Archos Tablet has Android Market Capability, Sort Of
Posted on 27. Apr, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey in News
Lilliputing is reporting that the Archos 5 Internet Tablet, a five inch slate which runs Android, now has a hack that allows users to get access to the Android Market. While we don’t usually post too much news on Android, this nugget seems worthy of a post due to the fact that Google is locking down the app store for its Android device for use only on smartphones.
The general thinking is that Google perhaps has better control over the hardware that is used on smartphones, and therefore allows them to offer a superior experience over other devices that manufacturers have put the Android OS on. We’ve seen some interesting devices sport Android, such as a car, but the problem for manufacturers is without that core application ecosystem Android is just another walled off OS.
So it’s not a far stretch to understand why even though there is a workaround for apps on the Archos Tablet, there still is some functionality problems with it in terms of certain apps. Again, it’s fine in Google’s eyes if you want to develop software for their OS platforms, but the hardware is going to be set to a standard that I think may make some manufacturers rethink their position.
Sure, Android and Chrome OS are free and offer tremendous upside for those wishing to develop for it, but there will be an opportunity cost involved because you have to work with Google’s highly set standards. This is probably good for users in the long run, however.
