ARCHOS, the company that "invented the PMP", is to bring out a touchscreen smartphone based on the Android operating system.
The new ultra-thin Internet Media Tablet (IMT) will allow playback of HD video while offline.
It is similar to the ARCHOS 5 media tablet – with the big differences being that it will have voice support and deliver "PC-like" performance.
ARCHOS is to use Texas Instrument’s OMAP 3 platform, which will allow the processor to use less power without affecting performance.
The IMT will be ready in Q3 of this year.
ARCHOS is expected to give more details about the device at next week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
But a statement from the company did say that it was "looking to expand beyond portable media players to provide solutions for the converged space, where a foundation in high-quality video content delivery is a benefit".
"ARCHOS is marrying its rich digital media history with voice functionality to tackle new markets," said the company.
Some core features of this smartphone include:
- 5-inch touchscreen
- Adobe Flash and Flash Video support
- unrestricted access to TV, movies, music
- games
- photos
- TV recording and HD playback
- 500GB storage
- 7 hour video playback battery life
- runs on a 3.5G 7.2Mb/s HSUPA.
ARCHOS released the first pocket-sized HD-based MP3 player with the Jukebox 6000 in 2000.
The company claims to have invented the portable media player in 2003 and was the first to bring television recording, wireless and touch screens to PMPs.
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