Alcatel and Archos have announced a partnership that could let you pick up an Android smartphone and get a free Android tablet. The companies will be making the offer available to telecoms in the US and Europe.
Basically, the idea is that you’ll be able to use the WiFi hotspot feature on the Alcatel phone to share your 3G connection with the tablet. Want to make a phone call or look something up on the small-screen phone? No problem. But if you want to settle in for a longer sit-down to read the news or watch a video, you can pull out the Archos tablet with its larger display.
The companies haven’t yet announced which phones or tablet swill be eligible for the deal. But Archos recently introduced a whole line f Android tablets with screen sizes ranging from 2.8 inches to 10 inches. I’m assuming the phone-sized Archos devices will be left out of the mix, since there’s really not much reason to bundle a 3 inch phone with a 3 inch tablet/media player.
Alcatel will be holding demos at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, so we should have more details soon.
via ARMdevices and Android Community
I actually liked that Galaxy Tab was also a phone by itself. One less device to carry and a SIM card to get, even though you really want to use it with a bluetooth headset
FYI, they don’t use the word “free” in the press release.