In 1967, the metal caesium-133 was
chosen to define the exact length of of a second by the people in charge of time. But will anyone be counting the seconds before the Archos enters the Windows Phone game with the new Archos 40 Cesium?
Available in September for just €80, the 40 Cesium is an affordable smartphone running Microsoft's Windows Phone software. Archos hasn't released UK, US or Australian prices, but the Euro price converts to around £65, $105 or AU$115.
Windows Phone is nowhere near as widely adopted as Google's
Android software, but budget-friendly Windows Phones like the
Nokia Lumia 630 have proved hugely popular and widened the operating system's appeal, especially in developing markets like India.
The 40 Cesium is the first Windows Phone from French company Archos. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor, the 4-inch phone runs Windows Phone 8.1.
Like the various multi-hued phones in Nokia's Lumia line, the 40 Cesium comes with a choice of bright colours, coming with yellow, blue and black interchangeable covers.
The 40 Cesium smartphone joins the new
80 Cesium Windows tablet in the Archos range today. Windows Phone and Windows for
tablets are different operating systems, but they have various apps and services in common, such as the OneDrive cloud storage service offered to anyone buying a Windows or Windows Phone device.
Also announced alongside the Windows devices are the
50b Platinum smartphone and
101 Oxygen tablet, both running Android. The new devices stick their heads above the parapet for the first time at
IFA, the annual technology trade show in Berlin next week. We'll be on hand to bring you the first pictures, videos and hands-on first impressions of the coolest kit heading your way in the next few months, so keep it CNET.
