We’re at the Archos 9 launch event.

Ron Ferguson talking about history of mobile computing devices, Archos 10 netbook.

And now the Archos 9 launch….

Ultra Thin

Ultra Powerful

Ultra HD

Ultra Mobile

Note it’s running in the 1.1Ghz CPU. Z510.

60GB Drive.

Wifi / BT.

16:30

Talking the specs

16:30 Showing a video of the keyboard being used flat on a table. (Not being thumbed)

“Groundbreaking new design inch

Available Oct 22, 2009

$499.99

Intel now on stage talking about usages that are moving to the internet.

Big stats on the screen there!

Intel talking about 2 architectures (Core and Atom) and one Internet. Hyping the Atom. ‘Up to 2Ghz of processing power. inch

Back to Archos. “Groundbreaking product on groundbreaking technology inch

Archos demonstrating the device on the screen. Pregnant pause while we wait for cables to be plugged-in.

Sascha (netbooknews.com) blogging next to me!

Q&A session coming up.

Battery life 4hrs +

Windows 7 starter edition.

Resistive touchscreen.

Archos showing accessory …

Ethernet, VGA, 2xUSB on the expansion pack.

Plans to launch a 120Gb

Some plans to implement content back-end, 3G and they can’t talk about SSD.

Archos on the 9 vs the Android-based tablet: Geared towards entertainment and productivity. The Archos 9 could replace a laptop.

OK session ending now. We’ll get some pics, videos but check-out the hands-on video we did yesterday when we had a sleepover with the Archos 9

Chippy’s spent a lot of time bringing us some quality IDF 2009 coverage. In addition to a video-overview of each of these devices, he’s been able to sneak away and snap some nice pictures of each. Full Archos 9 set on MIDMoves

Full UMID M2 set on MIDMoves

One of the more intriguing devices that we’ve been waiting to find out more about is the Archos 9 slate ultra mobile PC [Portal page]. Have a look at Chippy’s hands on, straight from IDF 2009:

Looks pretty darn slick if you ask me. I’m really happy to see the optical mouse; it will definitely improve usability over having just the touchscreen for input. Don’t forget this thing is running Windows 7. I’m pretty disappointed to see a lack of physical keyboard on the Archos 9. No keyboard physical means some seriously reduced usability for normal computing applications, but the nice inline stand could make this a nice table-top media device. If you carried this puppy around with a foldable BT keyboard, you’d have a very slick piece of kit for mobile computing.

I think I’d personally rather see this device running a custom OS with polished touch based software and a reasonable price. The price hasn’t been announced yet, but Chippy puts the unit around 600 Euros, available pretty soon. More info as we get it.

I’ve had a chance to play with the Archos 9 for a while since testing it out at the IDF Mobility Meeting. Here’s a presentation video. Images of the device from the testing session are available in the UMPCPortal gallery.

Full specifications and links to other Archos 9 articles here.

I’ve got the Archos 9 in my bag and I’ll get some more content up on it later but for now I can tell you that it’s a solid device, looks great, has an accurate optical mouse (really necessary for a two-handed device) and appears to have more battery life than I expected.

On the negative side the HDD appears to be a bottleneck in performance with applications starting up slower than I’m used to on the SSD-based UMPCs and MIDs I’ve tested in the past. It’s also a relatively dense device in terms of weight.

More pictures in the UMPCPortal gallery

More details on the Archos 9 in the UMPCPortal database.

Where there’s a product launch, you’ll always find Mr Blurycam. This time he’s posting under the name of Ludovic Perrier on a blog called thoout.com.

With only a day and a half to wait until what we believe will be the official launch, it won’t be long until we see the real thing but it’s always good to get some fodder for the brain while you try and refine that toplist of MIDs in preparation for a possible order tomorrow evening!

You’re looking at the appslib app store according to Ludovic, an Android developer.

Via Archos Lounge

The A5S (the SSD version presumably) is expected to run on a Ti OMAP / Cortex core platform as found on the Archos 5. There should be a 3G version although it’s not clear how this will be marketed. The device will be running a modified version of Android and should be priced starting at around the $300 / 200 Euro mark. Full specifications are unknown at this stage.

Update: I missed these live, non-blurry pics from Joanna at Gizmodo yesterday. (Thanks Rob)

It’s only an early hands-on of the Archos 9 (they’ve got to get those first articles out quickly these days) but Gizmodo ends up with a positive vibe about the device. No word on battery life, performance or tablet features but there’s a hands-on video walkthrough. (Below)

Read the full story

Apparently the prices have gone from the website now but before the information was removed, $293.95 and $419.95 was quoted as the price range for the SSD and HDD versions of the Archos 5 Android devices. These are not confirmed, theres no information about 3G.

Via Pocketables

Full story at ArchosFans