CES 2013: Hands-on with the Archos TV Connect Android 4.1 set-top box (Video)

9to5Google gave you a demo yesterday of the Archos Android-powered GamePad coming to the United States market in the next couple of months. While at the Archos booth on the show floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center for CES this week, we also got the rundown on its new “TV Connect” Android 4.1.1-powered TV product. The set-top box packs a 1.5GHz “Smart Multi Core” CPU, 8GB of storage (microSD card slot up to 32GB), and 1GB of RAM, and it comes with a hybrid game controller/QWERTY keyboard that also includes Wiimote-like gesture support. The TV Connect will retail for $130 this February.
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Archos unveils $129 kid-friendly 7-inch ‘Child Pad’ running Android 4.0

French electronics manufacturer Archos announced today a 7-inch Android tablet for kids.

The “Child Pad” features a lightweight design, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, 1GHz processor, and 1GB of RAM. This slate is kid-friendly because children can access the Kids App Store powered by AppsLib. It is essentially a filtered Android Market with 10,000 apps in 14 categories covering games, communication, multimedia, entertainment, books, comics, and sports.

Children will enjoy the user interface due to its brightly colored icons and home screen folders with direct access to apps. The top 28 children’s apps also come pre-loaded, such as Angry Birds Pig Rush and Flight Frenzy…

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Archos announces new Archos 70b tablet: $199 and Honeycomb

Archos unveiled a new tablet to their lineup: the Archos 70b. The Archos 70b is an updated version of the Archos 70 IT Gen 8 tablet, and it is priced at $199 to potentially compete with others. The Archos 70b packs a 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 7-inch 1024×600 pixel multitouch screen, and 3D graphics accelerator, 512 MB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, front webcam, and Android 2.1 Honeycomb. It is not clear when the device will get Ice Cream Sandwich…if ever.

Most likely seeing some play at CES, the Archos 70b will release in January at $199. This will be a great competitor to the Kindle Fire, due to its front webcam and Android Market support, but most likely will not see sales even close to the Kindle fire that is off to a blazing start. (via CNET)

Archos confirms pricing and release dates for Honeycomb G9 tablets

We hadn’t heard much from Archos in the past few months regarding their upcoming Honeycomb-powered slates, until today. Archos just put out a press release confirming release dates and official pricing for their Android G9 tablet lineup, originally unveiled back in June.

The 1024 x 768 resolution, 8-inch Archos 80 will start at $299 with 8GB of storage and a 1GHZ dual-core processor and be available for pre-order starting September 20 from ARCHOS.com. Sometime in October, you’ll be able to bump that up to a 1.5GHz OMAP 4 dual-core and 16GB of storage for $329, or 250GB of hard drive-based storage for $369.

Also coming in October is the 1280 x 800 resolution, 10.1-inch Archos 101 G9 that packs in the same 1.5Ghz processor as the higher-end Archos 80, starting at $399 for 16GB, up to $469 for 250GB of hard drive-based storage. Both models are capable of spitting out 1080p via the built-in HDMI port and support for a $50 standard PC 3G stick provides 3G network connectivity.

From the press release:
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Philadelphia newspaper launches subsidized Android tablets for subscribers

The parent company of the popular Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com, Philadelphia Media Network has today launched a new program that gets Android tablets in the hands of newspapers subscribers. Subscribers will now be able to purchase an Archos 10 from the paper for $99, with a two-year subscription to the paper.

The Archos 10 tablet isn’t exactly new to the block, being more than a year old. The tablet features a 10.1-inch display, 1 GHz processor, front-facing VGA camera, and preloaded newspaper software for reading.

Tomorrow, the Archos 10 will go on sale for $99 with a two year subscription to both The Inquirer and The Daily News, which cost $9.99 per month each, or for a combined $12.99 per month together…

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