The Archos 35 Home Connect is sort of what you would get if you crossed a smartphone with a clock radio. Or to put it another way, it’s the Android version of a Chumby: a device that can set on a nightstand or shelf which can tell you the time or weather, play music or videos, and connect to the internet to show your latest updates from Facebook or Twitter.
Archos introduced its Home Connect this summer, and now it’s available for purchase in the US for $149.99.
The Archos 35 Home Connect has a 3.5 inch touchscreen display, Android 2.2 Froyo operating system, a 1 GHz TI OMAP 3630 processor, and 4GB of storage. It has built-in stereo speakers, a front-facing VGA webcam and a microphone. In other words, unlike a typical clock radio, you can not only use the Archos 35 to play games, but you can also use it to take pictures, shoot videos, or even make video calls.
The device also has a microSD card slot, microUSB port, and 802.11b/g/n WiFi. It has a non-removable battery which lets you move the device around, but I suspect this thing would be most useful on your nightstand.
Personally, I’d rather just use my phone to play music or check my email — but if you don’t have an Android smartphone or you want a better set of speakers, the Archos 35 looks like an interesting alternative.
via SlashGear
It’s a great idea, but way too expensive. $150! Come on, that’s a joke! Maybe at $50 they’ll be able to move a few of these. I already use my Android phone like a clock… Who really needs this thing?
It’s about to be sold for $120, basically, if you want a high-end alarm clock it’d make no sense not to buy this. What do you expect? It’s got very decent loud speakers and is battery powered, thus you can use it elsewhere than just by the bed, for example in the kitchen, in your garden, in the park for partying with friends, etc, it’s like a compact stereo system. I filmed a video of it here you can get an idea of the speakers: https://armdevices.net/2011/12/06/archos-home-connect/