14 DAY TRIAL // So far, French device manufacturer Archos has put out a bunch of very stylish-looking tablets. And since CES 2014 is drawing near, we expect to be seeing a bunch of new slates being unveiled in Las Vegas.
We’re saying this because a new tablet, bearing the model number SOVAC79PL has been spotted going through the FCC. This is a clear indicator that the slate will make an appearance in the United States not so far from now.
In the official FCC documents, we can see that the new tablet has been “Designed by Archos in France & USA, Assembled in China Model AC79PL.” Judging by the model number, it can be speculated that the slate might be the Archos 79 Xenon, a real iPad mini clone on the outside.
The Archos 79 Xenon features a 7.85-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. The power source of the machinery represents an unnamed 1.2GHz ARM Cortex A7 CPU (in all possibility a CPU MediaTek MTK6589) coupled with 1GB of RAM.
Other specifications include USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, built in 3G, 8GB of internal storage (expandable up to 64GB via microSD) and two cameras (0.3MP in front and 2MP on the back). The slate runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and, on top of everything, provides calling capabilities.
At the moment, European retailers have the slate available for pre-order for a price tag around €200 / $275.
Archos usually releases different versions of its slates (depending on destination) that sport various technical characteristics (Cobalt, Titanium, Platinum and Xenon), so we might end seeing a Platinum iPad mini clone (one with a Rockchip 3188 CPU) land in the US as well.
Most iPad/iPad mini clones we have seen so far come from China so customers interested in purchasing one, would have had to order directly from Asia. Not anymore if Archos brings its models to US shores.
