14 DAY TRIAL // The G9 Series of tablets from Archos have received their operating system upgrade at last, and actually faster than the company previously made it sound.
Back at the start of the month (March, 2012), Archos officially announced that the 80 G9 and 101 G9 slates would advance to the new OS in a couple of weeks or so.
That time has yet to pass, but the company has begun rolling out the software anyway.
Once the update process is carried out, the items will be running Android 4.0.3, Ice Cream Sandwich as it were.
Web browsing will get faster, multitasking will become smoother, home screens will be customizable, widgets will be resizable, etc.
There is also improved text input, spell checking, a redesigned Gallery app with photo editor, a dynamic voice input engine and enhanced imaging capabilities.
Furthermore, Archos is delivering some so-called “unique” add-ons, like full 1080p support for most video codecs, automatic download of subtitles and wireless content sharing between the slate and DLNA-enabled TVs (even 3D is supported).
In addition to that, owners of the 8-inch and 10.1-inch tablets will have optimized File Managers (with drag and drop support), compatibility with Ethernet USB dongles and the ARCHOS remote control application (lets other Android devices control the tablet).
Finally, through the USB Host cable adapter, even Xbox gamepads will be usable.
In order to initiate the update procedure, people should look for an “A” in the lower right hand corner of the screen. Upon clicking and downloading the files, everything will be set and ready.
The Archos 80 G9 (8-inch) and 101 G9 (10.1-inch) are identical in all but panel size: a TI OMAP processor of 1 to 1.5 GHz handles 8 or 16 GB of NAND Flash storage, unless buyers select a 250 GB HDD from Seagate instead.
The prices range from $269 (203 EUR) for the 8GB Archos 80 G9 with a 1GHz SoC, to $379 (about 287 EUR) for the 16GB Archos 101 G9 with a 1.2GHz dual-core TI OMAP chipset.