The HTC G1 was the first Android phone to hit the market, way back in 2008. It’s also sometimes known as the HTC Dream of the T-Mobile G1. While HTC hasn’t offered a major software update for the G1 in a few years, independent developers have been hacking the G1 constantly over the past few years, bringing pretty much every major new version of Android to the ancient (in smartphone years) G1.

Xda-developers forum members jcarrz1 and stritfajt are keeping that tradition alive by porting Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to run on the G1.

Right now the WiFi and Bluetooth doesn’t work, automatic screen rotation doesn’t work, and the graphical user interface looks pretty sluggish. But Ice Cream Sandwich does run on the G1 which is pretty impressive.

The Android 4.0 lock screen provides quick access to the camera. The app drawer includes shortcuts for apps and widgets. The operating system features the new Roboto font as well.

The early build of ICS for the HTC G1 is available for download from the xda-developers forum, but it’s still very much a work in progress, so if you’re still using the device as your primary phone you might want to hold off on installing Android 4.0 until it’s a bit more stable.

Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich ported to the HTC G1 is a post from: mobiputing

Google is fleshing out its digital media strategy with the launch of music and movie services. First up, Google has added video rentals to the Android Market. Now when you visit the Android Market on the web, you can view apps, books, or movies.

The videos run $1.99 and up and you can either stream them from the web, on a mobile device. Google will launch a new video app for Android 2.2 and up in a few weeks, and a new video app will be baked into the Android 3.1 operating system update which begins rolling out to tablets today.

As expected, Google has also launched a new service called Music Beta by Google which allows users to upload up to 20,000 songs to the web and stream them to computers or Android devices. The service will only be available in the US at launch, and Google promises it’s free while in beta, but makes no guarantees after that.

Google adds movies to Android Market, launches Music Beta service is a post from: mobiputing

Google has announced that the next major version of Android called Ice Cream Sandwich will be available in the 4th quarter of the year. It will be the first version of Android designed to run on all sorts of devices including phones, tablets, and even devices with keyboards such as the Asus Eee Pad Transformer.

The update will bring many Honeycomb features to smartphones, including the “holographic” user interface, the program launcher, widgets, and the application framework.

Google also went out of the way to confirm that Ice Cream Sandwich will be open source… which may be an indication that the source code for Android 3.x Honeycomb will never be released to the public, but I may be reading too much between the lines right now.

Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich to bridge the divide between tablets, phones in Q4, 2011 is a post from: mobiputing

Google is introducing the first major update for its tablet version of Android. Google Android 3.1 Honeycomb will be available first for the Verizon Motorola XOOM 3G tablet, but Android 3.1 will also be available soon for Google TV set-top boxes.

Android 3.1 will include USB host capabilities allowing you to use USB storage devices, connect a camera to transfer photos, or even plug in a mouse, keyboard, touchpad, or video game controller.

The operating system will also come with an improved app switcher that allows you to scroll up and down to view more recent tasks. Developers will also be able to make scrollable widgets in Android 3.1 resizeable.

Google also announced that over 100 million Android devices have been activated to date, and over 200,000 apps are now available in the Android Market.

Update: You can read more about the new features in Google Android 3.1.

Google unveils Android 3.1 Honeycomb is a post from: mobiputing

Google has begun pushing out an over the air update for Nexus One smartphone users bringing Android 2.3.4 to the company’s older flagship phone. The latest version of Android started showing up for Google Nexus S users last week.

If you don’t feel like waiting until a notification pops up on your phone letting you know your download is ready, you can go ahead and install Android 2.3.4 manually. Here’s how:

1. Download the update file directly from Google’s servers and save the file to your desktop.
2. Change the file name to “update.zip.”
3. Copy the file to the root directory of your microSD card.
4. Turn off your Nexus One.
5. Hold the trackball and press the power button to turn on the phone.
6. When you see a white screen with three Androids on skateboards use the volume buttons to move up and down. Choose “bootloader” and then press the power button.
7. On the next screen choose “recovery.”
8. The phone should reboot and show you an exclamation point inside a triangle.
9. Press the power button and volume up button at the same time.
10. Use the trackball to select “Apply sdcard:update.zip.”
11. Once the update has been applied, choose “reboot system now.”

That should do the trick.

Note that while Google Android 2.3.4 for the Nexus One should fix some bugs, it won’t bring voice and video chat to the Google Talk messenger. That feature is currently only available for the Google Nexus S… or for anyone who installs the latest version of Google Talk manually on a rooted phone. You’ll need to disable signature verification for this to work, which means installing ClockworkMod Recovery if you haven’t already. You can find good instructions for doing that at Jaxov.

The nice thing about this update is that you don’t need to root your phone to apply it — but if you already have a rooted phone you may want to try using the modified version of the update.zip file posted by xda-developers forum member netzpirat which should let you update without losing root access.

How to install Google Android 2.3.4 for the Nexus One is a post from: mobiputing

Sure, there’s already a Dropbox app for Android devices, but it only tends to files located in its own local directory. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to upload any file or folder from your phone and have that happen automatically?

Of course it would, and the developer of ScheduledSync agrees — which is why exactly why he’s created the app.

Punch in your Dropbox credentials and choose which files and folders you want to upload, and ScheduledSync takes care of the rest. You can choose a start time and sync interval, and you’re also able to limit its activity to Wi-Fi connections only so you don’t accidentally chew up your mobile data allowance. It’s a great way to silently back up new photos you take or videos you capture on your Android device, especially since they’ll automatically be copied both to the Dropbox cloud and any connected computers which you have tied to the same account.

via XDA-Developers

ScheduledSync for Android automatically uploads to your Dropbox is a post from: mobiputing

And while games built using the Qualcomm SDK and Unity should work on just about any Android device, the company is quick to mention that they’ll “work best” on those running its Snapdragon processors.

via Android Community

Qualcomm AR platform ready to bring superimposed gaming action to the masses is a post from: mobiputing

With so many Android apps now able to install themselves to your microSD card — or at least store application data on it — it’s not hard to fritter away a few megabytes or even gigabytes in a hurry. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a few apps installed to help you keep an eye on your storage media and let you know where excess bits can be trimmed.

Grid Size is one option worth taking for a test drive. It works a bit like desktop drive space analyzers like  Space Sniffer or WinDirStat. Fire up Grid Size and give it a few moments to analyze the contents of your device, and it’ll show you which files and folders are eating up your valuable storage. Both a graphical view and text listing are available, and since Grid Size is a file manager app as well you can move or delete files as you hunt for space hogs.

It’s a free download and is compatible with devices running Android 2.0 or better.

via Gotta Be Mobile and xda-developers

Grid Size for Android is a drive space analyzer for your SD card is a post from: mobiputing

Maxthon has posted an updated version of its Android Web browser over at the xda-developer forums. The default Maxthon themes have been slightly recolored, but it’s below the surface that the most important change has been made.

Maxthon now supports pinch-to-zoom, which was one of the few critical pieces of functionality the browser was missing. The browser’s rendering and synchronization engines have gotten a speed boost, its interface has been polished and refined, and the address bar now offers suggestions as you type.

If you haven’t tried out Maxthon yet on your Android device, it’s definitely worth a download — it’s speedy and packed with useful features (including an RSS reader). You can find the stable version in the Android Market, or grab the updated .APK from Maxthon’s post on xda-developers.

via xda-developers

Maxthon browser for Android gets new themes, pinch-to-zoom is a post from: mobiputing

Not everyone is blessed with a generous amount of bandwidth when it comes to cellular data contracts. That being the case, it’s nice to know about apps which can help you conserve precious megabytes while you’re out and about.

Get It Later is definitely a utility worth having at the ready. Here’s how it works: while you’re browsing the web or checking Gmail, you come across a file you want to download. Rather than chew up your cellular data allowance, you zap the link to Get It Later. Once your Android device latches on to a familiar Wi-Fi signal, Get It Later kicks in and automatically starts downloading the files you queued.

You can add a link by launching the app and entering the URL, or simply call up the share menu in your favorite browser.

The app is totally free, compatible with Android 2.1 or later, and an easy way to reign in your data usage — as long as you’re willing to wait for Wi-Fi to download those files.

Get it Later for Android starts downloads when you have a Wi-Fi connection is a post from: mobiputing

GTV Source reports that Google will merge the source code so that Google Android Ice Cream will combine elements of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Android 3.0 Honeycomb and Google TV. The tipster behind the rumor suggests that Google will officially announce the project at Google IO on May 10th and 11th.

This is just a rumor for now, but it makes a lot of sense. Honeycomb already includes code that allows developers to write apps that work differently on different screen sizes. It’s not a stretch to imagine an operating system that can run on TVs and set-top-boxes, tablets, or phones with few if any modifications. This would also let developers write apps that would work across a range of devices without creating three different versions.

via phandroid

Next-gen Google Android may combine smartphone, tablet, TV features is a post from: mobiputing

AT&T has announced plans to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion, which would make the joint company the largest wireless carrier in the US. It would also likely mean better service for all current and future AT&T and T-Mobile customers, since the companies will combine their infrastructure. Unfortunately there’s a good chance it will also mean higher prices, the end of unlimited data plans, and possibly less emphasis on Android and Windows Phone devices, since the iPhone is kind of AT&T’s big thing.

Peter Rojas at gdgt has a pretty good break-down of the implications, but the deal will likely take a year or more to go through so it will be a while before we really know what any of this means for consumers. Still, it’s strange to think that the first network to offer the iPhone in the US and the first network to provide Google Android devices could soon be one and the same.

What do you think? Is this good news or bad?

AT&T to acquire T-Mobile: How do you feel about that? is a post from: mobiputing

If you have a Motorola handset running Google Android 1.6 and you’ve been wondering when you’re slated to receive a software update, the wait is over… well, the wait for a schedule is over anyway. The actual updates are just starting to roll out, with the phased rollout of Android 2.2 Froyo for the Motorola Droid in the US.

Motorola has released a schedule explaining which phones will be updated in what parts of the globe. There’s also a rough timeframe, with some updates coming in the summer, others scheduled for Q3 or Q4 of 2010, and others simply described as “under evaluation. Unfortunately, not every phone will get upgraded all the way to Android 2.2 Froyo — some stop at Android 2.1 Eclair. And tt looks like some phones will be updated in one market, but not another.

For instance, the Motorola Backflip should get Android 2.1 in Q3 2010 in the US. But it won’t receive the update at all in Europe or Latin America, and Motorola says the update is “under evaluation” in the Canadian and Asia-Pacific regions. Of course, there’s an active hacker community that will likely release unofficial updates for phones like this, bringing Android 2.1 and maybe even Android 2.2 goodness — but you’ll probably end up voiding your warranty if you install unofficial firmware.

In the US market, the Cliq and Cliq XT will also receive Android 2.1 later this year, and the Droid X should be upgraded to Android 2.2 later this summer. The Motorola Devour doesn’t get get any operating system upgrades at all.

You can find more details about Motorola upgrade plans fro Canada, Europe, Asia, and Latin America at the Motorola Support Forums.

via MobileCrunch

Motorola unveils upgrade schedule for Android phones is a post from: mobiputing

Google has officially unveiled the next generation of its Android operating system for mobile devices today at the Google I/O developer conference. The SDK is available for developers today, and Google says Android 2.2 Froyo will be available to OEMs in the next few weeks.

There are a ton of changes in Froyo, but here are some of the most exciting new features:

Tethering and WiFi hot spot

As expected, you’ll be able to tether your Android phone to a computer or other device, allowing you to share a 3G wireless connection without paying separate bills for your phone and laptop connection — assuming your carrier lets you do that.

Users will have the choice of turning your phone into a portable Wifi hot spot or sharing your connection over a USB connection.

Faster app performance

Google has added a new just-in-time Javascript compiler, which increases the speed of 3rd party apps by 200% to 500%. This is also something we’d heard about previously, but Google showed off a few demos making it clear just how much faster apps will run.

Support for Adobe Flash and AIR

There’s not much more to say about this one. We knew it was coming, and it looks like Flash and AIR will both be supported under Android 2.2, making this one of the biggest things separating the Android platform from Apple’s iPhone platform.

Install apps on the SD card

Google says that people are regularly installing more than 40 apps on a device. Google has made it easier to install apps on an SD card, expanding the phone’s memory. Froyo will also automatically install apps to the SD card if it determines that would be helpful. But users will also be able to manually move apps from the main memory to an SD card.

Google has also made it easier to find apps by creating an App search tool. Developers can also plug into the search API so that you can put a widget on the home screen that lets you search within an app. For instance, if you use Mint for your personal finances, you can search your Mint data on the home screen.

You can find more new features, a ton of photos, and the official Google video introducing Android 2.2 after the break.

Access to the camera, mic, accelerometer from the web browser

Web app developers will be able to access the hardware on Android phones, which means a web site will be able to support voice input or recognize accelerometer actions.

You’ll also be able to do things like take a picture by clicking a button on a web site. One of the coolest demos Google showed off today was a web-based translation tool. You can open a web site, speak a question into your phone’s mic, and the web app will translate it into foreign language text — and then speak it out loud. Need to find a hospital in France? Your Android phone can help.

Automatic app updates

Google has added two new features that makes it easier to update apps. First, there’s now an “update all” button in the Android Market that lets you install all updates available for your installed apps.

You can also select an option that lets you automatically install updates with no user intervention required. Every time there’s a new update, it will be installed.

Android Market web interface

Google is officially launching a web interface for the Google Android Market — and it looks a lot like AppBrain, only better, because it lets you click an install button on the web site and automatically download the app on your Android device.

Music in the Android Market

You’ll now be able to purchase music from the Android Market and download it to your device. Google is also now offering the ability to stream music from your home PC directly to your Android phone.

Cloud to device messaging API

This new API lets developers create apps that send messages that trigger actions from the cloud to your device. That sounds boring. It’s not. Here’s what it means: You can view a map in your desktop web browser, hit a button, and driving directions will automatically open up on your phone. You don’t just get an email or a text message with a link to click. The navigation app opens up and starts giving you directions.

You can also use this API to do things like click a button to open the web page you’re viewing in a desktop browser on your mobile device. it should be interesting to see what other uses developers come up with.

Advertising

Google has also added a few new ad formats for in-app ads. That includes expandable ads that you can click to pull down an add without leaving the app. These ads can also include rich media like videos, or click-to-call ads that will let you make a phone call to an advertiser with a single click.

Google Android progress

In other news, Google tooted its own horn a bit today, pointing out that 100,000 Android phones are now being activated every day. The Android Market now has more than 50,000 apps. And in the six months since Google introduced turn by turn navigation using Google Maps, more than a billion miles have been navigated.

Google introduces Android 2.2 Froyo is a post from: mobiputing

It was just a few weeks ago that we first saw Google’s Android operating system running on an iPhone. But that particular hack was limited to a first generation iPhone 2G. Well now developer David Wang is back, and this time he’s managed to squeeze Google’s mobile operating system onto an iPhone 3G.

Audio isn’t working at the moment, but almost everything else is. Multiotuch works, and the iPhone can run Android apps, surf the web over WiFi or 3G, and do almost everything else you’d expect an Android smartphone to do. It can even make calls, but since audio doesn’t work, nobody will hear what you’re saying. But you can send text messages.

Wang’s Android port lets you dual boot the iPhone OS and Android on the same device. It takes a while to switch operating systems, as you can see in the video below. But once Android is up and running, you can quickly suspend the phone just by tapping the power button.

The installer file should be available for download soon. Bear in mind, this particular version of Android is designed for the iPhone 3G, not the iPhone 3Gs.

You can check out a video after the break.

via Engadget

Google Android now runs on the iPhone 3G is a post from: mobiputing

But what makes the Archos 5 Internet Tablet special is the underlying operating system which allows you to run thousands of Android applications. Out of the box, the tablet has a few Android apps installed including the Android web browser and the eBuddy instant message client. A few hundred more are available from the AppsLib app store. But with a little tweaking you can install the full Android Market, granting you access to many of the 16,000+ applications available for Google Android smartphones.

All this without the need to sign up for a contract with a mobile broadband provider. The lack of a service plan alone would make the Archos 5 one of the cheapest devices to run Google Android, since most Android Smartphones will end up costing you thousands of dollars over a 2 year contract. But with prices ranging between $250 and $500, this Android powered WiFi slate is truly one of the most affordable internet tablets around.

The folks at Archos were kind enough to lend me an internet tablet to review. The demo unit I received has 32GB of storage, an 800MHz ARM Cortex-A8 CPU, 256MB of RAM, 802/11b/g/n WiFi, a USB port, and runs Android 1.6 plus some custom Archos software.

Design

The tablet features a 4.8 inch, 800 x 480 pixel resistive touchscreen display. It took That means you’ll get better results if you tap at it with a stylus or fingernail than with your fingertip, although because Android features large icons you should be able to perform most actions with a fingertip.

The case plastic case features a glossy finish, and there’s a shiny strip surrounding the screen. All of which is to say, that the tablet is something of a fingerprint magnet. Things get even shinier on the back of the tablet, where there’s a reflective almost mirror-like panel. But how often are you going to look at the back anyway?

Also on the back you’ll find a kickstand which you can pull out in order to prop the Archos 5 on a table for easy, hands-free viewing. A first I thought it was a stylus, but it turns out that no stylus is included with the tablet.

On the bottom you’ll find a micro SD card slot for additional storage. There are also a few proprietary ports on the bottom that you can use to connect an external battery or an optional docking station that lets you play video stored on the tablet on a TV.

The left side of the tablet has a headphone jack and a USB port which is used to charge the tablet and to transfer files to and from a PC.

On the front left side of the tablet you’ll find a speaker which provides reasonably loud, if not exactly stellar audio. On the back of the tablet, just behind the USB port there’s a reset button that you can poke with a straightened out paperclip to restore the tablet to factory default settings.

On the top of the unit you’ll find a power button and volume buttons. That’s it for the physical buttons on the Archos 5 Internet Tablet. All other controls are software-based. if you want to turn on the tablet, you press and hold the power button until it boots or resumes from sleep. If your tablet locks up, press and hold the power button until it shuts down.

There’s also an accelerometer which will automatically rotate the display depending on whether you’re holding the tablet in portrait or landscape mode.

Overall, the Archos 5 Internet Tablet has a rather cheap plasticky feel to it, especially when compared with a more expensive Android device such as the Google Nexus One smartphone. But I’ll let that pass, given that the Archos tablet has a larger screen and enhanced media playback capabilities with a starting price of less than half the cost of the unsubsidized Nexus One.

Measuring 5.6″ x 3.1″ x 0.4″ and weighing 6.4 ounces, the Archos 5 tablet is pocketable, but just barely. If you compare it to a smartphone, it’s enormous. Compared with a netbook, it’s tiny. That’s partly due to the fact that there’s no physical keyboard, something which dictates the size of a comfortable netbook.

Web browser

I’ll touch on the Android operating system and application environment in a moment. But first I wanted to single out two different software features: The web browser and the media software. The browser is the standard Android browser, but it’s particularly well suited to a small tablet like the Archos 5. The multimedia software on the other hand, is all Archos and blows away the standard media playback software that comes with most Google Android devices.

One of the things that bugged me most about the original Asus Eee PC 701 was that it’s 800 x 480 pixel display just wasn’t quite big enough to handle most web pages and many PC applications. Surfing the web is a lot less fun if you have to constantly use a mouse or touchpad to scroll from side to side or if you need to continually reposition windows to hit the OK and Next buttons.

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet has the same 800 x 480 pixel resolution (albeit on an even smaller display), but I don’t find the experience of web surfing on this tablet to be nearly as cumbersome. That’s largely due to the Android web browser, which is designed for the even smaller screens found on smartphones.

Like the iPhone web browser, the Android browser is capable of displaying full web pages as well as pages that are formatted for small screens. If a page is normally formatted for a 1024 x 768 or larger screen, the text may look tiny and unreadable on the Archos 5 screen — especially if you’re holding the tablet in portrait mode. But you can double-click on the page to zoom in, or use the zoom in/out buttons that appear at the bottom of the screen.

This may sound like a clunky solution, but anyone that’s ever used an iPhone or other Android device can attest to the fact that it actually makes reading full sized web pages on a small screen rather pleasant.

Pages that are formatted for smaller screens, such as the mobile versions of Gmail, Google Reader, or Engadget are even better since no scrolling is required at all.

Pages don’t render quite as fast on the Archos 5 as they do on the Google Nexus One, which has a faster 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. But they do still load reasonably quickly over my home wireless network. Surfing the web using the Archos 5 Internet Tablet and Android browser is almost as fast as using Google Chrome or Firefox on a Windows netbook. I was surprised to find that I was able to accomplish some tasks, such as checking the latest news and marking stories as read in Google Reader were even faster using a mobile device such as the Archos 5 than a desktop browser. Your results may vary.

The Android interface as featured on the Archos 5 features a toolbar at the top of the screen with a home, settings, and back button. You can also see the current time, battery and WiFi status and other notifications in this area.

Once you fire up the browser app, you’ll be taken to the browser homepage. To visit another page, hit the settings button in the far right corner to bring up a menu at the bottom of the screen which. Hit “Go” to enter a URL, “Bookmarks” to visit a bookmarked page or add the current as a bookmark, or “New Window” to create a new window/browser tab.

Flipping between open browser windows does take a few clicks, since you first have to hit the Settings button, then the “Windows” button and then find the window you want to open or close. It’s not quite as elegant as the way the iPhone and iPod Touch handle browser tabs. But it gets the job done.

Media playback

If there’s one thing that the Archos 5 Internet Tablet has to offer that you won’t find on any other Android-based device, it’s the excellent multimedia software developed by Archos. Most Android phones can handle H.263, H.264, and some MP4 and 3gp video files as well as MP3, AAC, WAV, and Ogg Vorbis audio. But the Archos 5 can handle almost any format you care to throw at it with support for video resolutions up to 720p. Here’s a partial list of supported codecs:

• MPEG-4
• H.264
• WMV
• MKV
• MPEG-2
• MP3
• WMA
• AAC
• FLAC
• Ogg Vorbis
• AC3

Basically, Archos took its multimedia software and ported it to the Android platform. I really wish the company would offer some of this software for purchase for other devices through the Android Market, but since Archos has no control over what kind of hardware other device makers use, it’s likely not going to happen anytime soon.

In addition to playing media packed onto the tablet’s hard drive, flash storage, or micro SD card, you can also stream content over a home network or connect to UPnP devices. Using the UPnP capabilities, I was even able to connect to my media center PC running Windows 7 and PlayOn‘s software — which allowed me to stream video from Hulu. Playback was nearly flawless, but this trick will only work over a home network. I would be able to stream Hulu at a coffee shop this way.

There’s also a video recording plugin that lest you record 720p TV shows as MPEG-4 videos using the optional DVR station docking accessory.

The Music application can play files from the internal storage, from over a network, or using the built in FM radio tuner.

You can also view photos stored on a network or the device, use the Archos Games section to download and install games including some Adobe Flash games. Did I mention that the Archos 5 Internet tablet supports Adobe Flash? Because it does. It’s not a new enough version to handle Hulu and some other web sites (without the help of PlayOn), but this is definitely another area where the Archos 5 Internet Tablet stands apart from other Android devices.

There’s also a “Media Club” section in the media software menu which lets you access web TV and Radio, as well as download stores for music and videos.

Other software

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet has a slightly modified version of Android 1.6. In addition to the media playback software, the UI has been tweaked so that the default layout is landscape rather than portrait, and the navigation buttons are at the top of the screen on the edges of the notification bar.

As with other Android devices, you can customize the layout of the home screen by tapping and holding on icons for a second and then dragging and dropping them to any location you like. You can also add widgets such as a calendar, clock, or music player to the home screen by tapping and holding on the desktop and then choosing the Widgets option. If you run out of space on the home screen or want to separate games from utilities, you actually have three home screens to choose from. Just drag the home screen to the left or right to open up a new workspace.

On the right side of the screen you’ll see a little tab with an arrow on it. You can tap this to open a complete list of applications. Any of these can be added to the home screen using the same tap-and-hold method I just described.

I’ve been using Android on a few different devices for the past couple of weeks and I’ve gotten somewhat used to the way the operating system works. I like the level of customization you have over the home screen, for instance. But Google sort of goes overboard when it comes to the settings menu, which has almost too many options, which aren’t always laid out in the most straightforward manner.

For instance, you want to know how to adjust the display brightness on the Archos 5? You open the settings dialog, click “Sound & display” and then scroll all the way down to the second last option to find “Brightness.” Tap that, and you can finally adjust the brightness using a slider. This setting comes below the Archos theme color, animation, storage notification, and equalizer settings. Maybe it’s just me, but I would have figured brightness would be right next to media volume at the top of the screen — or possibly even higher, since there are physical volume buttons on the Archos 5 Internet Tablet.

The on-screen keyboard that comes with Android 1.6 is usable, but not perfect. Since the Archos 5 has a resistive touch screen, I actually find it easier to tap on the keyboard using the back of a single fingernail rather than typing away with two thumbs. Generally I find the iPhone/iPod touch keyboard to be better for accuracy than the default Android keyboard, but the Archos 5′s large screen makes it pretty easy to enter text without too many typos.

One of the benefits of purchasing the Android powered Archos 5 Internet Tablet rather than a media player with custom software such as the Archos 5 without Android, is that there are thousands of third-party applications available for the Android platform. Unfortunately you can’t access most of them using the software that comes with the Archos 5 Internet Tablet. That’s because Google hasn’t officially approved the Android Market for devices that aren’t phones. Since the Archos 5 doesn’t make phone calls or have a camera, it might not be able to run some of the apps in the full Android Market, which I suppose is a bummer.

But the AppsLib marketplace that comes with the Archos 5 is no replacement. There are just a few hundred applications available at the moment. And while a growing number of apps are showing up in the AppsLib director, I’d much rather have access to the full catalog of 16,000 apps, most of which do work on the Archos 5.

Fortunately, there’s an unofficial tool that makes it incredibly easy to install the Android Market on an Archos 5 Internet Tablet. All you have to do is copy a file to the tablet using a USB connection, open it up in the Archos file browser, and then run the application once it’s been installed to add Google apps such as Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Talk, as well as the Android Market.

As I mentioned, some of the apps in the Market may not work on your device due to the lack of hardware support. And because the Archos 5 runs Android 1.6 rather than the newer Android 2.1 that’s running on the Google Nexus One smartphone, some programs such as Google Earth for Android won’t be available. But I’ve heard that Archos does plan to release an Android 2.1 update for the Archos 5 in the future.

Another thing I should point out is that while the Archos 5 has much of the functionality I’ve come to expect from an Android smartphone plus excellent multimedia capabilities, the device generally feels less stable. From time to time a program would crash or the entire device would become unresponsive. The solution was invariably to press and hold the power button to reboot the system and start over from scratch.

Verdict

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet is one of the cheapest Android devices that will let you surf the web over a WiFi connection. It also happens to have excellent media player software. Or to put it another way, the tablet is a decent media player that has the added bonus of being a web browser and Android tablet that will let you run thousands of third party applications. And it gets pretty good battery life. I didn’t test it extensively, because it’s much tougher to do a run-down test of a device that’s meant to be used on and off throughout the day than a standard laptop. But Archos says you should get 7 hours of video playback time and up to 22 hours of audio playback time, and that seems about right from my experience.

But is it worth shelling out the money for an Archos 5 instead of an Android powered Smartphone or an iPod touch?

The smartphone comparison is tricky. If you’re not interested in paying a monthly fee for access to a mobile broadband network, the Archos 5 is a much better deal than an unlocked smartphone — even if the software is a little older and the system is more likely to crash than a newer phone such as the Google Nexus One.

But you can pick up an iPod touch for less money than an Archos 5 and you get a web browser, app store with more than 150,000 applications, and a decent media player. But the iPod touch ahs a smaller, lower resolution display than the Archos 5, and limited multitasking capabilities. Try listening to a streaming radio station while surfing the web on an iPod Touch. You can’t do it unless you jailbreak the phone.

You can buy an Archos 5 Internet Tablet with 8G of flash storage for $250 from Archos. It’s also available with 16GB or 32GB of flash storage, or a 160GB of 500GB hard drive, with the top of the line 500GB model selling for $500. Some models are a few bucks cheaper from Amazon, but not all models are listed there.

Archos 5 Internet Tablet review is a post from: mobiputing