Archos 5 MID Mod Adds Android Market, Gmail, Maps, More

Despite the recent firmware update, the Archos 5 Internet Tablet is still left without access to the Android Market, and despite Archos' attempts to encourage development of device-specific apps for their own AppLib download store, the range of titles is still small.  Happily wherever there's a problem, there's usually a hack to address it, and so jkkmobile has outlined a guide to installing the Android Market – and some other things – onto the Archos 5 MID.

The process looks relatively straightforward, and at the end of it you'll not only have the Android Market on your Archos 5 but the regular Google Android applications.  That means things like the Gmail app, Google Maps and other software usually limited to "with Google" Android smartphones.

One thing you'll need is the latest Archos 5 firmware, which at time of writing is 1.4.09 (though 1.4.08 will work as well).  It's worth noting that with some recent versions users have reported problems with YouTube video playback, so it's worth checking out the Archos forums before you rush blithely into your modding; still, we know you're all the sensible sort of people who'd do that automatically, wouldn't you.