ARCHOS has just announced its new Generation 5 line of Portable Media Players (PMP), with prices ranging from $170 to $500, for devices featuring 2 to 160 GB of storage.
The new line will be available at retail beginning in September. This overview is based on preliminary announcements and brief demos, and therefore is incomplete.
The new products look very familiar from the previous Gen 4 players, with the same metallic case design and user interface -- The focus here was on making them thinner and lighter and less expensive -- plus adding interesting upgrades like fun Widget applications and streaming Flash video over WiFi from sites including YouTube.
The top of the line, the ARCHOS 705 WiFi and 605 WiFi, have 800 x 480 widescreen displays with touch screen interfaces, and, obviously, the WiFi wireless networking.
- The larger ARCHOS 705 WiFi has a 7 inch screen, and comes with an 80 or 160 GB hard drive, and weighs a noticeable 22 oz. The price will range up to $500.
- The ARCHOS 605 WiFi is pocket-sized, with a 4.3" screen, weighs 6.7 / 9+ oz., and is available with a 30 GB hard drive for $299 or 160 GB for $339.
In a new development, the 605 also comes in a version with flash solid state memory -- 4 GB, plus a SD Card expansion slot, 4.2 oz., for $229.
Then ARCHOS is offering two more flash-based players, without WiFi.
- The ARCHOS 405 is a smaller version of the widescreen players, with 3.5'' 320 x 240 display, 4 GB memory, and SD slot, 4.2 oz. -- a lot for $169.
- And the ARCHOS 105 is a different animal -- a mini media player with 1.8'' OLED display, 160 x 128, 2 GB flash memory, and weighing 1.8 oz. It supports a more limited set of formats and features than the other players.
See full article: ARCHOS Generation 5 Portable Media Players
See more in the Portable Media Players Gallery
Check out the current Archos 704-WiFi on Amazon.com.