14 DAY TRIAL // Archos has just made the official introduction of what it claims to be the first Honeycomb-running tablet to sell for a price of under $200 (152 Euro or so).
The item goes by the name of Archos 70b and features the Android 3.2 version of Google's mobile OS (operating system).
We aren't very sure about the whole “world's first” bit in this case, though, not with things like the T-Mobile SpringBoard factored in.
Still, the new Archos wonder child has its own set of intriguing features (for such a price that is).
Granted, Archos wasn't able to take the mighty Tegra platform from NVIDIA and didn't toss in a colossal memory capacity either.
Instead, it chose a “powerful processor at 1.2 GHz” and settled for 512 MB of RAM (random access memory).
With that to provide the computing and visual performance, Archos went ahead and outfitted the item with a 7-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) whose resolution is 1,024 x 600 pixels.
Furthermore, 8 GB of internal storage exist, for storing the Android 3.2 operating system itself and whatever other files and apps owners choose.
As for usability, the display has capacitive multitouch support, like most every other slate out there.
People familiar with the ARCHOS 70 IT Gen 8 might recognize the ARCHOS 70b IT as an enhanced version of it.
Finally, the newcomer boasts HDMI output (for streaming video to larger screens), a memory card slot and whatever other I/O ports and plugs the company figured owners might need.
Shipments will start in January, by which time there will probably be a whole bunch of sub-$200 tablets to choose from, so people might not want to lunge at this thing too fast.
After all, January is when CES (Consumer Electronics Show) happens, and many other models, cheap and expensive alike, will be released there.