Archos MD reveals details on Android phone

Archos MD for UK and Ireland Tony Limrick has told TechRadar how the forthcoming Android device from the PMP manufacturer is likely to look with both its own OS and Android running together.

In a recent interview he told us that the company wouldn't be compromising on screen size, and that in essence it will be "very similar to the Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet with some changes" but that it will "also be slimmer than the Archos 5 series."

The new phone is likely to debut in September at another Archos press event, and the gadget world is eager to find out what form the device is going to take.

Still no good option

"When we look at smartphones today, even with all the options out there, we still say the device that does it all, and does it all well, there's nothing that's achieving that. With internet surfing we still firmly believe you need a five inch screen, minimum, to view the full page and still be able to read it at text level," Limrick said.

"That's what we deliver (with the IMT range), but up to now haven't done the voice bit. By combining with Android, that gives us the voice platform and our new processor power will allow us to run both operating systems in one device, meaning we can incorporate everything we do well, and bring the voice part too."

Larger than anything out there

However, despite the success of the IMT range, the five inch screen size will still be among the largest on the market, dwarfing the likes of the Toshiba TG01 with a 4.1-inch effort.

Limrick thinks that the design won't be too large, despite confirming that users will be able to hold it to their head or speak using a Bluetooth headset:

"Take the 60GB Archos 5 and imagine that has phone capability, it doesn't actually look that weird. If you take the (much thicker) 250GB model it does. We look at all phones out there and we know we'll have a bigger device, but we believe you need a 5 inch screen size for a proper internet experience."

New revenue streams

Limrick also pointed out that expanding into the Android space doesn't only give the company a foothold in the rapidly expanding smartphone market, but also opens up a number of new revenue streams:

"[The Android Archos device] opens up new channels for us, not just with our PMP or netbook range, but new product channels. The number of point of sales we have will increase, and we'll also be partnering with networks.

We're currently in conversations with networks and retailers, as [the Android device] will have to go on a network. There are different ways we could work that model, but we're talking to all the people we need to talk to."