Archos Rolls Out ICS Update to Entire G9 Line

15 Comments

View All Comments

• Hrel - Thursday, March 8, 2012 - link

  I really wish Archos made smart phones. Then, even if they did they'd have to be available on Virgin Mobile or it would do me no good.

• Rick83 - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link

  and not just in European markets anymore.
  Even those run (at the moment) "only" on 512MB of RAM, but there's a rumor that a 1G version might spawn, to accompany pre-loaded with ICS retail versions.
  
  Also of note: the ICS builds include drivers for USB-LAN adapters and 3D-Video, so using the g9 tablets as HTPC replacements is becoming ever more viable.
  
  Also a note of caution: you will not get the same level of refinement as you will get from an iPad 2, from these devices. But you will get as good theoretical performance and (many) more features, for half the price. If you want to explore what is possible in the world of tablets, buying Archos is highly recommended. If you want something that "just works" and keeps on working, I would not commit to this. Also it doesn't give you that fuzzy "I helped Apple get filthy rich" feeling ;)

• nismotigerwvu - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link

  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 video conferencing support (Google talk, Skype etc.)
  USB file transfer: a samba server is now activated on the tablet when using USB network tethering for easier file transfer on non Windows based hosts
  Archos widgets: new USB network tether widget
  External Keyboard: french layout has been expanded to handle AtlGr keys for special symbols
  Accessories: Xbox gamepad support
  
  Xbox gamepad support you say? SWEET!

• Camikazi - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link

  OMG Archos is not only updating their products but doing it ahead of many other companies? Have they changed so much form a few years ago?

• Penti - Monday, March 12, 2012 - link

  Archos seems ok, but would love to see a device from them with a truly high-end IPS/PVA display. Like that they are Europeans with a slightly different take on things, view accessories slightly different and so on, and was a pioneer in the field. But they will never be a Kindle or iPad like business. They seem to have a pretty decent software and hardware platform to build on though. So they have to focus on hardware, software integration and external partners. They won't be the ones selling books, movies, apps and all to me, as the EU system won't really allow that, the ones owning movie rights in France aren't the same companies owning them in my country so it's hard to build services like that in Europe. Laws forbids us to do so even though all other services and goods move freely on the common market, some things are easier like apps, games and books, I can access 1 million books from the American Amazon site, but there is no such service serving the needs and languages of the many European states, things like Steam works fine without interference from local distributors or collective collection societies music and movies which are licensed on a regional/national level don't work well at all music is easier to pull together but it's still only on a national level, I wont even be able to use Google Play for anything but the apps. Amazon hasn't pulled it off, Lovefilm offer streaming of some just 6000 titles for example.
  
  Archos need to figure out their focus and they can be a productive player in the field. They seem to view them more like proper computing platforms but needs to do some own work to make that into at reality. ICS should help. I think they have MVA panels now with the G9-series, previously they where not WVA displays basically. €50 Euro 3G-"upgrade" with a stick and Linux kernel support is always a plus and helpful if one needs to add it when traveling or whatever, which can also be used with your laptop and so on. They styling seems to have become a little dated though. Would like them more minimalized and softer looking. They need to look over the software and content side of things, maybe also come with STB media playback solutions, or extend their tablets to properly function as that. Not just working a solution to play wares, but be a proper hub for multimedia, video etc and focus on quality and build of their products.
  
  They might be early with ICS also, but it is still 4 months since the source released on 16 th Nov. They seems to hit most marks in terms of specs for me now, the do have wider viewing angles, pretty standard and up to date firmware/OS, good media playback and SoC platform, but bad availability and so on. So I might go with one of two the mayor Chinese manufacturers here if not the Kindle or Nook still. Huawei Mediapad is pretty well priced here in Sweden for example. Does have fairly high-res IPS screen, fairly well supported SoC-platform, 3G, cameras, BT, GPS, dual-core 1.2GHz Scorpion with 1GB ram, microSD, light weight and pretty much what you would expect. Doesn't really gravitate towards 10" or large tablets, I thought Galaxy tab 7.7 Plus with Exynos and Honeycomb was pretty much hitting the target. At least as consumer devices, otherwise I do like it when they develop products like Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet, too bad on Tegra2 there though. Not too comfortable to go with players like Asus here.