Archos 5 Internet Tablet gets game-changing OpenGL support in 2.0.15 update (video)
By Sean Hollister 
posted June 4th 2010 6:02AM
posted June 4th 2010 6:02AM
[Thanks, Tom]
posted June 4th 2010 6:02AM
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Couple this with developers like Gameloft experimenting with distribution outside Googles Market and these tablets are not as hamstrung as it's made out. It also means people outside the Markets supported territories can still get their games.
I personally own one of these, and did the update yesterday,according to GLbenchmarks the Archos 5 is the worlds most powerful OpenGL Android platform.
@Sonicjet
I assume this works through some kind of native development kit then, like the third-party Android NDK that was in a topic here a while ago.
Problem with Android and OpenGL is that all Android apps run in a VM, which isn't exactly ideal for high-performance graphics. You really want to write native code for that, especially on a low-powered mobile device. I would be surprised if this update is anything but a modified NDK that works with the Archos 5. Which is nice if you only target this specific device, but it won't mean every Android game in existence automatically runs much better, it likely has to be compiled specifically for the Archos 5 and its NDK.
Damn, this game looks like NFS Underground on my PC :)
So, just to be clear, this ISN'T OpenGL ES, right? It's full-blown ghe OpenGL spec?
@PacoBell Nope, it's OpenGL ES. The reason this is important is that there wasn't hardware-rendering for ES before... leading to really slow games.
@PacoBell
If it is OpenGL ES 2.0 (which it probably is), it's actually virtually as powerful as full-blown OpenGL, except that as a developer you have to do almost everything yourself, where full OpenGL provides much richer API's. In terms of features and options, with OpenGL ES 2.0, it's actually the hardware capabilities and the time and skills of the developer that determines what you can do with it, the API's might be extremely small, but they're not limiting you to use everything the hardware supports. Just making your life harder.
Anyone know what the third game shown is called?
wow... I'm really impressed!
they need to work a little bit on the latency tho..
Gotta love Dick Dale's rendition of Μισιρλού
That is the name of first game on video?
dear archos , make this with one dpad and analog stick, four bottons and shoulder bottoms , and i will buy it right now .
Man, it took long enough. I wish they'd release that a while back and that would have been a real good thing... but better late than never I guess...
nice, would still like to see android 2.1 or 2.2.....
One subtle but important reason this is so great is a better performance of the UI. Case in point: my Droid Eris has a slower CPU (than the Archos) but it is running OpenGL so the Sense UI is zippy but the actual performance of apps is distinguishably different from its graphical responsiveness. My Archos had always been faster but the UI was a bit more choppy. Now my Archos outfoxes my Eris. If we only we had the Sense UI for the Archos! Then I'd be all set.
OpenGL ES is just an API, it's as capable as OpenGL depending on what shaders and extensions are supported.
I would like to make this clear that although this is a 2.x firmware update, its ARCHOS' 2.x firmware update. The actual android firmware is still 1.6.
Many of you probably already know that. But reading this article in the morning, bushy-eyed/bushy-tailed, and pre-coffee made me jump to get an update I thought was for Android 2.x. So just a warning if you are the same.
I have an archos 5 internet tablet and love it. I updated my archos 5 last night and then installed the games and was pretty impressed. Are the graphics the best? no, but they are good. I have the market hack installed so i will have to look for good free 3d games. Anyone have suggestions? Also, while i do think it sucks that the archos is still using androids 1.6 system, what do the newer OS (2.1) offer?
@das boot oh and another thing. I use to get pissed when my archos 5 would drop my wi-fi connection. I couldnt wait to get the ipad bc sure i wouldn't have that problem on it. I was wrong. The archos is now more reliable on maintaining a wi-fi connection than my ipad.
Awesome! Updating right now :D
does the resistive screen still suck? if so then who cares?
@willowtwf Did you try the Archos, so you have some basis for saying it sucks?
DAMN Raging Thunder II looks good.
I wish they'd do some sort of an update for the non-android 5. The OS on that is so buggy that I can't stand it. I didn't think I needed to shell out the extra cash for the Android version, since all I needed was a music player with a lot of space. But apparently, I did.
@amnigo i have the linux one too, but as I was bored with it I hacked it a little while ago for fun- I didn't install the custom OS since it is buggy but I did jailbreak it so that I can run unregistered stuff...
I own one of these and got the update yesterday. After playing a few games I found out that the lack of hard buttons or multi-touch support limits the things usefulness in a lot of cases. But I'm happy to be able to at least play the accelerometer-driven games. The next gen Archos will be nice.
This update was awesome for the A5IT community...I personally love it. Had to adjust sum accelerometer sensitivity some to make it more playable, but thats VERY minor. I thought i couldnt go anywhere without my archos before..