not included with the 04 units and must be purchased separately. Not all video codecs work right out of the box. Each unit is capable of playing MPEG-2/VOB videos with Dolby 5.1 Sound (AC3) sound and H.264 videos with AAC sound, however separate plugins must be purchased to unlock these capabilities.

Officially announced on June 14th, 2007, Archos released details of the new flagship 605WiFi, as well as announcing a 105, 405, and 705 players.

The 605Wifi and 405 officially went on sale on September 1st, 2007. The 605Wifi comes in 30GB, 80GB, and 160GB models as well as a 4GB model with an added SDHC slot. The 405 comes in a single model; 2GB with SDHC slot.

The 105 is to be designed with some video capabilities but still mainly targeted as a small and affordable MP3 player. The 705 however, is expected to look similar to the 704 with a slimmer profile and new 5ths Gen features.

The main upgrade in this series is the addition of the Archos content portals (ACP)

• FM Recorder

Similar to the Recorder model, but featured a Li-Ion battery, an FM tuner and a slightly different case. 60 grams less weight.

• Recorder v2

Strikingly similar to the FM Recorder model, but featured no FM tuner (some of the earliest V2 models did in fact feature an FM tuner although it was not advertised nor used by the original firmware).

• Ondio SP

A flash-based MP3-player with bit-mapped 112x64 LCD. It is powered by three AAA-cells and features an MMC expansion slot and 128MB of internal memory. It is the smallest MP3 player in the Archos lineup.

Rockbox is supported on the Ondio devices.

• Ondio FM

Similar to the Ondio SP model but also features an FM tuner and recording capabilities.

The Archos Jukebox 6000 was one of Archos' very first portable media players. Containing a 6 GB hard drive, this was one of the first of its kind. This player is only MP3 compatible, and was bundled with Musicmatch Jukebox to allow users to rip their music collection onto the jukebox.

The Jukebox 6000, and it's successor the Jukebox Studio (see below), used standard USB 1.1 technology, transferring data at a maximum rate of 1 MB per second. These models transfer data at a comparably slow rate compared with succeeding Archos devices using the USB 2.0 standard.

The Jukebox is historically notable for shipping with a user interface and operating system so unfriendly and bug-ridden as to inspire Björn Stenberg and other programmers to begin to develop a superior, open-source replacement operating system. This project became Rockbox.

The Archos' Jukebox Studio succeeded the Jukebox 6000, the main difference between the two models being the larger hard drive sizes offered. The Jukebox Studio was available as a 10 GB, 15 GB, or 20 GB model. (The 15 GB version was short lived.)

Archos' Jukebox Recorder was similar to the Player/Studio models, but featured a 112x64 bitmap LCD and recording capabilities. This model is sometimes referred to as the Recorder v1 to differentiate it from the later v2 version which looks quite different. Although discontinued, the Jukebox Recorder with USB 2.0 interface remains in some demand because of the enhanced speed of the USB 2.0 connection (in contrast to USB 1.1), the capability of the device to be flashed with the free and open source Rockbox firmware, the device's recording feature, easy to replace AA-sized NiMH batteries, and its use of easily upgradeable 2.5" standard laptop hard drives.

The Jukebox Multimedia was one of Archos' first ever multimedia players that enabled users to record straight from a camera attachment. Also featuring an audio player, an image viewer and video player, as well as the correct cables supplied straight from the box. The player also has the ability to record audio from a line-in source (cables supplied) straight into MP3 format. The player features a 10 GB Hard Disk Drive (Jukebox 10) or 20 GB (Jukebox 20) and uses DivX MPEG4 format for video recording and playback.

The Gmini 400, The first audio device to hold a color LCD screen as well as photo, audio and video playback capacities, the Gmini 400 was introduced October 2004.

The Gmini 402 is the next model up from the Gmini 400. Featuring PlaysForSure compatibility, the owners of this model can download purchased, protected music, in WMA format, and play them back on the device. This player supports DRM protected WMV video files, as well as MP3, WMA, AVI, JPG, PNG, and BMP.

Gmini 402 Camcorder, The camera is 1.2MP (Megapixel), and has video recording capabilities, with up to a 2x digital zoom. The player also holds 3 resolution modes, which enables users to choose size over quality, as well as recording directly into MPEG4 in VGA resolution.

Just after the release of the AV500, the Archos Gmini 500 was born. This device, along with a lot of Archos' latest devices, has full support for Windows Media's PlaysForSure system which allows users play DRM restricted music.

The Gmini 120 particular model plays MP3, WMA and WAV files. It cannot play DRM-protected WMA files. Its capacity is 20 GB. This model also uses the ARCLibrary to organize music and media on the device. This player was released Saturday, November 1, 2003, and weighs 244 g. A version of this player was released as the Archos Gmini SP. There is also an optional FM Radio attachment available for this player so users can play and record directly from FM radio.

Archos' Gmini XS 200 is a previous model to the XS 202, with a monochrome screen, no PlaysForSure support, and a 20 GB hard drive.

The Gmini XS 100 group of players features a 1.5" screen, full PlaysForSure capabilities, and supports MP3, WMA, protected WMA, and WAV files. It also features the ARCLibrary for organizing media files within one's media collection.

The Gmini XS 202 was a fairly popular model supplied from Archos. This model supports MP3, WMA, protected WMA, and WAV files, and also contains what's known as ARCLibrary, a feature that organizes all digital media on Archos devices. The model also supports gapless playback.

The AV300 Series was released Monday March 22, 2004, and weighs 350 g.

The optional AVCam 300 turns the device into a digital camera and camcorder, with other selective addons available such as an FM radio remote control (which also enables radio recording) and a memory card reader.

The player was criticized for its low battery performance and lack of DRM playback facilities. The battery playback on the device is stated at 3 and a half hours when watching video or 10 hours when listening to music.

The AV400 Series ran the same software as AV300, the camera has been removed and a CompactFlash card slot has been built into the product directly. Image preview slides and DRM WMA support, as well as WMV access are also included.

The AV500 Series came just before the PMA400 was released; there was a name conflict within the models. The PMA400 was scheduled to be released as the AV500. Ultimately, the name went to a new model of Digital Video Recorder (DVR). The Archos AV500 Series is similar to the GMini 500, but it has extra facilities (video recording and the new AV Pod).

The Archos AV700 was the turning point for Archos to change the way they sell these devices to the public. The previous slogan, "Think Smaller" was seen as inappropriate for the purpose, so they then changed it to "On The Go". In 2006, Archos developed the TV-Edition from the AV700, the AV700TV.

This unit was released on Thursday May 26, 2005, and weighs 280 g.

The PMA400 is a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) with a Hard Disk Drive and audio and video playback and recording capabilities. The PMA400 was the most expensive within the line of products that they supplied.

Based on the Linux Qtopia Embedded operating system, the device is more like a miniature computer than a normal media player. The original firmware had some major bugs that are now being gradually fixed in an open source firmware by the openPMA project.

• ArcDisk 4 GB

A 4 Gigabyte portable USB disk drive, which provides data transfer to personal computers while on the move. The device plugs into the computer's USB socket and will be recognized as a "Mass Storage Device", enabling the user to transfer data to and from the unit and the computer.

The USB plug is retractable to the unit and neatly folds down to the disk to prevent protruding edges and possible damage. The device is Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh and Linux compatible, and is complete with a keyring attachment to ensure pure portability.

• ArcDisk

Featuring a choice of 2 capacities, 20 GB and 40 GB, (gigabyte), the fast USB 2.0 interface will provide quick transfers for documents, music, video and data. The unit does not require a power supply, and is fully compatible with Microsoft Windows®, Apple Macintosh® and Linux.

Due to the capacity and the size, this has been used mainly for laptop computers.

• MiniHD

A fully featured portable disk drive with unique looks - the attraction to this model has come from its clear blue design and slender looks, long gone are the days of ugly beige boxes. This product uses an AC adapter to provide power to the unit, and given the size and capacity, it's no surprise.

This 20 GB Model was at this point the world's smallest and lightest mini HDD, (Source: emailwire.com), and according to this source does not strictly require a power supply to operate.

• FireHD

An extremely small and portable Hard Disk Drive that comes in 20 and 40 GB capacity. This unit uses a FireWire connection, and is Hot swappable.

It is possible to chain up to 63 of these devices together, and is both Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh compatible. This device also uses an AC adapter.

• ArcFire Zip

A portable Zip drive that runs on FireWire. Supporting both 100 and 250 MB (Megabytes) zip disks, the unit does not need a power supply to operate. Like the above device, the ArcFire Zip is completely compatible with Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh.

• QDisk

An external hard drive that comes in many capacities, the most popular being the 250 GB model. Featuring lights on the side, this enables users to see exactly what is going on with the device. The device is easy to carry and features a USB 2.0 interface.

This model also uses an AC Adapter to operate and comes in 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB, 120 GB, 160 GB and 250 GB.

• ArcFlash

It was one of Archos' earlier inventions, providing the user the possibility to transfer files within a small device. Although this is not very impressive nowadays, when it was first released this was a big thing. The device enables users to transfer files to and from different computers with ease, and as it is solid state memory, there are no risks of the internals moving and skipping and causing errors, unlike hard disk drives. The ArcFlash is 128 MB (Megabytes).

Archos has been known to allow the rebranding of their products. DISH Network, a subsidiary of EchoStar which owns 19% of Archos, currently sells Archos PVPs as PocketDish. There are three versions, the AV700E (AV700), AV500 (AV500), and the AV402E (Gmini 402). A refresh to the current Generation players is under plans.

In May of 2007, American Airlines revealed plans of offering modified Archos 604 and 704s to first-class passengers for entertainment during their flight.

In July, Police officers in the UK were tested with the use of Archos PVPs equipped with the helmet-cam accessory to record videos to help with convictions.

• Rockbox
• Replay Gain
• List of European companies
• Microsoft PlaysForSure
• Portable media player

• Manufacturer's Website
• Open Source Archos Jukebox Firmware (Rockbox)
• Open Source Firmware for Av and Gmini
• openPMA project: Open Source Archos PMA Firmware
• Archos PMA430 on PointLisse.com