PMP Today

At long sweet last, Cowon’s finally releasing the A3 PMP on November 14. It’s got a lot of amazing specs to look forward to: a 4-inch, 16M color, 800×480 display; FM radio and recorder; USB host; MPEG-4 video recorder; 1280 x 720 HD output; and codc support that includes FLAC, DivX, and OGG. Grab them in 30GB or GB for $387 and $465 and let us know if it was worth the wait!

[via engadget]

The prices for the new COWON players have been announced. They include the Cowon Q5, Cowon A3 and the iAudio D2 8GB and iAudio 7 16GB. The multi-connected COWON Q5 is slated for an October release in the U.S. and France will get the HSDPA, WiFI and GPS-enabled PMP in the same month and the rest of the lineup either October or November.

- Cowon Q5 40GB 649.95€
- Cowon Q5 60GB 699.95€
- Cowon A3 30GB 439.95€
- Cowon A3 60GB 469.95€
- Modulate DVB-T for Cowon A3 79.95€
- Cowon D2 8GB (Black or White) 289.95€
- iAudio 7 16GB (Money or Red) 349.95€

[via gmp3 ]

Some time ago, we posted the specs of COWON’s new A3 PMP. We didn’t have any picture of the device to show you, but the 4-inch WVGA screen, line-in and Office support looked enticing. The device is Windows CE-based. There is DMB but you have to shell off an additional 100 Euros ($137). The COWON A3 comes in 30GB and 60GB model with not much difference in pricing between the tw: $615 and $684 respectively.

[via gmp3]

COWON’s multi-featured and multi-connected Q5 hasn’t been officialized for the U.S. market yet but there are some people (me among them) who just cannot wait for October. Thankfully, GMP3 already finished their review of their review of the WiFi, EDGE, HSDPA, DMB device. In case we forget, the COWON Q5 also has GPS using DMB navigator and DVR functionality. As a PMP, it is directly competing with the new Archos 605 WiFi. File supported by the Q5: MPC/AVI (DivX, DivX DRM, Xvid), ASF, WMV, MPG, MP4, MP3, WMA (with DRM), OGG, FLAC, APE, WAV, AC3, GMO, SMI/JPEG, BMP, png, RAW/FLV and TXT. GMP3’s conclusion: COWON Q5 is a multi-functional high-end device that provides very high-quality video and audio.

Read on for the video review.

[via generationmp3] Read the rest »

COWON’s amazing do-it-all PMP has been rumored to be released in October, a month after it is released in Europe (as Generation MP3 has claimed). It’s not a bad deal for the U.S. to be only a month delayed compared to the old continent. The COWON Q5 is one of those amazing devices like the N95 and the iPhone and even this Chinese PMP that makes new boundaries for their respective market and at the same time bring all these markets together.

The COWON Q5 is a 5-inch 800 x 400-pixel touchscreen PMP with WiFi, HSDPA, EDGE, GPRS and GPS, FM tuner, DMB tuner and only costs about $595 dollars. There is no fairer deal available.

[via gizmodo]

COWON will be debuting its new A3 PMP during the IFA convention in Berlin at the end of August. We can’t post you any pics as we are not sure what it would look like. Although, we vaguely remember COWON showing off the A3 during CES, in which case we have found a YouTube video for you (embedded below). The specs of the COWON A3 should as follows:

• 4-inch 800 X 480-pixel screen (WVGA) with 16 million colors
• Video: AVI(DivX, XviD), ASF, MP4, WMV, MPG, DAT, MKV, OGM, VOB (native)
• Processing 1280 X 720-pixel HD Video
• Audio: MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, FLAC, APE, AC3
• Image: JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG
• Video recording from TV, camcorder, etc in MPEG4
• Line-in MP3 and voice recording
• Office, PDF and TXT support
• TV out
• USB
• HDD storage: 30GB, 40GB and 60GB

[via  iaudiophile]  The video to follow. Read the rest »

We’ve heard and believed the rumor and now it’s finally a reality. COWON’s D2 DMB and iAudio 7 will enjoy 16GB of flash storage each. The COWON D2, a mini-PMP with the ability to tune in to DMB signals in Korea, will get 8GB onboard and an additional 8GB thru SDHC and will be retailing for 419,000 won ($451) and 329,000 won ($354) for 8GB version without the  added 8GB SD card, while the 16GB iAudio 7 will set Koreans back 299,000 won ($322).

[via aving]

We’ve heard about the iAudio X7’s imminent unveiling some time ago, but we were convinced we won’t here anything about this PMP until September. The X7 is the direct successor of the X6, an iPod-like music and video player (with a rather more masculine design philosophy) with a 1.8-inch that plays MPEG-4 videos at a poor 15fps. The specs hasn’t been leaked along with the image, unfortunately, but it looks like a 3.5-inch screen at least and 30fps. Id this is a Photoshop job, it’s pretty reasonable to me. All COWON would have to do is shrink the Q5 and remove the nifty features like HSDPA, WiFi and GPS.

[via dapreview]

COWON’s new iAudio 7 is definitely one of the most interesting MP3/PMPs around. The iAudio 7 comes out smelling like roses, even with a few kinks that need to be ironed out. The next firmware update should make this player with a mini 1.3-inch screen as perfect an MP3 player as you can hope for. The audio is really superb even when heard secondhand. Video playing is not all that bad on the tiny screen, but viewing clips longer than music videos would give you a migraine.

[via generationmp3]

It appears that if you had recently opted for an iAudio 7 instead of another iPod, you won’t regret it one bit.The iAudio 7 is a mini-PMP player and perhaps the best yet in the iAudio line (that’s a straightforward progression, which you can’t really complain about). It has a 1.3-inch 160 x 128-pixel 26K TFT LCD, which isn’t too eye-friendly for video playback, especially at a poor 15fps. It’s a true audiophile’s player, however, with “top-notch” audio playback and support for FLAC and OGG. It records audio from line-in, the mic and FM stations. Not only that, this MP3 player is a work horse.

Excerpt: For those who prefer quantity over quality, the iAudio 7 is still the best audio player you. The 5 band EQ combined with the BBE feature is all you need to breathe new life into your boring 128k mp3 files. I have a very few 128k mp3 files (usually what’s left from my napster/morpehus/kazaa days). But whatever mp3 files I threw at “tiny”, it just kept on churning top-audio output at me. Impressive is such an understatement for what this player could do. “Mind-blowing” is more like it.

User interface is the same intuitive swing-touch from iAudio 6 with a diagonal icon display. The player comes in 4GB and 8GB versions, striped with silver and red respectively. Read the rest from Gadgetholic.

[via crunchgear, source]