Archos ‘net tablet details leak

Pricing and a picture of the Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet appeared briefly on the Web site of a popular electronics store, and were promply noticed by cunning gadget fans.

The 5-inch tablet, which runs on Google’s Android mobile operating system, can still be seen on B&H’s Web site, though the pricing has been removed. Archos is set to demonstrate the product at an event in Paris on September 15, Engadget reports.

The tablet is certainly nice-looking, but it’s sort of a curious device. Earlier this year, we heard that the device will have voice support, but the pictures and branding as an “Internet Tablet” suggest that it’s not a full-fledged smartphone.

Adding to the confusion, it appears that buyers will have to make a tough decision between 16 GB and 32 GB solid state drive models (at $294 and $370, respectively) or between 160 GB or 500 GB hard disk drives ($320 and $420). Archos also plans to run its own app store, called AppsLib, separate from the Android Market.

To accompany the product, Archos will sell a DVR station for $130. If it’s anything like the existing Archos dock, it’ll let you connect the device to a TV through a variety of outputs, listen to music on a stereo, stream media to a home network and charge the device. When sending video through to a TV through HDMI, the resolution will be strange, at 1160 x 652 pixels.

Archos’ tablet seems like an interesting  idea — a precursor, perhaps, to the Crunchpad and to Apple’s rumored tablet — but I’m somewhat frightened by the high price tag and the creation of yet another app store. Still, I’m staying tuned for the 15th, when we’ll apparently find out exactly what this device is supposed to do.