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Archos thinks small for next Cortex-A8 Android tablet

Aug 12, 2010 — by Eric Brown — from the LinuxDevices Archive — 4 views

A 3.2-inch, Android 2.1 tablet called the Archos 32 has been spotted on the FCC's website. Like the Archos 5 and Archos 7, the Archos 32 is said to run on an ARM Cortex A8 system-on-chip (SoC), and offers GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, accelerometers, and composite video out, according to a manual posted on the FCC site.

The recently rumored Archos 32 tablet was discovered by WirelessGoodness on an FCC (Federal Communications Commission) page, suggesting an imminent arrival in the U.S. market (see link at end of story). Archos' smallest Internet Tablet yet, the Archos 32 is equipped with a feature-phone-like 3.2-inch, 400 x 240 touchscreen that makes the 4.8-inch, Android-ready Archos 5 Internet Tablet and the five-inch Dell Streak look like iPads by comparison.


Archos 32, from manual posted on FCC site

Source: FCC

The Archos 32 reminds us a bit of ZiiLabs' 3.5-inch Zii Egg StemCell Computer portable media player (PMP). Like the Android-ready Zii Egg, it does not appear to offer a cellular modem or telephony functions, but seems to pack a lot of multimedia goodies.


Archos32 in FCC mugshot

Source: FCC

Like the Archos 5 and Archos 7, the Archos 32 runs on an ARM Cortex A8 system-on-chip, most likely the same Texas Instruments OMAP3x SoC used by its forebears. In March, Archos also announced two 600MHz ARM9-based tablets called the Archos 7 Home Tablet and the kitchen computer-like Archos 8 Home Tablet, with the names as usual indicating screen size.


Archos 32's bottom-facing ports

Source: FCC

Running Android 2.1, the Archos 32 is equipped with 8GB of internal flash storage, says the manual posted on the FCC site. Other features are said to include GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, accelerometers, and composite video out. A digital TV receiver that enables live TV and DVR features is said to be optional.


Inside the Archos 32

Source: FCC

Like its fellow Archos PMPs, the Archos 32 offers a variety of media players and image viewers. WirelessGoodness notes that the screenshots suggest that the device does not offer Android Market support. This would follow the lead of other Android Archos tablets, which require the use of an Archos app site.

Availability

According to WirelessGoodness, the Archos 32 is expected fairly soon, and will be priced in the $150 range.

The FCC page for the device may be found here, and the WirelessGoodness story may be found here.


This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.



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