A really out of focus picture was taken in the Trois Suisses winter catalog:


thanks nono55

These are reported dimensions:

Archos 404: 7.8 x 10.2 x 1.5 cm 185gr
Gmini402cc: 6.0 x 10.6 x 1.7 cm 160gr (for comparison)

Archos 504: 7.8 x 13.0 x 2.3 cm 325gr
AV5100 . . .: 7.6 x 12.4 x 2.4 cm 315gr (for comparison)

Archos 604: 7.8 x 13.0 x 1.6 cm 255gr
AV530 . . . .: 7.6 x 12.4 x 1.8 cm 255gr (for comparison)

404: 30GB price 350€ (probably a 1,8" harddrive)
504: 40GB price 400€ (probably a 2,5" harddrive, capacity should be up to 160GB)
604: 30GB price 500€ (probably a 1,8" harddrive and a touchscreen)

Rumor has it they will all have WiFi built-in, probably 54mbit/s WiFi-G.. I hope that the 604 will be available with a 2,5" harddrive and that it will include software for Browsing the internet, VOIP, emails, IM.. and it would be nice with also Bluetooth and modules..

Hopefully all models will have removable batteries, including higher capacity ones..

I don't know if the Trois Suisse information is reliable enough, possibly the 404, 504 and 604 won't have such similar dimensions and possible they will be of different designs..

Echostar has confirmed though that the next PocketDish versions are comming soon and that they will have WiFi.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread. ... PocketDish

"Charlie talks about how great the PocketDish is and he slips and says some new models are coming which have built in WiFi which we will hear about later this year."

I am hoping for high definition support, h264, Mpeg2-DVR compatibillity accross all models, AC3 audio in videos. And also ultimate model should have 3.5G, WiMAX, GPS eigther built-in or as modules. The OS hopefully will welcome third party software. Possibly the screens have the new and better OLED backlight instead of TFT. And possibly there are some 800x480 resolution screens instead of 480x272.

404 might not be able to record video without a craddle..

thanks Bysus


thanks florent


thanks Bysus

So the 404 will have a 3,5" screen, I think that it's possibly a 4/3 screen.

The optional 79€ cradle will have these connectors according to a new scan from La Redoute, which is another new french electronics catalog:

"Connectors : composite video output, S-Video, YUV, RVB, RCA stereo audio output, SPDIF, USB host connector (connect an external hard drive)"

Which leaves the possibility for high definition support, other than h264 and Mpeg2 which are very probable new supported codecs.

USB host connector on the cradle itself might mean you would have your 300GB external hard drive always connected to your cradle, on which you could store lots of more videos. Will be interesting to see if the new usb-host will be 480mbit/s usb2 instead of the past generation 11mbit/s usb1.

No info yet though about a cradle that works autonomously as a DVB and Mpeg4 DVR, which would be remote controlled with the Internet browser and which could stream content over Wifi and the Internet to the devices. Probably though the next generation Mpeg4-compatible Dish DVRs will have some new interesting features together with these new Archos devices.

These pictures are not taken from a real product. Changes must be expected.

A flash video has been released officially which shows the features that we can expect in Archos devices coming soon:

http://www.archos.com/corporate/investo ... video.html

And there is a PDF file here: http://www.archos.com/corporate/investo ... it_ENG.pdf

The source of the video and the PDF file is here:

http://www.archos.com/corporate/investo ... fr&lang=fr

Following are some screenshots that I take out of the flash video and which I comment:



In the beginning of the video, the Archos turns around on itself, briefly this is shown as to be the back the the device. Could this be a camera on the upper side of the back of the device?

Archos has shown with the Gmini402cc released a year ago that they can integrate very decent quality video camcorder camera into their devices.



The Docking station is labeled as "DVR station", underlying the DVR compatibillity between the role of the Docking station and Dish Networks DVRs in USA and Canal+ DVR machines in Europe. As well as other digital video broadcasting companies might have their DVRs copatible with Archos in the future.



The Electronic Program Guide is going to be compatible with Archos devices, which means you can get TV program information and TV guide textual information and timecodes for when and which TV shows appear on which TV channel. Once the EPG is compatible with Archos devices, it means you can select TV programs that you want to record, instead of entering manually the start and end time and channel number to record. As well as the naming of the recorded file is done automatically to the name from the EPG.



An effort since the PocketDish has maybe been done in terms of the DVR's remote control affecting what is going on with the Archos device. For example for recordings synchronisation and other features, of the DVR and of the Archos, all done with the same remote control. This is allready the case with the Dish Networks DVR remote control and the digital usb connection to the Archos device.



Here we see some details about functionalities of the possible buttons to be present on the next generation Archos devices. There is up, left, right, down, OK and Menu buttons. With the left side of each button seems to have another functionality. As the left side of the menu button seems to have a refresh icon.



This GPS navigation bit was probably made up with some flash graphics. I cannot recognize it as being an interface from an existing GPS nagivation software.



It shows a green and a white led at the upper right side of the device.





The interface is not very clear on the video, purposedly, but it does seem to be a bit similar to the interface of the Archos AV500 and AV700 devices.. With possibly 8 big icons at the main menu.



This looks like outlook! I expect the maker of this video just grabbed a screenshot from outlook on a windows pc and inserted it in to make it look like there is going to be an email application.



If this is anyway representative of the resolution of the screen, the Google logo being 158 pixels wide, it might be a 480x272 resolution screen that is going to be used. And not yet a 800x480 resolution screen. The browser software might be Opera like the one Archos used in Qtopia Linux on the PMA430 released a year and a half ago.



The interface for video on demand here is just a screenshot from http://canalplay.com in a normal browser. I expect VOD will look differently when it's on an Archos device, probably it will have a simple standard interface that looks similar as browsing files located on the Archos itself, it just needs to have all the authentication, payment managment, playsforsure download and subscription compatibillity and more..



There underneath the 3.5G logo there is a GSM logo. Which might mean that the Archos devices will be used also as normal phones on a GSM network. Or it might mean backwards compatibillity with 3G UMTS, 2.5G GPRS and quad-band 2G GSM networks.







It's going to be interesting to see if all those possibillities will be integrated in one device, or if there will be one type of device with DVB-T TNT only, one other with Wifi, one other for GPS and one other with 3.5G functionality eigther built-in or through Bluetooth.



This last part says:
TV Recording
Video on Demand
Nomadic TV
Internet Browser
Electronic Mail
Car Navigation

WOW cool!! What system will be on it? Qtopia?? It looks like it has a better graphics crad in it!! When will it be relased ?? Do you know anything? half year one year?

On the 24th of July they are going to have a general assembly for investors in Paris, where they will release some new products. It is rumored the 604, 504 with 4.3" 16/9 screens and the 404 which is about the size of the Gmini400 with 3.5" 4/3 screen will be released within a month.

The OS is not known. But I expect they have somekind of Linux going on since Browser, Email, VOD and other features would be hard to build from scratch without using somekind of Linux OS. But the OS might be more under control this time, so when Archos releases software upgrades everyone can get them automatically over the Wifi connection. So it is to be seen.

I'm sure they are improving processing and graphics since the AV400, but sadly it does not seem to be games oriented like with the Gmini400.. It must have been a choice since they saw low sales on the Mophun games on their website. I would think having buttons on each side of the screen and running emulators of all consoles up to N64 would be a great way to boost interest for the device. Archos should work with Nintendo making the next portable games device with multimedia and IP functionalities. There isn't space in the pockets for more than one device.

So how would GPS work on the new units? I assume it would require subscription to a third-party service? Supported in the US?

Touch screen? They had it in the PMA400 (Which I was just about to buy at the end of the week but am debating between that and the 404 now lol). There is alot of talk about the Apple spokesman's hint of 'a button-free interface' or something like that. People are thinking voice recognition or touch screen, maybe Archos (being one step ahead as always [i remember when the biggest iPod was 3Gb and Archos already had portable video lol]) thought they could beat them this way. I think they will bigtime. That intro video and PDFs show some revolutionaty stuff that could turn the market around. Set-top boxes with built in HDDs (Like a mediacenter), Internet on your TV amd TV via your internet, internet and Digital TV anywhere you are. I FREAKING LOVE ARCHOS! Can't wait. I think I am going to go ahead and buy me a PMA400 now then sell it later.

Hey guys, I suggest not being too excited. This is JUST a video!
As a graphic designer, I often make videos and special effects and I can tell you that looking deep in the details in this flash video is not a good idea. In fact, the guy who did this just wanted us to have a glance on what this product will eventually look like, by no means those informations are contractual !
For instance the "windows outlook" screenshot to show that there will be an e-mail software reveals how unaccurate the informations are.


A word to the wise is enough...

Sure the flash video was made by a team who did some creative art renderings. But I suspect that lots of information from the video were chosen to be included by Archos product managers based on the state of their actual working prototypes in their labs.

The final device might look different, but the most important is the information about internet access technologies that Archos has in their roadmap.

Here are a few scans from the french PDF file:










Sure SilverStream, you can get the PMA430 for 200-300€ right now. I think that is a good price no matter what if you want to play for a little while with that device, even though the PMA430 was released in February 2005 and that official firmware updates haven't been done in about a year. It's even better if you think you can sell it after a bit of use on ebay or something.

I've been holding off on a new purchase because of their releasing several new products this summer. Its past the supposed release date now for the 404, 504 & 604, has anyone heard anything about availability or features? I am looking for something that is the equivalent of the AV500, so obviously my main question is what the purpose of the 604 is. It doesn't appear to have a bigger screen, so there must be some niche that it fills. Barring any specific feature that would interest me though, I am certainly looking forward to the WiFi in the new 504 at least so is there any rumors about the 504 having the 100GB drive soon? Frankly, its pointless to buy a 30 or 40GB product when a 100GB version exists for a fraction more. Space is just about the top selling point for me personally, and I can't see myself buying anything smaller than possibly 60GB.

Thanks,

K.

Mpeg4-ASP
WMV at DVD resolution and up to 3mbit/s.

Optional codecs, available when buying the plug-in from Archos official website:

H264 with AAC
Mpeg2 with AC3

Also AAC and AC3 audio-only codecs can be bought.

















Source http://www.t3.co.uk/news/247/entertainm ... archos_604

The release of the 604, 404 and 504 is possibly within a month from now.

I will be at the IFA on September 1-6 for the IFA consumer electronics show, from where I will check out Archos booth and see what they have to show. The 604, 504 and 404 are the first products to be released of the Archos fourth generation products strategy according to the Archos CEO. So there must be more to be released later, with touch-screen and all the IP (Wifi, 3.5G and WiMax), GPS and DVB technologies built-in.

Yes, it appears from what I have read as of today that the ones being released in Sept are just going to be replacements for the current lineup and WILL NOT have any of the new features outlined in the Video (WiFi, GPS, etc). If you read between the lines of the press release, these will be introduced in the next year. Looks like a much longer wait for me now.

I suppose the 604 will have a bigger harddrive, not only a 30 gb HD...
I sure hope the do... because I REALLY want to get a 604, but 30 gb just won't cut it!

The 504 I think will be exactly like the 604 just with a 2.5" harddrive. Thus it is a little fatter, but just a little, and will fit up to 160GB.

The 604 Wifi is announced, it's got touch-screen and Wifi built-in. I think the 604 Wifi will be launched for example in the USA as the new PocketDish generation. So I think that the 604/504 Wifi is not far away. But it is to be seen. Archos might decide not even to show the 604 Wifi at the IFA consumer electronics show on the 1st of September in Berlin, cause they might not want to confuse the consumers with too many different versions of their 4th generation. But somehow I am confident they will show also the touch-screen Wifi version at the IFA.

As for DVB-T, GPS, 3.5G and WiMax, I am not sure if we can expect them to come for 504/604/wifi as modules which will fit in the proprietary port underneath the Archos, or if there will be totally different models, each with one or several of those new features added in the base unit.

just a remark - maybe you want to combine the other thread to this one since they are talking about the same issue (the new archos products).

Anyway, I wanted to ask about the applications that the new models are going to be shipped with please (for instance besides the browser that will be based on the WIFI technology or a mapping application based on the GSP).
Is there any list of such apps?