Archos and Alcatel partner on tablet-smartphone bundle

Tablet maker Archos has teamed up with mobile handset firm Alcatel One Touch to offer a tablet and smartphone bundle, after predictions that operators will begin offering single subscriptions for multiple connected devices by mid-2011.

The idea is to allow customers to share the 3G connection of their smartphone with their Archos internet tablet using a built in One Touch Connect feature.

Exact details have yet to be announced, but analysts expect the partnership to be the first of many as people start to carry multiple internet devices.

Francisco Jeronimo, research manager for European mobile devices at analyst firm IDC, suggested that the Archos-Alcatel deal is a smart move as it pairs a tablet with good specifications with a low-end mobile device.

"Offering bundles is a good strategy and is something that we are going to increasingly see. Samsung in particular is in a strong position to offer a high-end tablet with services together with a feature phone," he said.

"However, it will be interesting to see how operators receive such plans as they want to sell as many subscriptions as possible."

Nick McQuire, director of research for EMEA enterprise mobility at IDC, also expects more partnerships as people will become less willing to pay for multiple data subscriptions for mobile devices.

"We will see increasing compatibility from an application and usability perspective between various form factors such as tablets and smartphones in the future due to this trend, so the connectivity side is really the first step in this evolution," he said.

McQuire also noted that data caps are here to stay for the time being, and may have some impact on tablet users.

"But we are now seeing the renewed importance of Wi-Fi. I would expect to see more bundling of Wi-Fi into the mix in the future, in similar fashion as O2 does in the UK with BT," he said.

The renewed competition in this space within the UK is being driven by Sky, which recently purchased The Cloud, and O2, which has announced aggressive strategies in this area.

Archos and Alcatel will announce more details at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from 14 to 17 February. V3.co.uk will be on hand to bring you news of all the major releases.