Not all details were known about the S9 when it was first discovered on Cowon's site, but the full specs are now out on what seems to be one of the new big things this year.

We already knew the player has a 3.3" AMOLED screen with a resolution of 272x480. AMOLED screens are capable of lighting themselves and does not require backlighting like LCD screens. The Bluetooth support is listed as A2DP and AVRCP compatible which means audio streaming and remote controlling, and no support for headset mode or file transfer is listed. The interface will auto rotate as you turn the player and be flash, so hopefully that means it's skinable right out of the box. With a 500 MHz dual core CPU it should hopefully be rather quick. It comes with 9 EQ presets and like other Cowon players it does both Ogg Vorbis and FLAC. Size wise it will be 57.08 x 105.75 x 12.7 mm

It's the video aspect of the S9 that will disappoint many people. It only plays at the screens native resolution, which is rubbish in my opinion. This is most likely to make sure such players as the O2 have a market as well, but in doing so they limited a player which could be the new big hit and native Xvid support without resolution limits would definitely help towards that. It does do WMV and AVI (prob Xvid) like the D2 and h.264 has been added as a third supported video format. This means better quality per megabyte of data, and it might mean it will play back PSP formatted video. Don't get your hopes up however as h.264 compatible portable players tend to be extremely picky on what they will play back. The video support will do the job, but it could have been soooo much better - especially since the player has TV out, a feature that was barely a novelty on the D2.

Lastly, the capacity. A lot of people have been pointing out that this thing doesn't have memory expansion, something that's become a must have after the reign of the D2. With capacities up to 16GB at release and 32GB later, it isn't ever capable of reaching the D2's 48GB combined storage space. Not to mention the 32GB version will most likely be rather expensive, maybe more than people are willing to pay. So the question that remains is this, will you still want one after seeing the limitations?If so, it will be out in October.

[GenerationMP3]

Cowon is back and I must say this is perhaps the most exciting new line of players this year, after disappointing new lines from both Creative and iriver. Cowon has just put up info on their site about three new players, the S9, O2 and L3 - all of which looks to be spectacular.

The three players will each be different sizes; 3.3", 4.3" and 7" respectively. All of them have touch screens and very few tactile buttons. Read on for the full details on the three players.

I got an email from abi reader Reece saying “i couldnt be bothered sending my iAudio 7 to korea to repair, as i had broken the menu button off inside the player. i decided to give it a crack myself, and i fixed it fine.”. Massive props to Reece for taking matters into his own hands with a little bit DIY and many thanks to him for sharing his slide show of this endeavor.

If you need instructions on you probably shouldn’t be taking it apart. Cracking this bad boy open requires a small screw driver and a little bit of patience. If you forget how to put it back together perhaps these photos will help. Thanks again Reece!

The iAudio 7 review, if you missed it. Also in related news, just yesterday Rockbox dev Daniel posted a photo of the i7 with custom code running on its way to getting Rockboxed.

The Cowon Q5(W) has been the flagship of all MP3 players for a while, offering and costing more than anything else out there. The successor is now official, and will be called the P5.

The P5 will of course have an impressive feature list, which includes (draws breath): 5" 800x480 pixel LCD haptic touch screen, FM tuner, TV output, speaker, Bluetooth, USB host, games, DMB-T TV tuner (US version will definitely not have this) and optional Wifi module. It will come in 40, 60 and 80GB versions running a 700mhz CPU and a Windows CE 5.0 core. While 14 hours for audio isn't very impressive, the stated 9 hours for video certainly is and the device supports pretty much any audio and video format there is. If and when a US version will come out is unknown, but expect it to be priced like it's predecessor, meaning it won't be cheap. For more pictures and full tech specs check out the product page.

[via GenerationMP3]

About a month ago we speculated on whether or not a 16GB Cowon D2 was in the works. The player has now shown up on jetmall.net which is Cowon's official US reseller, so it's safe to say this is for real.

The biggest surprise has to be the price - and by that I don't mean it's high. The 16GB D2 sells for only $240 with free shipping, which isn't the cheapest 16GB option around but also far from the most expensive. Add $70 bucks and you'll get a 16GB SDHC card that will make it a total of 32GB for $310.

To take a quick look at the rest of the 16GB club, the current prices are: Creative Zen 16GB $180 (Amazon), Sansa View 16GB $150 (Amazon), Sony NWZ-A729 16GB $290 (Amazon) and Sony NWZ-A829 16GB $320 (Amazon). The Samsung P2 16GB has just been released in Europe and is expected to arrive in the US soon for about $300.

[Jetmall via GenerationMP3]

Electronics come in pretty much any material you can imagine, from standard plastic to stainless steel and NASA approved Kryptonite. The oldest material of them all is however the one that looks most awesome when used in every day gadgetry - wood. I myself have some experience in that area so the new special edition Cowon N3 due for release in Korea soon is most definitely a hit in my book.

The N3 itself is old(ish) news and being a Asia only device it's not too well known in other parts of the world. It's somewhere between a GPS and the Cowon Q5W, with a 7" 800x480 touchscreen, dual SDHC slots for memory, navigation kit and a DMB tuner. The wood-covered version will have identical features and the difference is a slightly higher price and the awesome looking Burl Walnut frame. I don't know about the rest of you, but one of these, a couple of 32GB SDHC cards and a nice pair of Darth Beyers and I'd be set for life.

[Akihabara News]

The Cowon D2 has been around for over a year now and has perhaps been Cowon's biggest success ever. It has survived in the race for more storage capacity for so long because of the SDHC card slot that allows users to add up to 16GB (32GB soon) on top of the 2, 4 or 8GB of internal memory. Now it seems Cowon has finally taken a step further and is planning on releasing a 16GB D2.

There is no official word yet, but the 16GB version just showed up on a German webshop so it's very likely this isn't just a rumour. The player is so far listed without any release date or price so there is still a chance this is just a glitch. If it turns out to be true that will mean the D2 will have a current max capacity of 32GB with 48GB being possible in the near future.

[MP3-player.de via GenerationMP3]

The Cowon Q5W might be the mother of all PMPs currently available, with features (and price tag) putting it closer to a tablet PC than a PMP. The player runs Windows CE 5.0, so there are lots of potential for tweaking right out of the box.

One owner did just that, and got a SNES (Super Nintendo) emulator to work on his Q5W. Controlling the emulator is done via a Playstation controller and a USB adapter through the Q5W's USB host. The whole setup seems to work pretty well, and it's definitely worth trying for those of you with a Q5W. Video after the jump.

[ PlayerBites]

The iAudio A3 is Cowon's flagship PMP with a very thorough list of supported codecs in both music and video. The 800x480 16.7 million color screen is crisp and will do justice to your video collection. There is a lot of good going on with the A3, and it's probably the best PMP of its size on the market.

However, the A3 is still has plenty of issues. The user interface is weak (as is many of Cowon's interfaces), the firmware could use some work and the advertised 1280x720 HD playback is anything but refined. Again, the A3 is a great PMP, but read on for the caution areas.

While talking with some of the Cowon reps at CES 2008 I was tipped off to the D3 while inquiring about supported video resolution on the D2. I asked if there were any plans the D2 would ever support video resolutions above 320x240. He said no, but the D3 might. The rep then gave me three pieces of information- the D3 will be smaller, slimmer, and out in 6 months. “Out in 6 months” is not very clear since this could mean out in Korea in 6 months or announced in 6 months. The US may see it 6 to 12 months in those terms.

Last year I was told that they had no plans to release the Q5 to the US and they did. There could have been a change of plans or there could have been a miscommunication in that it would not be Q5 in the US but a Q5W. That said I would take the D3 news rumor, but a very plausible rumor since it came from the mouths of Cowon.

Affirmed just one week in advance, the release date of the A3 for the Korean market is now scheduled for November 14. Due to the extensive list of functions that the 30GB and 60GB PMP provides it is no wonder Cowon is referring to the A3 as an extreme PMP.

Improving on the A2, the resolution of the 4-inch 16 million color LCD has increased by two thirds to 800 x 480. Additional codecs supported are primarily Matroska, h.264, VOB, Apple Lossless, AAC, APE, GIF and TIF, while videos up to 1280 x 720 pixles can now be played. The weight of the 30GB version is lighter than the A2 by 0.63oz and the user EQ has increased to 10-bands.

It’s been a long wait since Cowon first announced the A3 so hopefully it won't too much longer for the rest of the world. For now the Korean prices are 349,000 Won ($385) for the 30GB and 419,000 ($462) for the 60GB.

[Press Release | Product Page]

Both Japan and Korea will receive an additional broadcasting service to one Cowon media player each this month. An alternate version of the iAudio D2 will be offered alongside the standard model in Japan. It will be almost identical to the original D2 and provide all the same features as well as a 1seg TV tuner which streams content with its built-in retractable antenna. Suitably called the D2TV it is in essence Japan’s equivalent to the D2 DMB.

The second player to gain some extra functionality is the iAudio L2. In the form of a firmware upgrade, rather than a hardware adaptation, it will accept TPEG transmissions which contain real-time traffic and weather reports. The service will be broadcasted over DMB and certainly compliment the device’s GPS navigation system.

[Press Release | Press Release via Impress]

Officially declaring two of their highly anticipated portable media players, Cowon has proposed a late October release date in Europe for the Q5 and A3.

The striking 5-inch, 800 x 480 pixel, 16 million color touchscreen of the Q5 is far from all you should be impressed by. An immense collection of supported formats (MP3, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, WAV, WMA, ASF, AVI, WMV, MPEG 4, DivX, JPEG, BMP, and PNG) are sure to cover the majority of your music, video, and picture viewing needs. If all this on the 40GB and 60GB hard drive doesn’t give you access to enough media, then the Wi-Fi internet downloads, Bluetooth connectivity and USB port may suit. Stereo speakers are built in, as well as outputs for TV and SPDIF.

The Cowon iAudio A3 makes use of a 4-inch display with the same 800 x 480 pixel resolution as the Q5, but has 30GB and 60GB hard drive capacities. If you thought the format support for the Q5 was impressive, the A3 offers the entire list above plus Apple Lossless, AAC, and Matroska. It will even view your PDF and Microsoft Office files. Also included is a TV-out, audio line-in and the capability to record your video from VCR, set-top box and camcorder.

Both players will produce 7 hours of video playback, while 10 hours of audio playback is given to the A3 and 14 to the Q5. Pricing for the Q5 is €649 ($886) for the 40GB and €699 ($954) for the 60GB, whereas the A3 is €449 ($613) in 30GB and €499 ($681) in 60GB.

[The Register via Tech Digest]

It has not taken long for another DAP manufacturer to follow suit after the Creative Zen V Plus received a memory increased to 16GB. The iAudio 7 with a capacity of 16GB has been announced by Cowon.

Alongside the i7, new edition of the D2 (dubbed the D2 DMB) will feature 4GB and 8GB of internal storage, while expansion through SDHC cards can provide a further 8GB. The increase in storage space is not the only addition to the D2; it will also receive the ability to handle DMB content.

Several player and accessory packs are available for the South Korean market, but there is no dates and prices for other regions yet.

[Press Release]

This photo was sent to me (thanks David) claiming to be an early prototype of Cowon's update to their flagship hard drive player, the X5. While the photo is clearly a Photoshop job, it could have been done by Cowon. What leads me to believe that this is legit is the reuse of buttons found on the i7 and the D2—definitely Cowon’s style. The Gomatic connection on the bottom also matches their previous players.

The player looks a little too thin to incorporate a hard drive so it may be going the way of every other player and like the D2, flash with expandable memory. From the photos the player looks to be touch screen. To me that’s somewhat of a disappointment, but at least there are dedicated volume buttons.

The D2 was a hit and the X7 looks to be a larger improved version of it-- Cowon may have another winner.

Full resolution photo below.