Android PC tablet on the way from Archos and TI

A new Android device is in the works, and the jointly developed product from Archos and Texas Instruments will be a tablet PC with phone functionality, not merely a smartphone.

Set for release in the third quarter of this year, the Internet Media Tablet (IMT) will follow on the heels of the Archos 5 tablet rolled out last fall. Integration of the IMT with Google's Android software stack will add smartphone functionality, the two companies said in a joint statement today.

Measuring 5 inches in diagonal width and 10 millimeters high, the new tablet will offer up to 500 GB of storage, and it will connect to the Internet through a 7.2-Mbps HSUPA 3G connection.

The tablet will use TI's OMAP3440 processor, which is based on ARM's new Adobe Flash-enabled Cortex platform for video recording and playback. Although the specs are not the same, Archos' IMT is in the same general product family as GiiNii's Movit Mini WiFi Android tablet, another Android-based tablet which is also expected to ship in mid-2009.

As announced at this year's CES show in January, the GiiNii device will feature Skype enablement; a resistive touchscreen; 256 MB of internal storage; a microSD slot; and a built-in microphone and camera.