Archos G10 xs Teaser Video with Sliding Keyboard Dock

Archos has just released a teaser video for its next generation Android tablet, the Archos G10 xs (xs stands for extra small). The video does not show much, except the concept of the new tablet which features a sliding keyboard where the tablet can be docked. Archos has not released the specifications for the G10 XS yet, but we do know the casing is made of stainless steel, is 7.6mm thick (12mm with the keyboard) and Archos has worked for 3 years on this design. There will be several models whose retail price should be between 200 and 300 Euros (Which would be between 200 and 300 USD in the US thanks to lower taxes). The new tablets will be powered by a Texas Instruments processor (probably OMAP 4) like the Archos G9 tablets and run Android 4.0 and Windows 8 depending on the model. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX […]

ARCHOS G9 Tablets Get Android 4.0.3 with Firmware 4.0.4

Archos has finally released a new firmware for Archos 80 G9 / 101 G9 and A70B that supports Android 4.0.3 (ICS). There are also some improvements for the MediaCenter,  File Manager and more. Here’s the ChangeLog: Version 4.0.4 – March 8th, 2012 Initial Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3 firmware release MediaCenter Video: support for MKV3D on TV with automatic switch to best 3D mode MediaCenter Video: allow to disable system notifications in video player MediaCenter Video: collection of VOB files from DVD are now gathered into a single movie item MediaCenter Music: integrate Music control panel in Lock Screen MediaCenter info dialog: allow to edit the name used for performing the Movie and TVShow online search File Manager: display a notification when file copy continues in background File Manager: improved drag and drop support File Manager: new option to prevent indexing of some storage/sdcard folders by multimedia library Applications: more robust […]

Archos Announces 129 USD Android 4.0 Child Pad Tablet

Archos announced the Child Pad, an Android 4.0 (ICS) Tablet with a 7″ capacitive touchscreen featuring an unnamed 1 GHz Cortex A8 processor (possibly a Rockchip RK2918) with 1GB of RAM, 4 GB internal storage and an SD slot for up to 32GB. This tablet aimed at kids includes access to the Kids App Store – powered by AppsLib – with 14 categories and over 10,000 apps including games, entertainment, communication, multimedia, books, comics and sports. As you can see in the picture above, the user interface has been customized to be “kid-friendly” with colored icons, home screen folders with direct access to games, entertainment, learning and puzzles.  The device will come pre-loaded with 28 “kids’ apps” including Angry Birds, Pig Rush and Flight Frenzy. Archos has also designed the Child Pad to comply with CIPA (pronounced like SIPA?) and COPPA US regulations in order to “ensuring a safe tablet […]

Archos 80/101 G9 Firmware Version 3.2.80 Released

Archos has just released a new firmware for Archos 80 G9 / 101 G9 and A70B. Here’s the ChangeLog: Version 3.2.80 – February 3rd, 2012 Video: improve audio/video synchronization on HDMI Video: improve playback of some FLV files File manager: add ability to copy files larger than 4GB Keyboard: better Arabic virtual keyboard layout Internationalization: translations improvements for Arabic and Hebrew Flash on A70B: fix flash video not displayed on some web sites Video on A70B: improve 720p playback support on LCD and TV out Hard drive based products: avoid suspend/resume issues happening sometimes The update should be done automatically OTA, but alternatively the firmware can be downloaded at http://update.archos.com/9/gen9/gen9_3.2.80/firmware_archos_it4.aos Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

Archos Gen8 Firmware Version 2.4.82 Released

Archos has released a new firmware for Archos  28/32/35/43/70/101 internet tablets (Generation 8). This is a bug fix version, no Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) here. Here’s the changelog: Version 2.4.82 – January 25th, 2012 USB host: fix host not working anymore on some A101 units Archos 35 home connect: allow to change temperature unit in weather clock Video: improve playback of some FLV files The firmware can be downloaded at http://update.archos.com/8/gen8/gen8_2.4.82/firmware_archos_android_gen8.aos Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

Archos G9 Tablets Will Officially Get Android 4.0

Back in December, a demo of Android 4.0 running on Archos 80 G9 was published. Today Archos has officially announced that Android 4.0 would be available very soon for all Archos G9: Archos 80 G9 and Archos 101 G9 including the Turbo version in their Facebook account: Who’s Hungry for ICE CREAM SANDWICH? All ARCHOS G9’s (both current and future) will receive an official upgrade to ICS (ANDROID 4.0) in the near future. With ARCHOS, your device will have full ICS including access to the Google Market, Google Suite of Apps and DRM Support There won’t be any official update for Archos G8 and if you have such device, you’ll have to stay with Android 2.2 for now. If you really need Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) on your Archos Generation 8 (e.g. Archos 70IT), you’ll have to use CyanogenMod CM7 ROM. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a […]

Android 4.0 on Archos 70 G8 Tablet

“LeTama” has ported Android ICS to Archos G8 Tablet based on OMAP3630. The video below shows Android 4.0 running on Archos G8 70S. The user interface seems a bit sluggish at times, but this is an alpha version with only 3D/Touchscreen working and more work needs to be done to have a fully functional release. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

Special Developer Edition (SDE) for Archos G9 Tablets

Back in October, Archos released the GPL source code for Archos G9 Tablets and at the time the Special Developer Edition (SDE) was not released even though it is available for G8 devices. Now the SDE has still not been officially released, but I found a forum post on XDA Developers Forum explaining how the SDE Menu could be enabled by following the instructions below. Root your device with Paul O’Brien’s root here. (it won’t work if the device is not rooted) Unzip the content of gen9_enable_sde.zip to a directory. Launch the script enable_sde. Reboot into recovery mode, you should have the SDE menu now, you can flash your own kernel+initrd the same way it was done on previous generation. One trick: the initramfs should be still named initramfs.cpio.gz, but it should be compressed with lzma with current kernel. Another trick: to get rid of paul’s root as it messes up […]

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