Archos Bringing Android to your TV with TV Connect

Today, Archos introduced the TV Connect which is basically an Android-based smart TV experience onto your existing, non-smart, HDTV. You can think of it as Google TV, without Google TV. Yeah it’s kinda confusing but it’s a really cool device. Archos is calling it the first “multitouch Android on TV” experience in their press release. Of course there is a specially designed remote control included, and as you can see from the pictures, it’s not intended for one-hand use. It promises to give you the ability to play games, browse the web, video chat, stream videos, and more. It’s basically turning your HDTV into a huge Android tablet. Just imagine turning a 50-inch HDTV into an Android tablet….okay let’s stop drooling now.

The Archos TV Connect will be at CES next week in Las Vegas, and will be available starting in February for $129.99. Not a bad price. As far as the specs go:

• Android 4.1 – Jelly Bean
• 1.5GHz Smart Multi Core processor
• 1GB of RAM
• 8GB internal storage; Expandable to 32GB via micro SD card
• HDMI port, USB port included

You can see the full spec list in the source link below. This is a pretty interesting idea from Archos, now the next thing is to see how well it works, but we’ll have to wait until February to see that. The TV Connect also features a front facing camera. So in theory you could do a Google+ Hangout on your TV, now wouldn’t that be cool. Archos CEO Henri Crohas is calling it “a bigger, better way to enjoy Android.” We aren’t to sure about that, we’ll have to wait and see how well it performs on a daily basis. But running Android 4.1, it should be pretty good, especially with Project Butter.

So who’s interested in this TV Connect device from Archos? It looks pretty promising, and looks like it would be a lot of fun. Let us know in the comments below what you think of this device. You can also get more information from the product page on Archos website by hitting the link below.