Archos to offer media players with 3G in 2008

Archos will be one of the first to provide a dedicated portable media player with cellular Internet access, the company has revealed during this week's Mobile World Congress show. While short on information, the news indicates that at least one device in Archos' next generation of players will include 3G or better services that allows it to connect to the Internet anywhere it can receive an appropriate signal from a cell tower. The feature should provide extended access to the web through the Opera web browser included with the company's higher-end players.

These new players are expected before the end of the year and should include the 606 Wi-Fi and 706 Wi-Fi, two predicted sixth-generation updates that are likely to port over touchscreens, large hard drives, and other media functions from the existing 605 and 705 models. Archos has already negotiated a deal that will provide 3G service to the future players in its native France through local provider SFR, but has not said whether 3G variants will be available in North America or elsewhere for providers such as AT&T or Rogers Wireless.

Filed under: gadgets, networking
Other story tags: Opera, Archos, SFR