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Archos Releases Portable Video/Image/MP3 Player
GregGardner writes "Archos is about to release the AV300 series, the next generation of portable video/image/MP3 player based off of the Archos Jukebox Multimedia discussed on Slashdot previously. Features include a 3.8" LCD screen for viewing movies and photos, FM tuner, MP3 playing and recording, 20GB or 40GB HD models, USB2.0 (optional Firewire) connection, TV-out, MPEG-4 encoding from a video/audio-in signal, digital photo (3.3 megapixel) and video camera, and much more. Looks like some of the features require add-on modules. I found a brief review on SF Gate which states that the 20GB model (AV320) will retail for $570."
a world in progress...
The main product it self seem to be just a hub for joining together add on components. Its not really an all in one as it can only do one thing at a time dependant on what componant is attached. It seem very much like a marketing scam to me, why not put all the componants in the main product instead of selling them as extras. Without the extras it doesn't seem to do much at all.
You (and I) are the minority. I too am waiting for ogg support, but oggs aren't easily available on popular P2P networks yet, so nobody is in a huge rush to make a product that there's not much demand for.
One more item to carry around and brake the screen on. I'm still waiting for the PDA that can do anything fast and store a lot.
I'm wondering if when Ogg version 2 will be released you'll convert all your CDs into this new format or if you'll keep them on your "very old and bad" Ogg V1 format.
Industry needs to settle itself on a media, and MP3 seems to be acceptable. In 5 years, we'll have 5TB HDDs in these little devices and my 256kb MP3 collection will fit just fine into 5% of it.
And we'll also have Ogg V6 which will oblige yourself to re-encode for the 6th time all of your CDs (Or you'll be blamed to be such a retard for using OggV5)
My point being, who knows if there is a need for Ogg support on these things? Certainly not a commercial need...
Write boring code, not shiny code!
now if they add 10" or bigger screen, wouldn't it be called PC?
How about a PC with 3.8" screen, without CD/DVD, very few ports..? It should be possible to manufacture one much cheaper than USD 570 (the list price for 20 GB).
It is a cool device but at that price point, it will compete with sub-notebook PC and people will compare with it. Other than small size and touch sensitive screen, it has nothing extra but has lot less than PC.
I would buy something like this (but not this one... not yet) for the same reason I own a portable DVD player. I spend over 20 hours a month in a plane and countless hours in trains, so I want something that is easy, small, light and has good battery life. A laptop does not cut it. I don't want to wait for it to boot and shutdown. Even the smallest laptop is much heavier than my DVD player. And I have easily 8 hours of battery life.
I also have a PDA, 'cause it's much more convinient to pull it out, tap the screen a few times, get the map or note I need and throw it back in my pocket than a laptop would be.
There is a market for these. But I understand that you'd rather have an all-in-one device for a lower cost. So would I - If it was easy, small, light and had a good battery life.
Z.
The following may sound like a flamebait, but it's not. I am not making any statements to you in particular, or to anybody. I am just making a general observation.
I'm wondering if when Ogg version 2 will be released you'll convert all your CDs into this new format or if you'll keep them on your "very old and bad" Ogg V1 format.
What I am wondering instead is - when, in the future, MP3 replacement is spoonfed to you with the same or even harsher restrictions that MPEG-4 currently enjoys, will you simply bend over as usual, or will you demand and use something standard that works better and bears no cost to you, or anyone, to use in any way they please?
And we'll also have Ogg V6 which will oblige yourself to re-encode for the 6th time all of your CDs (Or you'll be blamed to be such a retard for using OggV5)
Actually, it is MP3 format that is fast reaching its end of lifecycle. Start off, it is inferior to other current formats, including Vorbis (which you call Ogg). It already has bunch of unclean "hacks" for variable bitrate support, as well as multiple ways and versions to store information about the audio - ID tags. Combining MP3 with another such patented "standard" - SBR - already led to a disaster - nobody actually uses it.
Vorbis, on the other hand, has a cleaner upgrade path; starting from that the encoding algorithm may be improved in the future AND remain backwards-compatible.
I'm not saying that Vorbis will rule the world, but discounting its capabilities is not looking at a full picture.
There is absolutely no similarity between Betamax and OGG Vorbis.
The average user doesn't give a crap about decoder liceses; when was the last time you had to pay for MP3 software? The comparison is a valid one because users are presented with two choices, and are choosing what allows them to most easily enjoy their (and other's) music, not which choice makes a better political or ethical statement.
Industry needs to settle itself on a media, and MP3 seems to be acceptable.
You are thinking small.
Why can't all the cool new devices support MP3 -- and Ogg Vorbis? Ogg is very close to free: no license fees for Ogg, free reference sources for Ogg decoders (including Tremor, the integer-math only decoder), a little bit more ROM space used on the device. There are already devices that decode both MP3 and Windows Media audio files.
If you had a small band, and you wanted to sell compressed songs online, which would you rather use: MP3, where you will have to pay a minimum of $2000 per year, or Ogg Vorbis, where you will have to pay a maximum of $0? (That small band may not have to pay anything this year since the MP3 licensing authority waives the royalty for "entities with an annual gross revenue less than US$ 100 000.00." But they could change the rules at any time. They own MP3 and they can charge whatever they want.)
People had to choose between VHS and Betamax because it is not possible to make a device that can play both. (Well, you could, but it would be large and expensive so few would buy it.) Ogg Vorbis may become huge overnight, or it may be a niche product forever, but the costs of rolling it out are so small that it will happen.
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Well, apparently Archos likes Apple a lot. Just look at the tag-line on their website: "Think Smaller". Sounds pretty familiar, don't you think?
This thing will not get the mainstream success that the iPod is now seeing because its just too expensive and it does too much. As crazy as that sounds, the majority of consumers wont shell out $570 for the bottom end model when they probably only want/need a couple of its many features. The video-out is great, but for a few hundred dollars more you can buy a much more useful iBook. So you are correct, this will only be a niche product until another company can organize and package it in a reasonably priced way that will appeal to a broader audience.
BTW, the definition of "innovate" is: To begin or introduce (something new) for or as if for the first time.
So, if Apple takes a poorly executed and unpopular idea and packages and markets it into a success (iTunes Music Store comes to mind), then yes, it is technically innovating since it is popularizing the product/service as if for the first time. The Beatles didn't invent Rock N' Roll, but they sure innovated.
Sound waves should be free!
why doesnt anyone support it?
that is why i encoded all my (500) cd's at 256k mp3. not b/c its a better format or its lining frauhofer's pockets, but because i can listen to em anywhere.
let me see your:
dvd player, ipod, car cd player and home component cd player play an ogg and then i still wont change because in 5 years they still wont be making ogg stuff.
im osrry i wanted ogg to work too but its just not happening. that said apple telling me to encode my shit using AAC is about as likely as my using WMA.
mp3 may not be 'open' but its about as close as you can get these days and still actually use and enjoy your audio when/where you would like.
---- The real Slashdot is still here. You just have to browse at -1 to read the comments.
it's called a LAPTOP. My Sony Picturebook can do all that and more, I got it used for not much more than the Archos unit and it's MUCH more functional. I use somewhat souped-up older used or low-end laptops and PC's for everything computing-wise and can do 99% of my friends that insist on the latest and greatest over-modded bling-bling and the latest marketroid eye candy can do, for about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost. Isn't park of the hacker ethic doing more with less, nbot just throwing you're hard earned dead presidents at the latest trend?
[what?]
I currently own the Multimedia 020. It's great, but you have to downconvert all your DivX files to their preferred resolution. It's a limitation of the chip they use... looks like the 340 will be better in that regard, but what's really needed is somethign where you can take any DivX file straight of Kazaa onto the JBMM and have it play correctly at the resolution they need for the their screen.
--D