Archos (, stylized as ARCHOS) is a French multinational electronics company that was established in 1988 by Henri Crohas. Archos manufactures tablets, smartphones, portable media players and portable data storage devices. The name is an anagram of Crohas' last name. Also, in Greek (-αρχος), it's a suffix used in nouns indicating a person with power. The company's slogan has been updated from "Think Smaller"[5] to "On The Go",[6] and the current "Entertainment your way".[7]
Archos has developed a variety of products, including digital audio players, portable video players (PVP), digital video recorders, a personal digital assistant, netbooks, more recently tablet computers using Google Android and Microsoft Windows (tablet PCs), and smartphones (which are manufactured by ZTE under the "Archos" brand name).
History
By the year 2000, Archos became an important player in the portable media player market by releasing the very first disk-based digital audio player (DAP) called the Jukebox 6000. This product paved the way for high-capacity DAPs and the eventual wide adoption of MP3 players.[8] Archos' success during this period was attributed to its strategy of technological leadership, releasing different iterations of a product line, which featured a succession of products with better specifications and technology than their predecessors.
In the latter part of the 2000s, Archos began to lose to Apple, which introduced its own portable devices such as the iPod.[9] This development highlighted a trend in the technology industry where beating competitors to the market and equipping products with the most advanced technology available do not always translate to success.[8] The company started phasing out its portable media players in 2008 to focus more on its Android tablet range.
In 2013, the company entered the mobile phone market by launching a series of smartphone models, with such product lines as Archos Cesium, Archos Diamond, Archos Titanium, Archos Platinum, Archos Neon, Archos Xenon, Archos Oxygen and Archos Helium.[10]
Products
Handheld and portable computers with x86 compatible processors
Archos 9 PC Tablet
The Archos 9 PC Tablet is a 9" tablet computer launched October 22, 2009 and contains Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system.[15][16]
Archos 133 PC 13.3" netbook
The Archos 133 PC is a notebook computer with a 13.3" screen. Intel Atom D510 Dual Core, 1 GB 667/800 MHz, Webcam, Windows 7.
Archos 9 PC Tablet
Partnerships
Content portals
Released along with the Generation 5 and Archos TV+ devices in 2007, the Archos Content Portal (ACP) provides video on demand purchase or rental directly to the internet enabled devices. However, there is no PC based software for the service such as iTunes. A major difference from similar services is that given "portals" are serviced by different distributors, such as CinemaNow in North America. Archos has numerous ACP partners worldwide but they vary by region.
MoovyPlay
In the summer of 2007 French-based Cinebank announced MoovyPlay. The device runs on a kiosk to harddrive rental service with Archos building the 40GB player. The Drive attaches to a Dock similar to those seen in Archos players and connects to a Video Display. The device was launched in France on December 10, 2007, with initial success.
PocketDish
DISH Network Corporation, which owns 19% of Archos since 2005, sold Archos PVPs under the PocketDish brand. There were three versions, the AV700E (AV700), AV500 (AV500), and the AV402E (Gmini 402). While the original products are no longer available, on December 18, 2007, Dish Network released info on a new similar deal with the current generation 605 and 705 Wi-Fi, allowing high speed transfers to the devices from their current HD receivers.
See also
- Portable media player
- Tablet computer