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"While Archos has long held dreams of expanding into smartphones, we've seen it run into its fair share of roadblocks along the way. Thanks in part to a sharpened corporate focus, that vision is at last becoming real with the company's first, honest-to-goodness smartphone range. The 35 Carbon, 50 Platinum and 53 Platinum all cater to the budget, carrier-independent crowd with common foundations of unlocked 7.2Mbps HSPA 3G, dual SIM slots (only one being 3G) and stock Android. We also see a rather skimpy 4GB of storage, although a microSD slot on each phone helps make up for the difference. What you're mostly paying for is performance and screen size. The 35 Carbon ships with an HVGA 3.5-inch screen, a single-core 1GHz Snapdragon S1, 512MB of RAM, VGA cameras and Ice Cream Sandwich; move up to the 50 or 53 Platinum and you'll get their respective 5- and 5.3-inch qHD screens, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Play, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front camera and Jelly Bean. No, we're not bowled over by the performance any more than you are -- but the respective contract-free prices of $100, $220 and $250 may have at least some trying Archos' first effort, even if the company's late May launch will only include Europe at first.Show full PR text      ARCHOS Unveils Affordable Unlocked Android 3G+ Smartphone Line     ARCHOS leverages years of Android tablet expertise to launch a smartphone range starting at $99     New Platinum range will allow end-users to experience full access to the Android ecosystem, IPS screens, Quad-core CPUs and 8 Megapixel cameras in a sleek design     Denver, CO &amp;ndash; April 18th, 2013 - ARCHOS, a pioneer in AndroidTM devices, is pleased to announce its first line of GoogleTM certified smartphones. Each smartphone will feature a super slim design, IPS screen with amazing viewing angles, a powerful Qualcomm CPU and the flexibility of dual SIM cards which allow the user to manage two providers simultaneously.     The ARCHOS 35 Carbon ($99.99), ARCHOS 50 Platinum ($219.99) and ARCHOS 53 Platinum ($249.99) will be the first in a new line of smartphones to be released and will be available starting in Europe at the end of May 2013.     \"The smartphone market is shifting, as SIM-free sales versus subsidized sales are increasing, and ARCHOS is prepared to respond, as we can offer retail channels affordable, unlocked and feature-rich smartphones without the need to subsidize,\" says Lo&amp;iuml;c Poirier, CEO of ARCHOS. \"Furthermore smartphones and tablets are interrelated markets that have quickly crossed over with the arrival of \"phablets\" - half-phone, half-tablet devices. It only makes sense that this should be our next phase of products as this would be a natural fit for our brand and long term growth.\"     Ranging from 3.5\" to 5.3\" in size, the first three smartphones to be released in Q2 will include a range of features, connectivity, CPU's and storage. The flagship device, the ARCHOS 50 Platinum, features a stunning 5.0 inch full black IPS display paired with a quad-core CPU at 1.2GHz and 8 M Pixels camera. End-users will have an experience similar to a Samsung Galaxy S3 for half the price.     In addition, all smartphones in this new line will include:     * Pure un-skinned Android OS   * Google Certification for access to Google PlayTM and Google Mobile Services including Google NowTM   * Dual SIM flexibility to manage two providers simultaneously from one phone   * An IPS Screen with amazing viewing angles   * Full Black Screen Process   * ARCHOS Media Centre Apps for music and videos   * Cloud-Based Contacts and Storage   * Front and Back Cameras for capturing the perfect picture     For full Smartphone technical specifications please visit:     50Platinum: www.archos.com/products/smartphones/platinum/archos_50platinum/index.html     53Platinum : www.archos.com/products/smartphones/platinum/archos_53platinum/index.html     35Carbon : www.archos.com/products/smartphones/carbon/archos_35carbon/index.html     For more information about ARCHOS products visit www.ARCHOS.com."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/18/archos-dips-into-android-smartphones/>