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Cowon teases iAudio 9 overseas

For years, the Korean brand Cowon has steadily churned out some of the best sounding, most format-friendly media players on the planet. And if the latest round of iPod and Zune coverage had you asking "Where's the XviD support for all my torrents of 'Rock of Love'?" then Cowon may have a new player that's perfect for you (actually, it already does).

The Korean version of Cowon's Web site is showing some teaser images and specs for a new media player called the iAudio 9. Presumably a radical makeover of the iAudio 7 (winner of … Read more

Sony X-Series Walkman vs. Cowon S9

If you're shopping for a high-end portable media player, but the iPod just isn't your cup of tea, the Sony X-Series Walkman and the Cowon S9 are two of the best options around.

But aside from the fact that both players include beautiful OLED touch screens, they couldn't be more different. The X-Series comes with a Web browser, noise-canceling headphones, and lacks Bluetooth, while the S9 includes Bluetooth, standard earbuds, and wants nothing to do with the Internet.

To see which iPod Touch alternative offers the most bang for your buck, we've handed the S9 and … Read more

Best MP3 players for podcasts

Obviously, an MP3 player's foremost purpose is music playback, but these days people are using their devices for much more than just that. You can view photos, watch videos, even play games in some cases. But perhaps one of the most popular side dishes people like to enjoy is podcasts--heck, it's the main dish for some. Podcasts are great for many reasons, not the least of which is that they're free. Plus, you can count on finding someone talking about just about any topic known to man, so there's something for everyone.

Of course, not every … Read more

Cowon S9 wants you back, updates wardrobe

Long before the Sony X-Series stole the OLED portable media player spotlight, 2008's Cowon S9 blew us away with its gorgeous 3.3-inch touch-screen display, Bluetooth audio, and extensive audio and video codec support. But the gadget's fanatic attention span can only last so long before a perfectly good MP3 player just feels like yesterday's news.

In an effort to rekindle our collective fascination with the S9, Cowon has announced a new "ceramic white" color option, currently available only in Korea. To be fair, Cowon has also released a steady stream of firmware updates for … Read more

Motz MP3 players return, squirrels rejoice

The quirky, DIY-friendly line of Motz MP3 players have been keeping a low-profile ever since we reported on them back in March of 2007, and recently suffered the unfortunate fate of being dropped from their Japanese distributor. Fortunately, Motz's Acorn, Ino, and Photo MP3 player models have been picked up by Cowon Japan, giving the products a new distribution channel.

The manufacturer's lowest-priced model, the Motz Ino, sells for 6,800 Yen (approx. $70) and includes all the basic components for creating your own customized MP3 player. The premise is that you'd use the Motz Ino to … Read more

Cowon S9 gets a firmware and capacity bump

Cowon is throwing some extra heat behind the S9 touch-screen portable media player it launched in January. The company recently rolled out a 32GB version of the S9, complementing the existing 8GB and 16GB models. The new 32GB model will set you back $299 ($100 less than the 32GB iPod Touch), and is available directly from Cowon or from Amazon.

Existing Cowon S9 owners also get a treat in the form of new firmware. Version 2.30 of the Cowon S9 firmware brings many little tweaks to the user interface, a new notepad utility, improved video playback for high-resolution videos, … Read more