Creative's Zen Touch 2 gets an Upgrade to Android 2.2!

It didn't take them long.  Creative appears to be serious about the android tablet market.  Their 7" and 10" Ziio tablets have recently received update to android 2.2.  It came with additional features that make them better values than they were when first releases.  The Touch 2 is a pocket player.  It comes in three versions.  I reviewed the one with GPS a few weeks ago.

Enhancements:

• Upgrades the OS from Android 2.1 (Eclair) to Android 2.2 (Froyo).
• Adds the Audible application (for selected regions only).

So how much is the UI improved?  

• No apparent improvements to the Music app. No EQ to be found.
• The Power Widget is buggy.  After three reboots it "almost" works right again.             
• Powered down while plugged into USB shows a nice battery status display with backlight dimmed.
• 5 Home pages now, an improvement over the three available in the last version of the firmware.
• On-screen dots to indicate the current page as well as allow a tap to move to other pages.  
• The BestTube (YouTube) app runs but crashes trying to preview videos and freezes trying to download videos.

As I come across any new or broken features I'll add them here. Leave a comment if you have one. Not sure if anyone but me has bothered.

4D

Archos' Gen8 Tablets Updated. Minor Fixes and Major New Features!

NEW!

On April 21, 2011 Archos release version 2.3.26 firmware for its generation 8 tablets. The Changes include:

• Wi-Fi: fix cannot scan on an access point above channel 11 regression
• Phone tethering: fix TCP/IP header compression setting crash
• System stability: avoid Android reboot in case of missing audio
• Media library: fix media libray not updated on hard drive based A70
• Notification: decrease low battery notification volume
• Application: attempt to solve Pandora application not able to switch songs
• Application: solve music lag in applications using OGG format
• Bluetooth GPS: increase compatibility with 3rd party applications
• Display: avoid white/black screen happening sometimes when switching back the display on.

Download page.

On April 13, 2011 Archos released version 2.3.20 firmware for its generation 8 tablets.  The Changes include:
Version 2.3.20:

• Application: a new Archos remote service and universal Android application to control your Archos device remotely using Wi-Fi. It is intended to operate your Archos using any Android phone/device for instance when the Archos is connected to the TV. The "Archos Remote Control" application is available on Android Market and on Appslib
• Application: a new Archos YouTube application to easily view and play YouTube videos
• Network shares: samba network share transfer speed has been enhanced to support HD streaming
• Network shares: password protected shares are now discoverable
• Media library: improve indexing behavior and robustness
• Media info scraper: more robust poster and information retrieval process for TV and movie shows
• Media library cleaning: all multimedia information (movie/tv shows posters and indexation data) can be cleared through settings->repair/formatting/reset multimedia library entry
• Contacts: fix importation and exportation of Vcards
• Applications: fix sound muted when initiating a call with Fring
• Screen snapshot: fix capture for all screens and TV
• Camera: increase quality of 720P H264 recording (decrease blockiness effect)
• Multimedia: improve UPNP stability preventing hangs when Wi-Fi connection stops
• Multimedia: for shoutcast network streams display url, station, genre on MusicPlayer
• Multimedia: fix next playing video being paused at start in folder play mode
• Multimedia: MMS playback support has been fixed
• Multimedia: MIDI playback support has been fixed
• Multimedia: fix compatibility with Rhapsody player application
• Audio: fixed alarm volume when headphone are plugged (was lowered)
• Video: fix some MPEG2 files not playing correctly on A28
• Video: fix seeking in AVI with layer2 VBR sound
• MusicPlayer: display track number (like "3/10") for A43/A70/A101
• Videoplayer: fix folder play mode with HD video
• Subtitles: auto detect UTF8 codepage
• Storage: remove disk damage notification happening sometimes even after a successful file system check
• Peripherals: display a notification when plugging a USB device that requires more than 100mA current for A28/A32/A70 to provide feedback that it is not supported (e.g. some USB keys)
• Battery: improve prediction of wake up time to shutdown the product when battery is low
• Proxy: http proxy support has been fixed
• Phone tethering: increase compatibility with Blackberry phones (introduction of a setting to enable TCP/IP header compression)

You can find the firmware here:  LINK

One new feature I'm delighted to see is the remote control application.  It allows any Android 2.1 device to control your Archos gen8 device while it is hooked up to your TV. It means you can sit back on the couch and interact with android on your HDTV with no cable between your phone and the Archos device.  You can download the Archos Remote APK here:  LINK

I'm delighted to see Archos providing continued support for their gen8 tablets.  They've made mine even better than it was when I bought them.

4D