Archos 5 Android adds Linux developer firmware to its bag of tricks
It seems like only yesterday when eager Archos 604 and 605 owners were trying to root the locked-down firmware of their favorite multimedia players, but Archos has made some great strides over the past few years, culminating in a more open-source approach. Over the weekend, an eagle-eyed user over at ArchosFans noticed that Archos had quietly slipped out its new Special Developer Edition (SDE) firmware based on the Angstrom Linux distribution for the Archos 5 Android internet tablet.
It shouldn't come as a huge surprise, since Archos did the same thing for the previous non-Android Archos 5 and 7 late last year. While the addition of Android has added unlimited possibilities for not only the current-gen device, but for future devices as well, there are always a few of the die-hard fans out there that would like to take a crack at customizing the OS even more. Not to mention, Android might not be everyone's cup of tea when it comes to OS choices.
With the ability to dual-boot, at least there is no worry about losing the core Archos multimedia apps, since they are not present in the Angstrom build. Check out a few screenshots after the break, and if you're feeling brave, the keys to the castle are contained in the download link at the end of the post.
The Angstrom SDE firmware download can be found here.
