ARCHOS Ushers in a New Era of Portable Video Players with Wide Screens, Large Hard Drives and Seamless Direct Video Recording
IRVINE, Calif. — May 16, 2005 — ARCHOS, Inc., a global consumer electronics manufacturer and leader in portable digital entertainment solutions, introduced today the new AV 700 Mobile Digital Video Recorder, which makes portable DVD players a product of the past. The new AV 700 Mobile DVR
combines the mobility and wide screen of a portable DVD player, with the video recording and scheduling features of a digital video recorder, for the first true mobile DVR. The ARCHOS AV 700 is the only portable video player to enable direct video recording onto a 100-gigabyte hard drive, which makes up to 4001 hours of video or 2501 movies available for viewing anytime, anywhere.
Video recording is the signature feature of the ARCHOS products, and the AV 700 makes it fast and easy for consumers to get content from the TV, DVD Player2, VCR, cable box or satellite receiver onto their devices without using a computer. In addition to direct video recording, the AV 700 enables consumers to schedule recordings in advance or while they’re away, and view them on a bright, 7″ LCD wide screen display. The combination of the video recording, scheduling, tremendous hard drive capacity, wide screen and other features–such as music and photo playback and gaming applications–make the AV 700 the perfect portable device for families, travelers, gadget enthusiasts and anyone gearing up for their summer vacations.
“We are extremely proud of our latest portable video innovation, the AV 700, because it brings together several popular digital entertainment products in one portable, high quality device,” said Henri Crohas, ARCHOS chief executive officer. “The AV 700 is designed to allow favorite TV shows and movies to be taken from the living room to the road, providing hundreds of hours of playback on a tremendous 7″ wide screen display. We expect the AV 700 to be the travel companion for families vacationing this summer as well as business travelers who want to take their TV shows, movies or sporting events on the road.”
Portable DVD Player and Digital Video Recorder Combined
The ARCHOS AV 700 Mobile DVR lets you digitally record TV programs, movies and home videos directly from your TV, VCR, DVD player, cable box or satellite receiver using the new ARCHOS TV Docking Pod. The new Docking Pod attaches to the AV 700 and connects directly to your video source, allowing TV shows and movies to be recorded easily onto the device. The AV 700 encodes in and plays back MPEG-43 videos with MP3 stereo sound.
With the AV 700, you can also schedule recordings for the week or month ahead, just as you would a standard DVR. Once programs are scheduled on the device, the integrated AV 700 Scheduler controls the tuner inside your VCR, cable box or satellite receiver to automatically adjust the channel and record based on the time and duration of the schedule.
TV Recordings, Video, Photos, Music, Gaming and Storage in One
The new ARCHOS AV 700 Mobile DVR features the following capabilities:
Direct Recording from the TV, DVD Player, VCR or Cable Box: Record between 40 and up to 2501 full-length movies–up to 4001 hours of video–in MPEG-4 at DVD quality and with CD quality stereo sound. Schedule your recordings in advance or to record while you’re away from home.
Enjoy Video On a 7″ Wide Screen Display: ARCHOS introduces its first 7″ wide screen display and integrated kick-stand for propping up the AV 700 and viewing content easily.
Store, Transfer and View Photos: Store and view up to one million1 JPEG photos and view several at a time or in slide show mode. Transfer photos from computers using USB 2.0 or from digital cameras4 directly using the USB Host connection.
Auto Synchronize with Windows Media Player 10: The AV 700 can synchronize automatically with Microsoft Windows Media Player 10 and is included in the popular Microsoft PlaysForSure program, enabling you to play purchased, downloaded and subscription content from such services as MSN Music, Musicmatch, Napster, Wal-Mart Music Store and CinemaNow.
Record and Listen to Music: The newly designed music player lets you record between 300 hours of music, and holds up to 55,0001 songs, with playback in MP3, WAV, WMA or protected WMA formats.
Play Games with the Mophun Gaming Engine: The AV 700 features the popular Mophun games and the ability to purchase additional games from the ARCHOS Web site.5
Multiple Hard Drive Capacities: The Mobile DVR AV 700 is available in 40- and 100-gigabyte models, allowing between 160 and 400 hours of video, 250 movies, 55,000 songs or one million photos.1
Transfer Data Files: The AV 700 has a USB Host port, enabling you to connect to any mass storage device, including digital cameras, card readers, USB keys and portable hard drives, and transfer files directly from device to device.3
With the introduction of the AV 700 Mobile DVR, ARCHOS and Buy.com will launch and extensive promotion featuring an ARCHOS store on the Buy.com Web site, online and email advertising, and a free battery ($49.95 MSRP) with the purchase of an ARCHOS AV 700 from Buy.com.
Pricing and Availability
The ARCHOS AV 700 Mobile DVR will be available in May 2005 at major retailers worldwide and from the ARCHOS web site at www.archos.com. Pricing for the AV 700 is $599.95 and $799.95 for the 40-gigabyte and 100-gigabyte models, respectively.
The AV 700 comes standard with a TV docking pod, AV cables, remote control, protective case, headphones, USB 2.0 cable, USB host cable adapter and power adapter. Optional accessories include back-seat car holder, double headphone kit, travel kits, additional docking pod, USB mini game pad, additional batteries and other add-on products. Additional product information and add-on accessories are available on the ARCHOS web site www.archos.com.
About ARCHOS
ARCHOS is a global consumer electronics hardware manufacturer and is the technology leader in the field of digital portable entertainment solutions. Committed to the most innovative technology, ARCHOS offers award-winning digital pocket-sized products that feature audio & video recording, photo viewing, gaming, as well as other multimedia and productivity applications, for the enjoyment of the most exciting entertainment anywhere, anytime. ARCHOS has offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. More information is available online at www.archos.com.
*One gigabyte equals one billion bytes. Formatted capacity is less.
1 On average; based on 100GB* Hard drive; based on 3.5 mins/song & 64 kbits/s WMA, on 500 kbits/s MPEG-4 audio/video encoding & 1h30/movie (for near-DVD quality encoding at 1500 kbits/s or more recommended) & on JPEG, VGA.
2 External video output disabled for Macrovision-protected contents.
3 Read DivX 4.0 & 5.0 files (with MP3 or ADPCM stereo sound) compatible with MPEG-4 SP with B-Frames AVI ( (MPEG-4: ISO standard by Moving Picture Experts Group ; AVI: audio/video file container by Microsoft ; DivX registered trade mark of DivXNetworks, Inc). MPEG-4 SP with B-frames AVI up to 704×480@30f/s NTSC or 720×576@25f/s PAL.
4 Only cameras compatible with Mass Storage Class USB.
5 Mophun games, availability not contractual, check from www.archos.com.
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Contacts:
Press and Analysts: Samantha Steinwinder, SPR, 206-760-9809, samantha@steinwinder.com
Marketing: David Feldman, ARCHOS, Inc., 949-900-1903, feldman@archos.com
