Home automation is the future and Archos knows it
Yes, this is another post about the internet of things blorg — you know, that terrible buzz phrase for this new and actually exciting era of connected gadgets. Except this time, it’s brought to you by Archos. The French outfit’s branching out from its traditional portfolio of Android smartphones and tablets with a new Smart Home solution — an ecosystem that’s similar to Smart Things. The platform, which Archos announced just prior to the new year, incorporates a tablet-like gateway and various sensors that users can place in and around their homes for remote monitoring.
Archos is gearing this whole system more towards convenience than security and its array of Bluetooth sensors prove this point. Smart Home revolves around Archos’ gateway, a 7-inch tablet that gathers and manages a feed of all the data from its various Bluetooth sensors; sensors designed to monitor video, motion, weather and electricity. Though the initial $200 kit comes with just the gateway, one video camera and one motion sensor, users can go out and buy additional sensors piecemeal for anywhere from $14 – $50 (e.g., the weather sensor costs $30).
You may be worrying about the longevity of these sensors, but because Archos has done some work on the Bluetooth stack, battery life is expected to last from 18 months to two years. They’re also water-resistant and feature replaceable batteries, so you can swap out when the charge starts to run low. Additionally, that bit of Bluetooth tinkering also means Archos’ Smart Home system can maintain upwards of 30 individual device connections — that’s way more than traditional low energy Bluetooth.
We were only privy to a brief demo of the Smart Home app running on the gateway — never fear, Android and iOS apps do exist — but the premise is quite simple. The software allows users to set specific triggers based on sensor data to effect actions. So say the temperature in your car drops below freezing, a notification will be sent alerting you that it may be time to de-ice the Chevy, or salt the driveway. Again, it’s all about convenience and users can tailor the system to automate their lives in myriad ways.
Archos intends to begin shipping the $200 Smart Home bundle — which includes the gateway, and two sensors (one for video, one for motion) — in Europe first this February, with the US to follow in March.
Filed under: Household
Archos’ Smartwatches don’t want to be smartphones-lite
Archos is coming at the burgeoning smartwatch space in a different way. Rather than hedge its bets on a single device offering, it’s planning to release a trio of smartwatches for every end of the consumer spectrum. The water-resistant smartwatches in question don’t have specific branding attached as of yet — that will presumably come before launch later this summer — but they are easily distinguished by screen size and display tech used.
Unlike the half-baked, it-can-sorta-do-everything Galaxy Gear, Archos’ smartwatch line is hewing more closely to the Pebble route. These Android- and iOS-compatible devices are designed to supplement your smartphone experience, not replace it. And so, users that buy in will have access to notifications (i.e., SMS, emails, text, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), media playback controls and, of course, a clock. What they won’t be able to do is snap photos on a low-resolution camera, talk into their wrists or reply to messages.
The cheapest of the bunch is Archos’ $50 model, a rugged-looking smartwatch that features a 1.55-inch non-capacitive, black-and-white, memory LCD and is rated for between one and two weeks of battery life. For just $50 more, there’s a color capacitive model that steps up the screen size to 1.8 inches (the same size as an iPod nano) and lasts about 36 – 48 hours. Fans of customization and the fashion-conscious will be glad to know the band on this model can be swapped out. And finally, occupying the line’s premium perch, at $130, is Archos’ e-ink smartwatch, which retains the same screen size as the color model, but with an aluminum-encased curved display.
The smartwatch line isn’t slated to launch until sometime this summer, but when it does, don’t expect all three to be available at once. Archos plans to offer only its $50 model initially, with its higher-end models to follow in the months after.
Brad Molen contributed to this report.
Filed under: Wearables
Weekly Roundup: 2013 in review, NSA iPhone hack, live at CES 2014 and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The year in reviews
We reviewed more than 170 products in 2013, but rather than leave you to sift through them yourself, we’ve compiled our most memorable reviews into one simple package. Click on through for more details.
We’re live at CES 2014!
While you’ve been enjoying a restful weekend, folks at Engadget have been hard at work, prepping for the insanity to come. Click the link for a sneak peek of CES 2014.
2013 in review
Engadget takes a closer look at the biggest triumphs, breakthroughs and failures of the year gone by. From the Netflix explosion to the rise of wearables, we’ve got you covered. Click through to take a look.
Mac Pro teardown
Apple products aren’t exactly known for their serviceability, but according to iFixit’s latest teardown, repairing the new Mac Pro is a surprisingly straightforward affair. Click through for details on the repairability score.
ARCHOS to reveal two new 4G phones at CES
ARCHOS, while not being the most popular of smartphone manufacturers, will be showcasing two new unlocked smartphones at CES 2014. The 50 Helium 4G and the 45 Helium 4G are the company’s first LTE smartphones, and will most likely be causing quite a stir with their price points.
The 45 Helium 4G will be offered for $200, with a 4.5-inch 854×480 screen and 4GB of storage. It will also have a 5MP rear-facing camera, a front-facing VGA camera, and 1,700 mAh Li-ion battery.
The 50 Helium 4G will go for $250, with a 5-inch 720p screen and 8GB of storage. It will have an 8MP rear-facing camera, a 2MP front-facing camera, and 2,000 mAh Li-ion battery.
Both phones offer a 1.4 GHz Quad Core Qualcomm processor, 1GB of RAM, and a MicroSD card slot for expandable memory.
While we haven’t laid our hands on the phones yet, it’s really nice to see manufacturers begin to offer low-priced smartphones. Could this be a Moto G rival? With it’s introduction on LTE, it could possibly be so. Any thoughts on this one? We’d love to hear them!
The post ARCHOS to reveal two new 4G phones at CES appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Archos debuting two 4G smartphones at CES, priced at $200 and $250
It’s not all smartwatches and weather stations for Archos this year at CES. The company may be diversifying its portfolio a bit at the show, but it’s still got its hands in some tried and true categories. For starters, there are the new 45 and 50 Helium 4G handsets. Both run Android 4.3 on a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, with upcoming upgrades to KitKat (version 4.4.2). The 45 is, naturally, the lower-end of the two, featuring a 4.5-inch FXVGA display, 4GB of storage and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, priced at $200 unlocked. The $250 50 Helium 4G, meanwhile, bumps things up a bit, with a 5-inch 1280 x 720 display, 8GB of storage and an 8-megapixel rear camera. Both will be hanging out at the Archos booth in Vegas.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: Archos [PDF]
Archos previews connected home, health monitoring devices ahead of CES
Archos looks to be getting in on the New Year’s resolutions a bit early. The company clearly couldn’t wait for CES to spill the beans on its 2014 lineup — at least so far as connected devices are concerned. The device maker wants to make you a part of its internet of things, previewing a slew of devices, including an activity tracker, scale, blood pressure monitor, weather station and tablet. There is, predictably, not a whole heck of a lot of information on any of the products — in fact, the company’s managed to shove mentions of all of the above into a single press release issued a little more than a week out from the big Vegas event. Archos is collectively referring to the lineup as its “connected objects” — devices that are monitorable in real-time via Android and iOS apps.
There’s not much to say about the 7-inch Smart Home Tablet, at the moment. The company’s positioning the Android device as a “gateway” to connected home actions, like turning on lights and recording video with a mini-cam when a motion sensor is triggered. CES will also see the debut of a new Weather Station from Archos, offering up indoor and outdoor temperature, humidity, CO2, pressure and other readings, along with national and historic levels for comparison. The company’s Connected Self app, meanwhile, was built to work with a handful of new health devices. The list includes a connected scale that tracks body fat, an activity tracker that measures footsteps and burned calories and a blood pressure monitor that comes with an irregular heartbeat detector.
Filed under: Peripherals, Tablets
Archos will debut multiple ‘Pebble-like’ smartwatches at CES, starting at less than $50
There’s one more interesting nugget in today’s jam-packed Archos press release. Alongside the home tablet, scale, weather system, activity monitor, et al. is a very brief mention of a smartwatch — a “selection of” smartwatches, actually. There’s not much info here, save for the fact that at least one of the wearables will hit an under-$50 price point. The company is also apparently comparing the iOS/Android-compatible line to a familiar wearable, referring to it as “pebble-like” in the included press material (lower case, mind). If we had to venture a guess, we’d say the similarity comes from what looks to be an e-ink or e-ink-like display, but it looks like we’re going to have to jump on a plane to Vegas to find out for sure.
Filed under: Wearables
Quechua’s new smartphone aims to tag along on your next wild adventure
Even though it is a pretty populated world already, Quechua wasn’t going to let that interrupt the (rugged) vision for a smartphone of its own. The company, which is known for selling mountain sports gear and equipment, has partnered with Archos t…
Archos Debuts The Arnova 9 G2
Remember back in July when Archos debuted the G9 series? Yeah I barely did too. I had to refresh on them myself. Head slumped with shame Check this out, maybe it will help you too. Well this isn’t a G9 it’s a G2, and even thought there is no pricing with this announcement. We can assume this will priced around the level as all other mid-range tablets. The Arnova 9 G2 is 12.5mm thick and is sporting a 5 point multi-touchscreen at 9.7 inches, 1GHz processor, and is running Android 2.3.Gingerbread. Not a high-end device, but not everyone needs a high-end device. Check out the source for all the details. Keep an eye on us as well. As soon as we hear about prices we will be sure to let you know about it.
Archos 101 G9 review
Archos were making “tablets” before the majority of manufacturers had even considered it. It had large screen devices before the birth of the iPad and before Android even existed. Of course they were called portable media players in those days, and it was a slightly messy business involving software packs and docks.
But can experience in portable media devices give Archos the edge they need in this competitive market? Can their blend of affordability and media handling result in a package with universal appeal?
Design
Beginning with design, as we so often do, doesn’t get the G9 Archos tablet off to the strongest start. The choice of plastics reminds you that this has been designed to a price point and although there are some interesting twists, it doesn’t really manage to stand apart from other budget tablets. Read more 
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