@xirsteon Because Archos has to pay per-device royalties for the codecs.

Companies like Archos have to work with several restrictions when opening the firmware and allowing to install alternative versions. The following points are likely to have kept Archos from taking this step so far:

1. Developers or enthusiasts may brick their devices with unsupported firmware and then rely on Archos support to fix the problem.

2. The hardware contains DRM keys that must not be exposed to alternative firmware versions. These keys may get deleted in an unrecoverable way upon installing the developer version. Make sure to read the fine print before installing.

3. The firmware and codecs may include licensed code that can not be made open source.

4. The firmware and codecs may contain code that requires per-device royalties and can not be allowed to be moved to other devices.

That being said, the work that the Rockbox team did on the old Archos devices was great. I hope that something similar comes up on the new ones.

Give them a screen that is readable in full sunlight.

The iPod Touch uses an capacitive touchscreen whereas the Archos devices use resistive touchscreens. Capacitive touchscreens are more sensitive when used with flat fingers. But this has nothing to do with the multitouch feature.

Picsel implemented the flick-scrolling years before Apple. They probably patented it. At least they're suing Apple for patent infringement.

I agree that the Flash support is not satisfactory. But Archos is actually using the best Adobe has to offer for mobile devices.

Someone has been watching James Bond movies again...

It's the headphone jack.

Why would car manufacturers provide a nice solution to integrate cheap portable navigation when they can make a load of money on built-in devices?

The new bricks are wrapped in stainless steel, not plastic.