Archos 35 Home Connect After having built a DECT home phone around the Android operating system doing the same for the humble bedside clock-radio probably seemed like a logical move for Archos so here we have the 35 Home Connect. Archos 35 Home Connect Beside manner: Archos' 35 Home Connect The basic components are much the same in the Smart …
I don't think that will work. To create a mobile hotspot from an existing wifi your device would need to be a member of two wifi networks - the external one and the one you expose to your other devices. Unless the device had two wifi radios it is unlikely it could do this. Normally mobile hotspot is for sharing the 3G connection.
The easiest way to do what you want is probably to take a netbook. Use the internal wifi to connect to the outside world, and buy a cheap wifi USB dongle to share it to your other devices..
but even the ugliest butt looks better than that. Looks like the lovechild of a £7.99 own-brand clock radio and Windows XP.
I'm not sure if waking up to that would make me leap out of bed in a rush to get it out of my sight, or turn over and go back to sleep till the nightmare ended.
The only possible saving grace would be if you can switch off the alarm by playing whack-a-mole with the designer's head.
I'm the sort of person who would buy this, but after seeing the first picture, I was immediately turned off.
If they want me staring at this several times a day, it needs to look nice. It's like they've purposely gone out of their way to make this look horrible. I don't want my home to look horrible.
"The Archos Home Connect is an interesting modern take on the good old bedside clock-radio "
Not really. Chumby has had a "smart alarm clock" for several years now although theirs was Linux with a Flash front end. As I own one I can tell you it's a useful device but the front end is a bit crap and it's good to see something using Android instead.
Though when you think about it, these days you could buy a cheap PAYG phone, buy a cheap stand from poundland and prop it up the bed and it would serve the same purpose for less money.
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The original Chumby had stereo speakers, the one I have has a single speaker. It's a very loud and clear and there is a volume dial and snooze button. Screen is resistive touch. The Chumby doubles up as an FM radio, internet radio and has bunch of apps you can run on it that you download from their site. The device is definitely hampered from not running Android though and is basically obsolete as a platform.
I like the concept of the Archos device. Running Android is a good idea but I think it doesn't look very pretty. I think I would be more tempted by a device that looked like a picture frame preferably with an OLED screen. Failing that it would be interesting to pick up an OLED 800x400 capacative PAYG phones for less than this Archos, flash it with Cyanaogen and use that as a clock.
A typo on the second paragraph (it 'fells' well made) and the specs from the HP - should have slept on it and posted after your morning cuppa ;)
Looks like a nice little device though, would do as a good remote for the XBMC media centre or maybe a DLNA TV - not much point in watching anything on the little screen though.. Would be interested to see how much light it actually produces when you're asleep - i.e. is the screen backlight on when the clock is on - my guess is that it will be and that it'll be quite annoying..
And the price point.. Needs to be sub £100 and probably even lower than that to sell any volume.. One day, there'll be a little green man in all my home appliances.. ;)
First thing I thought of.
So many cases of people having a trojan on their laptops and having their bedroom filmed by some perv. Now we have an always on device to do just that.
Besides, I could get the same functionality by putting my mobile on a stand beside my bed.
And even more, mine has a radio built in.
Not found an alarm to beat my current one. An old analogue FM radio and clock with chunky 7 segment LED for numbers.
I have a Squeezebox radio from Logitech and I love it. The sound quality is fantastic and the features are good... and although the server side is proprietary it is small/lightweight and runs fine on my Linux server.
This looks like a nice alternative to the Squeezebox. I like the idea of having Android on such a device. The only other thing I can think of that would be a nice addition would be hdmi out so you can also use it to stream media to a TV (or in my case, the projector that I have pointed at the ceiling above my bed).
My Archos 70 suddenly decided, within the first year of use, that it needed a new licence to play the videos it had been perfectly happy with up to then.
Bait-and-switch tactics really annoy me. So although they make reasonable Androids, I won't be putting any more money their way.
Vic.
While the controls are a bit fiddly, I like the Chumby One I have. Pandora works fine, as does the general Internet Radio. It has an FM tuner which is so-so. The speaker is meh, but good enough for my needs; the Good Stereo is in the living room.
Some day I might get to hacking it, too, but Real Work intrudes.
I love my HTC Sensation (hate tmobile!), but one thing I think Apple got right is having a smart connector for 2-way communication with aftermarket devices like clock radios and cars. Wouldn't you rather just plug your phone into a clock radio and have everything just work? Google dropped the ball on this IMHO.
POWER CONSUMPTION. POWER CONSUMPTION. POWER CONSUMPTION. Please, whenever you review an electronic device, please give the power consumption (and that means more than battery life) as it would help people who are trying to make efficient choices.
On top of that, an easy ability to play a looping sound would be nice for some people. My wife uses a sound machine* to help her sleep.
* Sound machine replaced a standing fan: it'll pay for itself in reduced electricity costs in about 2 years. We'd have bought a combined sound machine/clock radio but you couldn't turn off the backlight and we like the room DARK.
I have a dream of an alarmclock that will go off and then display my google calendar agenda for the day and also if I have a meeting in for say 8am automatically go off early. (I realise I can do this with my phone and calendar reminders but I want it in a proper bedside alarmclock and I want it automated dang it!)
Anyone know if I can do that with this?
I have a dream of a watch that will sync my calendar and alert for appointments.
I imagine you'll see your dream realized before I see mine. If you can do it with an Android phone it should be able to be managed on this... and for automating unusual things in Android, check out Tasker - it might help for this, but can't make any promises.
So, I bought one of these for £90 from Amazon, based on the strength of this review and to be honest I'm pretty pleased with it.
The resistive screen isn't great - I'd have paid a few quid more for a better quality capacitive screen, but for what I want it for it will serve well. The sounds quality is much better than I expected so as an internet radio it's all good, and having now installed the Android Market and GMail, I can now check my emails in the morning without having to use my phone
It occurs to me that this will also be great when I'm travelled for work - not to take with me (though undoubtedly I could), but because I can leave Skype running on it and then video call with my kids whilst I'm away.
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