With last year's introduction of the Generation 4 line of portable media players (PMPs), Archos struck gold with a sleek and sexy family of handhelds that allowed users to do everything from listen to music, view photos, watch movies, and even do light Web-surfing. Building on that success, Archos has announced its new Generation 5 line of products, a large group of PMPs that give consumers even more than before.

 

The Generation 5 line consists of the Archos 105, the Archos 405 (the update to the Archos 404), the Archos 605 Wi-Fi (the update to the Archos 604 Wi-Fi), and the Archos 705 Wi-Fi (the update to the Archos 704 Wi-Fi).

 

Available this fall for less than $90, the Archos 105 is a 2GB flash player that sports a 1.8-inch OLED display and WMV, WMA (protected and unprotected), and WAV playback. Users can also view JPEG files and create slideshows.

 

The Archos 405 ($169) is a slim (less than half an inch thick) PMP with a 3.5-inch, 480 x 272-pixel resolution display. The player boasts 2GB of flash memory with an SD Card slot for expanding the capacity to 16GB using SD, miniSD, and microSD cards. MP3, WAV, and WMA (both protected and unprotected) playback will be supported on the audio end (AAC and AC3 compatibility are offered with optional plug-ins). Video support consists of MPEG-4 and WMV (and H.264 and MPEG-2 with optional plug-ins.) Users can also view JPEG, BMP, PNG, and PDF files.

 

The Archos 605 Wi-Fi will arrive in 4GB ($229), 30GB ($299), and 160GB ($399) capacities, sport a 4.3-inch touchscreen display (800 x 480-pixel resolution), and feature MP3, WAV, WMA (both protected and unprotected) playback on the audio end (AAC and AC3 compatibility are offered with optional plug-ins). It will support MPEG-4 and WMV video, with H.264 and MPEG-2 formats becoming compatible with optional plug-ins. JPEG, BMP, PNG, and PDF files are also compatible. The 605 Wi-Fi connects to the Web via 802.11g and includes Adobe Flash technology for allowing surfers to view online video sites such as YouTube and download movies over the air directly to the player. As with the Archos 405, you can pop in an SD Card to load the 605 Wi-Fi with additional content.

 

The Archos 705 Wi-Fi ($TBA) sports a massive seven-inch screen that's designed for movie watchers who want a large display. The player will come in 80GB and 160GB capacities and feature MP3, WAV, WMA (both protected and unprotected) audio playback (AAC and AC3 compatibility are offered with optional plug-ins) and MPEG-4 and WMV video playback. H.264 and MPEG-2 formats are compatible with optional plug-ins. Users can also view JPG, BMP, PNG, and PDF files. The 705 Wi-Fi also has 802.11g Wi-Fi Adobe Flash.

 

Archos also announced the Archos Content Portal, which allows users to purchase and download content directly from CinemaNow and other partners on their Wi-Fi-enabled PMPs, eliminating the need for a PC. The company is looking to invade the living room space with Archos TV, a DVR with wireless capabilities, an HDMI connection, and capacities ranging from 80GB to 250GB.