Does ‘Disappointing’ Review Of Archos 5 Tablet Help Apple’s Tablet Future?

(Archos 5 Image Courtesy Gizmodo)

A negative review of the Archos 5 Internet tablet by gadget blog T3 may provide an opening for Apple’s rumored tablet. Unlike the Apple tablet, expected to launch in January using the iPhone operating system, the Archos 5 tablet is powered by Google’s Android – a concept that “just doesn’t add up.”

“This is essentially the Archos 5 media tablet with an OS reskin. Think the Toshiba TG01 and its reskin of Windows Mobile,” T3 wrote.

Although the reviewer compliments the Archos 5 device for being “well built” and “very pocketable” (it is a portable media player, after all), the site slams the unit for lacking a 3G connection, relying either on finding a Wi-Fi hotspot or a flaky Bluetooth signal.

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet is the first technology to use the Android OS without providing cellular hooks. That lack of mobile phone features means “you’ll likely have to find yourself in a hotspot before making good use” of apps, according to T3. Which brings us to the second problem reviewers found with the Archos 5 Internet Tablet: no Android Market Place.

“Without a camera or a compass Google wouldn’t give the green light to this product so don’t expect any Market Place action,” T3 writes.

Although the unit comes with Twitter (“Twitroid”), IM (“ebuddy”), Craigsphone and Microsoft Office apps, the Archos 5 tablet will also bypass Apple’s Apps Store , instead creating its own venue: the Apps Lab.

By comparison, since September, details have leaked there have been lots of rumors about the iPad, an Internet Tablet from Apple. According to reports, there’s an 80% chance that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will introduce  a tablet by January 19.

Unlike the 4.8-inch Archos 5 Internet Tablet screen, the iPad could boast a 10.7-inch display, according to the iLounge site. In addition, if the Archos 5 product is forced to open its own application store, Apple is already talking with publishers on ways to create content for the iPad.

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“If Apple has learned anything from the iPod, it’s that a modern consumer electronic device is a three-legged stool: hardware, software, and media that fills it,” Leander wrote.

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