Opera 9 Browser To Power Archos Media Players

Consumer electronics maker Archos on Friday tapped Opera Software for its full-featured Web browser and an application for creating Widgets on portable media players.

Archos is using the Opera 9 software development kit to enable the Web browsing and Widgets capabilities on its Generation 5 portable media players, including the 605 Wi-Fi, the 705 Wi-Fi, and the TV+.

All three devices have the ability to surf the Web. Additionally, the 605 Wi-Fi and the 705 Wi-Fi come with high-resolution touch screens. They can play any type of digital entertainment -- movies, photos, and music -- and they can be used to schedule and record TV shows.

Opera's full-featured browser supports advanced technology such as Flash, so users can stream videos or music directly to the Archos media players from popular Web sites, which include YouTube, Dailymotion, and others.

With Opera 9, users also can download and create personalized Widgets, such as weather forecasts, news, currency and unit converters, and calculators.

"Our partnership with Opera helps turn Archos portable media players into the most advanced and compelling wireless devices available today," said Henri Crohas, CEO of Archos, in a statement.

The media players are installed with the Opera browser. However, there's a $30 fee to activate the Opera Web browser plug-in. Once the browser is activated, users can download and run Widgets at no extra cost, said an Opera spokeswoman.

As a standalone offering, the Opera browser is available as a free download from the company's Web site. Opera also offers mobile versions of the browser for cell phones, smartphones, and PDAs.