Archos (Template:PronEng) is a French consumer electronics company that was established in 1988 by Henri Crohas. Archos manufactures portable media players and portable storage devices. The name is an anagram of Crohas' last name, and it is also Greek for 'master' (αρχος). The company's slogan has been updated from Think Smaller to On The Go and the now-current Entertainment your way.

Archos has developed a variety of products, including digital audio players, PVPs (portable video players), digital video recorders, and a personal digital assistant. They also now offer tablet PCs, netbooks, and Google Android powered Internet tablets.

In September 2009 Archos announced the Archos 5 Internet Tablet ^[1]

Being an extension of the Archos 5, this Internet Tablet utilizes Google's Android mobile operating system .

Specifications:
Processor based on ARM Cortex-A8, 32 bit, dual-issue, superscalar core @ 800 MHz
256 MB of RAM
4.8" display, 800x480 resolution
Video Playback
Music Playback
Storage: 8 to 32 GB Flash memory + Micro SD Slot (SDHC compatible) or 160GB - 500GB with 2.5" hard drive (ext3 file-system)
Built in GPS
Bluetooth 2.0
FM Radio

^[2]

Being an Internet Media Tablet this device utilizes a unique Linux OS.

Specifications:
Processor based on ARM Cortex-A8, 32 bit, dual-issue, superscalar core @ 600 MHz
128 MB of RAM
4.8" display, 800x480 resolution
Video Playback
Music Playback
Storage: 30gb - sfr 3g 1.8" hdd, 60GB - 250GB with 2.5" hard drive (ext3 file-system)
FM Radio

7-inch tablet that utilizes Google's Android mobile operating system (version 1.5).^[3]

Specifications:
ARM 9 processor, 32 bit, RISC core @ 600 MHz
128 MB of RAM
7" display, 800x480 resolution
Video Playback
Music Playback
Storage: 8GB built-in, MicroSD slot support up to 32GB cards

Archos 9 is an internet media tablet or better Windows based TabletPC launched October 2009 utilizing Microsoft's Windows 7 Operating System.^[4].

Base Unit Technical Specifications^[5]

• 9 inch resistive touchscreen (single touch)
• Windows 7 Starter Edition (online upgradeable to Professional or Ultimate Edition via Microsoft Anytime Upgrade)
• Intel ATOM Z515 CPU running at 1.2 GHz (old Revision had only ATOM Z510 CPU running at 1.1 GHz)
• 1GB onboard (DDR2 SDRAM 400)
• 60GB internal hard drive (1.8")
• WiFi via integrated and included PCI-E interface with 1 antenna and support of IEEE 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR compatible)
• Built-in 1.3 Megapixel webcam & microphone
• 1024 x 600 screen resolution^[6]
• Mini touchpad with two buttons
• Stylus for handwriting (stored at the backside)
• Virtual keyboard (fast activation with exclusive button)
• 3–5 hours battery life depending on utilization
• Built-in leg stand (2 positions)
• Dimension 256 x 134 x 17 mm
• 800 grams

In January 2009, Archos released their first netbook, the Archos 10, following the naming scheme of the IMT players. It is a standard netbook featuring the intel Atom N260 CPU, a 10.2" WSVGA screen, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB Harddrive, and Windows XP. It is a rebranded Hasee MJ125, but has the distinction of including addition software such as an anti-virus, multimedia, and productivity software.^[7] It sits under the mini-PC section of their website^[8]

Archos recently introduced their vision line

The Archos 24 is a pocket size MP3 player.

• The ARCHOS 24 vision is a stylish music player, with a crisp 2.4” color screen for photos. The ARCHOS 24 vision features 8 GB of storage, with room for up to 4,000 songs. It has built-in FM radio.

The Larger Archos 3 "Vision" sports a 3" touchscreen and can play back MP3, WMA, AVI,FLV and JPEG. It stores up to 4000 songs and dozens of movies. It has voice and FM radio recording functions and an FM transmitter which allows wireless streaming music from your ARCHOS 3 Vision to an FM radio sources, such as car radios or home HiFi (available in 8GB only).

• Internal Storage 8 GB*
• Compatibility Windows or Mac and Linux (with mass storage support)
• Computer Interface USB 2.0 High Speed
• Screen 3” Color LCD touch-screen - 400x240 pixels
• Battery2 14 hours music, 4 hours video
• Music Playback3 MP3, WMA (non protected files), WAV, OGG, FLAC
• Photo Playback4 JPEG, BMP, GIF
• Recorder Records voice from the microphone or FM radio
• Other Applications Adjustable sound equalizer, multi-language Interface, stopwatch, calendar
• Other File Formats Reads text files (.TXT) & lyrics files (.LRC)
• Physical Dimensions: 95mm x 52mm x 9mm, Weight: 63 grams
• Package includes ARCHOS 3 Media Player, USB Cable (for charging and file transfer), earphones *and user manual
• Features Clock , Calendar , FM recording , Lyrics display
• Display Type 3 in - Color
• Display Features Touch screen
• Video Playback Formats RM,AVI,FLV,WMV,RMVB,MPEG-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4

• The ARCHOS 3cam vision is a media player with features similar to the 3 vision. Not only does the ARCHOS 3cam vision has an integrated camera for recording video and taking pictures and a 3” LCD touch screen display.

• released in 3/5/2010 The ARCHOS 43 vision is a sleek video media player with a sharp 4.3” touch screen display, 8GB of storage capacity and 30 hours of battery life. The ARCHOS 43 vision has very slim form factor, only 10 mm and weighing only 280 g.

The ARCHOS 18 vision is an all-in-one affordable device ; featuring a 1.8” color screen, sleek black casing and 8 GB of storage. It also features an FM radio and voice recorder, as well as 12 hours of battery life.

The ARCHOS 15 vision is quite thin (only 6 mm) and light (only 18 g) with highly responsive touch keys and the 1.5 color screen that makes the ARCHOS 15 vision very easy to use. It combines the extreme portability with the 4 GB of storage and the FM radio..

The new ARCHOS 14 vision is an ultra portable MP3 player with 1.4" color screen. Thanks to its original and unusual small design form factor and extreme light weight, the ARCHOS 14 fits into a jean pocket. With 4 GB of storage it accommodates 2,000 songs.

Smaller than a credit card and lighter than a pack of gum, it has a playback time of over 20 hours and with a very affordable price. It comes with 4 GB of storage space, and can display music lyrics and photos.

• The ARCHOS 2 Vision is a credit card-sized device with a touch area for scrolling. It comes with 8 GB or 16 GB of storage space.

On April, 2010 information about the next generation of Archos devices (Generation 8) has found its way to the internet in form of a presentation slide. The generation will consist of 6 different devices, ranging from having a 3" to a 10" screen. Pricing is supposed to be ranging between 100$ and 350$. Hardware features will consist of an ARM Cortex (between 800 MHz and 1 GHz), 3G connectivity, OpenGL, Multitouch and possibly more. A release date has not yet been set. ^[9]

On August 19, 2008, Archos announced their 6th generation portable media players with WiFi and cellular 3G internet capabilities. Labeled as "Internet Media Tablets" or (an) "IMT" for short, they come with a full-function Presto-based web browser, vTuner-based web TV and radio applications after registration. These devices use a built-in hard disk as storage capacity. The Archos 5 is available in capacities of 60, 120, and 250 GB; while the Archos 7 is in 160 and 320 GB capacities and the Archos 5G is in 30 GB. Though similar to the Archos 5, the Archos 5G features 3.5G HSDPA wireless connectivity.

discontinued because of the new vision line replaced with the 24 vision

• Tech Specs archos 2

• Internal Storage Available in 8 GB and 16GB*
• Expandability MicroSD / MicroSDHC card slot
• Compatibility Windows or Mac and Linux (with mass storage support)
• Computer Interface USB 2.0 High Speed
• Screen Color 1.8 - 128x160 pixels
• Battery 10 hours music, 4 hours video
• Video Playback AVI (conversion needed)
• Music Playback MP3, WMA
• Photo Playback JPEG
• Recorder Records voice through the built-in microphone
• Other Selectable sound equalizer presets, Multilanguage Interface
• Extras Reads text files (.TXT) & lyrics files (.LRC)
• Physical Dimensions: 84mm x 41mm x 9mm, Weight: 50 grams

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

The 605 Wifi and 405 officially went on sale on September 1, 2007. The 605Wifi comes in 30GB, 80GB, and 160GB models as well as a 4GB model with an added SDHC slot. There is also a DSGi (Electrical Retailer) model specific to the United Kingdom which has a 40GB Hard Drive. The 405 comes in 2GB with SDHC slot. A 30GB version was later added.

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

The main upgrade in this series was the addition of the Archos content portals (ACP). Also the Opera web-browser became optional but added support for Adobe Flash mainly for the purpose of online video streaming. Firmware 2.1.04 was released on May 27, 2008 which allowed YouTube and Google Video streaming.

The Archos TV+ is a standalone Digital Video Recorder station from Archos which performs similarly to an Archos player with a DVR dock. It will also include the new Qwerty remote for navigation and internet use. The device was announced alongside the Generation 5 players and is presented as competition to the Apple TV^[10]. The Archos TV+ was released in January after some initial reviews from the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show.

The Generation 4 series is an upgrade to the previous AV Series. The 8 models include the 404, the 504, the 604, the 604 WiFi, and the 704 WiFi. All players in this 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, due to licensing costs, separate plugins must be purchased to unlock these capabilities.

The PMA400 is a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) with a hard disk drive, audio and video playback, and recording capabilities. It was released on Thursday May 26, 2005, and weighs 280 g. The PMA400 was the most expensive within the line of products that they supplied. The product runs on the Qtopia Embedded operating system.

The AV300 was released Monday March 22, 2004, and weighs 12.3 ounces (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 battery life of the device is stated at 3 and a half hours when watching video or 10 hours when listening to music.

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

The AV500 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 is similar to the GMini 500, but it has extra facilities (video recording and the new AV Pod).

With the release of the AV700, Archos changed the company slogan from "Think Smaller" to "On The Go". In 2006, Archos developed the TV-Edition from the AV700, the AV700TV.

Gmini 400 was introduced in October 2004. It has a color LCD screen as well as photo, audio and video playback capacities.

The Gmini 402 replaced the Gmini 400 featuring PlaysForSure compatibility. The Gmini 402 Camcorder was later introduced which includes a 1.2MP (Megapixel) digital camera, 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 released. It also has full support for Windows Media's PlaysForSure system which allows users to play DRM restricted music.

The Gmini 120 cannot play DRM-protected WMA files, and was also released as 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.

The Gmini XS 100 group of players features a 1.5" screen, and full PlaysForSure capabilities. The Gmini XS 200 has a monochrome screen that supports gapless playback. It was replaced by the Gmini XS 204, which adds a color screen and image viewing capabilities.

The Archos Jukebox 6000 was one of Archos' first portable media players, containing a 6 GB hard drive. 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 Studio succeeded the Jukebox 6000.

The Archos Jukebox Recorder was similar to the Player/Studio models, but featured recording capabilities.

The Archos Jukebox Multimedia is the first official portable media player, which enabled users to upload digital camera content via accessory card readers that connected directly to the device's expansion port.^{[clarification needed]} It also featured an audio and video player, an image viewer, and appropriate AV cables included. The player also has the ability to record audio from a line-in source straight into MP3 format. The player features a 10 or 20 GB hard drive and uses DivX MPEG4 format for video recording and playback.

• 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

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.

Though PVPs are their primary market, Archos has also released a number of different portable storage devices over the years. Their last devices were the ArcDisk series from 2005.

In the mid 90's, Archos produced a range of peripherals for the Commodore Amiga range of computers.

• ColorMaster

The Archos ColorMaster was a graphics card for the Amiga 500, that increased the number of colours that could be displayed on the screen.

• Dual Video Port

The Archos Dual Video Port was a board that added a second RGB video port to the Amiga 4000.

• Avideo24

The Avideo24 was a graphics card for the Amiga 3000.

• Overdrive

The Overdrive was an external hard disk for the Amiga 600 and Amiga 1200.

• Overdrive CD

The Overdrive CD was an external CD-ROM drive for the Amiga 600 and Amiga 1200.

• Amen32

The Amen32 was a RAM expansion card for the Amiga 1200. It also provided a socket for an FPU.

• Add500 and Add2000

The Add500 and Add2000 were a SCSI controllers with FAST RAM expansion for the Amiga 500 and Amiga 2000 respectively.

Released along with the Generation 5 and Archos TV+ devices in 2007, the Archos Content Portal (ACP) provides video on demand purchase or rental directly to the internet enabled devices. However, there is no PC based software for the service such as iTunes. A major difference from similar services is that given "portals" are serviced by different distributors, such as CinemaNow in North America. Archos has numerous ACP partners worldwide but they vary by region.

In the summer of 2007 French-based Cinebank announced MoovyPlay. The device runs on a kiosk to harddrive rental service with Archos building the 40GB player. The Drive attaches to a Dock similar to those seen in Archos players and connects to a Video Display. The device was launched in France in December 10, 2007 with initial success.

DISH Network Corporation, which owns 19% of Archos since 2005, sold Archos PVPs under the PocketDish brand. There were three versions, the AV700E (AV700), AV500 (AV500), and the AV402E (Gmini 402). While the original products are no longer available, on December 18, 2007 Dish Network released info on a new similar deal with the current generation 605 WiFi and 705 WiFi, allowing high speed transfers to the devices from their current HD receivers. Unlike with the original PocketDish, the products will not be sold a Dish rebranding, instead the software plug-in was made available for free for the two products. They are expected to be sold alongside Dish products in January.^[11] In 2008 Dish Network's PocketDish page was updated to show the new service and products.

• American Airlines

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

• Opera

Opera Software has provided the web browser for Archos devices since the PMA400. They are a version of Opera for Devices similar to that seen on the Wii video game console and the Nokia N800 Internet appliance.^[12] On Generation 5 devices Adobe Flash support was added. An update to full Flash 9 support was announced in April 2008 from the current Flash 7.

• SFR

In late 2007, SFR, a French mobile phone company, announced to be building a new device with Archos that ulitizes 3G communication. It was revealed to be the Archos 5g. The Archos 5g is currently available for a discounted price through SFR for a service contract.

• Blockbuster

A similar deal to the one with Cinebank was announced with Blockbuster Inc. in 2008. The specifics were revealed and Blockbuster hinted that the service will not be Archos exclusive.^[13]

• Portable media player

• Archos official homepage
• Archosfans.com Forum Support
• Archosfans.com Wiki
• ArchosLounge.net French website

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