The last few years have brought a multitude of pocket-sized devices that tend to blur the lines between what we have previously known as mp3 players, PDAs and smart phones. Apple seems to be one of the first manufacturers to take this idea to heart, but now other companies express their growing interests in making some all-in one devices. For example, the French company Archos is planning an event in London this month, which would officially present the company’s first 3G wireless-enabled portable media player.
According to Ubergizmo, the Archos event will be held on July 10th, having as tag-line “entertainment your way” and featuring a highly-anticipated product presentation by Tony Limrick, the UK managing director. The rumored 3G capability is said to bring internet access, media streaming and downloads direct to the PMP device.
As you might know, Archos has a few WiFi-enabled models which are capable of Internet browsing and streaming radio services. Anyhow, you still need to have a hotspot for your wireless connection. A 3G version, which would use the high-speed cellular networks, would neatly eliminate this hindering issue. Archos is willing to ready the new PMP model by the end of 2008.
For now, we can’t be certain whether Archos is planning to team up with a specific mobile network (Orange, most likely), or leave the device SIM-free. The former seems more plausible, though, since teaming up with a giant la Orange would see purchase costs for the new PMPs reduced. After all, big cell phone networks already have their own music download stores which could be easily integrated with the media player 3G connection.
