Archos is hard at work, delivering their second firmware update in as many weeks. It's comprised mostly of bug fixes, but it does add one new feature that Archos 5 and 7 owners have been waiting for. The players now have support for a High-def Plug-in, allowing you to play HD videos with resolutions up to 720 x 1280 (24FPS) natively. The full list of changes are listed below:

Firmware 1.6.03 (for Archos 5 and 7)

New Features:

• HiDef Video Plug-in support
  - WMV/VC1 AP at 720p, 24 fps, 6 Mbps maximum
  - MPEG-4 ASP w/o QPEL and GMC at 720p, 24 fps, 6 Mbps maximum
  
• Network: Now display only one Hidden SSID item in the access point list even if several are detected (Note: previous Wifi configuration is lost after firmware update)

Bug Fixes:

• Music: some MP3 files did not show up in Music Library
• TV Snap-on: recording failed in case there was no "(Rec)" folder
• TV Program Guide: Title bar was not updated when changing day by selecting a program
• ARCHOS 5G : Device didn't start when plugged on some DVR Stations
• GUI: Animated Wallpaper was using the format selected in the Video Player instead of Full Screen
• GUI: Device rebooted when opening a shortcut to a picture folder containing sub-folders only

Download HERE

The HD plugin costs $19.99, but appears to be out of stock on Archos' site. How can a digital download be sold out?