The PMA400, which Archos refers to as a personal media assistant, combines a 30GB hard drive with audio and video playback capabilities, care of its 3.5-inch TFT touch-screen display. But it also features wireless LAN connectivity and a complete implementation of the Qtopia Linux-based application environment from Trolltech ASA.
These features make the PMA400 a full-functioned wireless PDA, with PIM and email functionality, PC synchronization and Opera Software ASA’s highly-regarded mobile web browser. Users are also free to install additional Linux applications as well as those based on the Mophun gaming engine.
The device’s dimensions are similar to conventional PDAs at 125mm x 78mm x 20mm but is much heavier at 280g. Pricing has been fixed at E800 ($1,050) when the device launches commercially at the end of January.
Igny, France-based company Archos has a tradition of innovation, including its original audio Jukebox, the forerunner of Apple’s iPod, and its Jukebox Multimedia, the first hard disc-based portable media player to both record and playback video as well as audio.
Hard disc drives are expected to become features of some more conventional PDAs and smart phones during 2005 as user demands for storage increase.