May 28 - 2:50pm EDT   Blockbuster will soon launch a pilot program of in-store movie downloads, says the company's CEO. James Keyes revealed the information at an annual shareholder meeting Wednesday, noting that a trial will take place sometime within the next month, and involve store visitors inserting a form portable device into a kiosk, and copying movies in a process that should take approximately two minutes. At present the major issue is said to be studio support, as Blockbuster is still negotiating for available content. [full story]

April 22 - 4:20pm EDT   In addition to its 605 GPS upgrade, Archos today has also upgraded its TV+ media hub with both preloaded content and a new Internet streaming feature. The French company has signed a deal with Paramount that will see the movie studio offer movies both preloaded on the device's built-in 250GB hard drive as well as available through Archos' media store. For the latter content, users will have the option of downloading videos either to a Mac or Windows PC for sideloading on to the TV+ or directly to the device itself. [full story]

April 22 - 3:50pm EDT   Archos this afternoon launched the 605 GPS, a combination of both its staple 605 Wi-Fi media player and a navigation add-on. The attachment provides a SiRF III GPS receiver that integrates tightly with the media player; when docked in a special car cradle, the 605 and its module supply driving directions as well as features normally available only in dedicated mapping units. The device can subscribe to either free or paid traffic warning systems and includes a one-year free subscription to an accident notification service. Archos' system is intelligent enough to recognize a signal drop and will simulate position changes until a satellite lock returns. [full story]

April 16 - 10:45am EDT   An addition to Archos' media players will include a form of GPS navigation, the company has revealed today in an announcement sent to the press. While short on details, the announcement refers to driving directions and suggests worldwide mapping support, with China, Europe, and the US all receiving the option. There will also be "new uses and services at home and on the road" that follow the introduction, the company hints in its update. [full story]

March 12 - 2:50pm EDT   One of Archos' higher-end sixth-generation players is being restyled to compete against the iPod touch and provide some features not present on the current iPhone, according to a leak from sites in Archos' home country of France. The media player will most likely be called the 606 but should be more than just a minor generational increase: instead of devoting some space to navigation buttons on the side, all but the most basic controls will be pushed to the side in favor of a larger touchscreen, the sources say. A significant amount of the interface will change to match. [full story]

February 13 - 3:00pm EST   Archos will be one of the first to provide a dedicated portable media player with cellular Internet access, the company has revealed during this week's Mobile World Congress show. While short on information, the news indicates that at least one device in Archos' next generation of players will include 3G or better services that allows it to connect to the Internet anywhere it can receive an appropriate signal from a cell tower. The feature should provide extended access to the web through the Opera web browser included with the company's higher-end players. [full story]

February 8 - 2:45pm EST   Archos has dramatically increased the capacity of its 405 media player, an announcement reveals. Although last year's model had just 2GB of hard drive space, the player now holds 15 times that capacity at 30GB. This should theoretically be enough to hold 40 movies, 300,000 photos, or 15,000 songs. The player is equipped with a 3.5-inch screen, and is able not only to output to TV, but act as a miniature DVR unit through a DVR Station Gen 5. The new 405 should be on sale in the UK by the end of February, for £200 ($388); no North American plans have been mentioned, but the majority of Archos' products are sold on the continent. [via Pocket-lint] [full story]

January 3 - 11:25am EST   Archos is about to announce a dedicated media hub that should offer features simply not possible on the Apple TV or most other media hubs, according to a leak from UberGizmo. Called the Archos TV+, the extender will pull videos from the local network to the TV but will use its connection more intelligently than the current Apple hub: both Ethernet and Wi-Fi can be used to download content directly to the TV+ through an Archos portal site or to browse the web with a mobile version of Opera similar to that found on the Archos 605 Wi-Fi and other handhelds. A new remote will include both a directional pad, a trackpad, and a keyboard. [full story]

December 7 - 8:15pm EST   With an abundance of MP3 players that have come out over the course of the year, buying the right player as a gift can be tricky. USA TODAY's Kim Komando has assembled a list of this year's most wanted multimedia players, with offerings from Apple, SanDisk, Microsoft and Archos. First on the list is Apple's iPod touch, with its large, bright touchscreen and up to 16GB of storage. WiFi allows users to browse the internet and purchase music – something that the others either don't do, or require additional subscriptions or components in order to have that functionality. Komando laments the lack of access to subscription-based music services. The Touch sells for $300 for ... [full story]