Archos equip the 604 portable media player with Wi-Fi

Will this make Apple and Creative sit up and take note?

19 October 2006 10:46 GMT / By Amber Maitland

Archos has done what no major manufacturer has managed to and has incorporated Wi-Fi into its top-of-the-line portable media player.

The Archos 604 Wi-Fi, which has been available without Wi-Fi for a couple of months, features a 4.3-inch touchscreen LCD, a 30GB hard drive, and an integrated Opera browser. It can connect directly to the Internet via Wi-Fi hotspots and can connect to a home network to download media from a PC for watching videos or listening to music.

Firmware upgrades available by Christmas will increase the functionality of the device. It will then be possible to buy and download digital media from various online stores without using a PC thanks to Direct License Acquisition.

Although it doesn't support push email, you can send and receive email from web-based mail accounts. An optional DVR Station also turns the device into a portable digital video recorder, to schedule recordings directly onto the device.

Other features that will be available via firmware upgrades are support for Shoutcast internet radio and podcatcher software to automatically download audio and video podcasts without a PC.

Pocket-lint is awaiting pricing information.

Full tags

Audio, MP3 players, Archos, Wi-Fi