Android Media Players Take on the iPod Touch

20.10.2011
Apple may be the undisputed digital music player champ with its iPod family of players, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its wannabe competitors nipping at its' heels. When it comes to portable media players, such as the iPod Touch -- that allows you to listen, watch, and buy apps and content from a single device -- Apple is getting some fresh Android competition.

That's right, Android loyalists that have been secretly salivating over the iPod Touch can buy their own personal media player from a growing number of gadget makers including Archos, Philips, Samsung, Sony, and possibly soon HTC.

Apple isn't making it easy to compete with. Earlier this month it dropped the price of its 8GB model to $199 (from $229). The entry level iPod Touch comes with just 256MB of RAM and a 1GHz processor (under-clocked to 800MHz), a 3.5-inch 960-by-640 resolution screen, and a back and front cameras.

The Android portable media players here offer very similar functions of the iPod Touch. You can access the Android Market to buy apps, you can buy music on the deice via a number of services including Amazon MP3, and some offer microSD slots to expand storage capacity.

Take the Archos 43, Archos' 4.3-inch "." The Archos 43 features the same processor, piddling RAM, and 8GB of flash memory offered by Apple's iPod Touch, but for $20 less. Unfortunately, you do get $20 less in other areas--the Archos 43 has a screen resolution of 854 by 480 pixels, which is significantly lower than the iPod Touch's 960 by 640 pixel display.

Another budget media player is Philips' GoGear Connect 3. The has a 3.2-inch 480 by 320 pixel display, but Philips is suspiciously mum about the device's processor and RAM. It includes 16GB of built-in storage to which another 32GB can be added with a MicroSD card. GoGear Connect also includes Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and a 2-megapixel camera that can capture video at VGA resolution. With a $180 price tag, it's likely not a huge step (if any) up over the iPod Touch.