The Archos Gmini series has just welcomed a new member: the 200XS. Ha! We knew about this device, but well... can't ignore those non-disclosure agreements. Luckily enough for us, some webshop has placed an item on the XS200 on their site. We've spotted it on this Italian WEBSITE, which offers the tiny little player next to other, already well-known Archos products. Now, what you'd like to see are the specs, right? Ok:

Capacity: 20GB1 Hard Disk – Up to 300 hours* of music Interfaces: USB 2.0 high-speed Music playback: Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 kb/s CBR & VBR, WMA and WAV (PCM) Display: 2” level gray scale LCD, 128x128 pixels. 9 lines of characters Playback Autonomy: Up to 10 hours Power source: Internal: Rechargeable Li-Ion Batteries. External: AC charger/adaptor Dimensions: Approx. 76.5 x 59 x 19.5 mm / 2.9" x 2.3" x 0.75” Weight: 120 g (4.30 oz) Package includes: Gmini XS200, USB 2.0 cable, AC power charger adaptor, headphones, quickstart guide (in-depth manual on Gmini XS200 HD)

Ok, so what we've got here is an ultra-portable, lightweight and very simplified DAP. Ehr... something kind of iPod-like, you could say (no, please don't kill me for this statement). You see.... compare the dimensions to that of say, iPod v4: 76.5 x 59 x 19.5mm (200XS) vs 103,5 x 61,8 x 14,6mm. 120 grams? That's only 17 grams more than iPod Mini, for instance. Both units are audio-only, no fancy color screen line-in-destroy-the-world blahblah to be spotted.

The European SRP will be 299 Euro for the Gmini XS - not bad compared to the 329 Euro for iPod v4 (Holland). Guess Archos' unit will be somewhat less-refined, material-wise, but this device does look promising enough to me.

Update: the XS will come available early October. Suggested retail price for the United States will be $249, making it equally expensive as e.g. the iPod Mini.

Also note that Archos has already set up a TEMPLATE PAGE for the XS (tech specs HERE). No new pics yet, but this is nice to read:

"The Double Browser is an easy-to-use music file management system organizing your files. This unique management functionality allows you to delete, rename, copy, move files and even create folders directly on the Gmini XS200 without using a computer. "