Archos to launch 9in tablet

Mobile media player pioneer Archos is to launch a 9in mini-tablet this autumn with a virtual keyboard and handwriting recognition.

The device, which sounds similar in concept to Microsoft's Origami tablet, will weigh 800g and measure just 1.7cm thick, the company said at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

It will be driven by an Atom processor and pack a hard disk with a capacity of either 60GBytes and 160GBytes.

Mobile tablets have been slow to take off, which has led many manufacturers to conclude that people do not want them. But they said that for years about mini-noteboooks, ignoring the fact that they were charging as much or more for them as larger models.

Archos also said it would launch ultra-thin mini-PCs next year using Intel's Moorestown platform, which LG says it will also adopt.

Archos chief executive Henri Crohas, said: "We are delivering our next generation ultra-light and ultra-thin MiniPC products by combining the impressive performance and internet compatibility of the Intel Atom processor with our advances in Internet Media Tablets. These products will blend the computing horsepower of a laptop with the rich multimedia experiences that Archos has come to be known for."