11
Jan
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If you follow Archos, you probably know the French tablet-maker's product formula by now: "cheap and usable." This is a strategy that has allowed the company to expand its product line greatly over the last year, and to branch out into less familiar territory. In particular, the recently-announced TV Connect and Gamepad are two devices unlike anything Archos has made previously.

TV Connect

The TV Connect's purpose is quite simple: you have Android running on your TV, with a TV-remote-meets-gamepad style controller. This is accomplished with a bar that sits atop your television, and plugs in via HDMI. The processor and memory guts are housed in the bar, while the controller is basically just a transmitter device, powered by two AA batteries.

06
Dec
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Back in August, Archos announced its then-upcoming GamePad, a tablet which looks to "revolutionize" gaming on Android. Featuring built-in physical game controls and custom button mapping software, the GamePad removes the need for touch controls, giving mobile gaming a more console-like feel, while its 7" display still keeps it portable enough to toss in your bag and take on-the-go. And now, it's finally available.

The GamePad is on sale in Europe for 149.99€, with North American availability coming in early 2013. The GP features some fairly decent specs, which should make for a solid gaming experience:

  • 7" 1024x600 display
  • 1.6GHz dual-core processor, with Mali 400 MP GPU
  • 8GB onboard storage with microSD card slot and support for up to 64GB of additional space
  • miniHDMI out
  • Android 4.1

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At this time, there's no official word on North American pricing, but we'll keep you posted as soon as more information becomes available.

15
Oct
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Back at the end of August, Archos announced an innovative new tablet called the GamePad. As its namesake suggests, it's built with gaming in mind - complete with on-board controls. In the announcement, Archos claimed the 7" device had "automatic gaming recognition and mapping tools" - the big question was, however, how's that going to work?

We now have a better idea of what to expect from the GamePad, as ArmDevices.net has gotten some hands-on time with the device. The first couple of minutes in the video are the most enlightening, as that's where they show off the button mapping tools.