SOURCE: Archos, Inc.
June 14, 2007 19:00 ET
ARCHOS Introduces First Connected Portable Media Players With Wireless Video Streaming and Downloads
ARCHOS Generation 5 Line Features New ARCHOS Content Portal, Ability to Personalize the Devices, and a Full-Featured Flash-Based WiFi Player for Under $200
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - June 14, 2007) - ARCHOS, Inc., a global consumer electronics
manufacturer and leader in portable digital entertainment, today introduced
its new Generation 5 line of portable media players (PMP), featuring the
new ARCHOS Content Portal and the easiest access to movies, TV shows, music
and music videos. The new line also offers several ways to personalize the
devices to fit individual lifestyles, and provides consumers for the first
time a full-featured PMP for under $200. The ARCHOS Generation 5 line will
be available beginning in September 2007.
The ARCHOS Generation 5 line features thin, pocket-sized devices with the
highest quality screens and a host of unmatched features. Products will
range from $170 to $500 for devices featuring 2GB to 160GB of storage --
for holding 2 to 200 full-length movies, thousands of songs or millions of
photos. New features in the Generation 5 line include Flash storage and SD
card slots which will allow consumers to expand the capacities of their
players, while using SD cards to easily transfer content to and from mobile
phones or digital cameras. Two new WiFi-enabled products feature the
highest quality screens of any PMP on the market, with 800x480 resolution
on a touch-screen display.
"Generation 5 is a breakthrough product line for ARCHOS, with the right
combination of content, capabilities and price to make it easy for
technology novices, while still exciting gadget fans," said Henri Crohas,
ARCHOS founder and CEO. "Our focus is on the consumer -- their interests,
their budget and their time -- and the new products represent the first
connected PMPs that give consumers exactly the options they're looking
for."
Easiest Access to Content
ARCHOS Generation 5 products are designed to give consumers access to their
movies, music and photos not just on the handheld device, but also on their
TV sets at home. ARCHOS will provide consumers with three easy ways to
access content in the home, on the TV or on the go:
-- ARCHOS Content Portal (ACP) -- Provides the easiest way to acquire
movies through ARCHOS devices wirelessly -- without using a PC. The ACP is
integrated into the 605 WiFi and 705 WiFi, providing access to favorite
entertainment content from CinemaNow. (See separate announcement today.)
-- ARCHOS TV Program Guide -- ARCHOS products continue their tradition of
recording TV to their PMPs, and the process is easier than ever with the
integrated ARCHOS TV Program Guide. Together with the new DVR Station Gen5,
ARCHOS TV Program Guide synchronizes with a viewer's local cable or
satellite provider for essentially one-touch scheduling and recording of
favorite shows.
-- ARCHOS WiFi Streaming -- ARCHOS products let consumers stream content
from the Internet, PC or Mac to the TV through a wireless connection in the
home. With the DVR Station Gen5, ARCHOS products connect to Windows Media
Player 11 on the PC, and move a consumer's entire digital life to the TV.
With new Flash support, ARCHOS products also stream Web videos, like those
from YouTube and Dailymotion, to the device or the TV.
Personalized with Plug-Ins
ARCHOS Generation 5 products provide the ultimate level of personalization
through a host of optional plug-ins. The Web Browser plug-in turns the 605
WiFi and 705 WiFi into full Internet surfing machines. The new Widgets
plug-in provides consumers access to hundreds of applications such as
weather, calendars, sports scores, news and games -- directly from the home
page of their device. The Internet Radio plug-in lets consumers stream
their favorite online radio stations directly to the WiFi models.
Additional plug-ins will provide support for the latest audio and video
formats for enjoying High Definition (HD) video (720p @ 24fps) from the
ARCHOS PMP out to a TV, and for streaming HD content from the PC to the TV.
ARCHOS continues to provide the Cinema and Video Podcast plug-ins for the
latest audio and video support. All ARCHOS plug-ins are available through
the ACP for under $30 and can be downloaded through one-touch
synchronization between the ACP and the ARCHOS device.
Complete Line of Connected PMPs
The Generation 5 line features the ultra portable ARCHOS 405, portable and
powerful 605 WiFi, large-screen 705 WiFi, and the ultra mini and affordable
105 music player. The ARCHOS 605 WiFi and 705 WiFi are the most advanced
products in the ARCHOS Generation 5 line, with WiFi, touch screens,
integrated ACP for wireless content downloads, ARCHOS TV Guide, and the
highest quality screen resolution at 800x480.
ARCHOS continues its tradition of easy video recording from the TV, DVD
player or cable box through its DVR Station, enhanced for Generation 5 with
a new remote control. The company will introduce a breakthrough product
this fall with the new ARCHOS TV Plus, a stand-alone DVR featuring a
high-capacity hard drive with HDMI outputs for viewing High Definition
video from the PMP to the TV, and WiFi and Ethernet connections for Web
surfing on TV. With consumers be able to record, store, stream, and synch
content with an ARCHOS PMP, the ARCHOS TV Plus will be the only DVR to
integrate seamlessly with a portable device.
The new line will be available at thousands of retail outlets beginning in
September. Detailed product specifications and pricing will be online at
www.archos.com.
About ARCHOS
ARCHOS introduced the hard-drive-based MP3 player with the Jukebox 6000 in
2000, and since that time has revolutionized consumer electronics devices.
The company invented the portable video player in 2003 and was the first to
bring TV recording, wireless and touch screens to the portable media
player. ARCHOS' award-winning products let consumers enjoy movies, photos,
video, music and television anytime, anywhere. Established in 1988, ARCHOS
has offices in the United States, Europe and Asia, and is quoted on
Compartment B of Euronext Paris, ISIN Code FR0000182479. More information
is available online at www.archos.com.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.