Is this the Cowon A3?

No, we have no idea if this pic from a Korean message board -- which purportedly shows Cowon's successor to its A2 portable media player --  is legit. And there are no real specs available yet, either. In fact, the only thing anyone seems able to glean from the pic is that this will include a DMB receiver (that's presumably what the antenna's for, and it's a safe bet to make for a new Korean PMP, regardless of any other info). Still, after months of "true video iPods" and "tablet Macs," it's nice to see that Apple doesn't have the market for rumors and suspicious-looking product mockups all to itself.

[Sam Gardner @ May 17th 2006 4:19PM]

looks kind of hacked together to me, ie not real polished. Ameteur photoshop is my guess

[larken @ May 17th 2006 4:31PM]

120% FAKE

[Viramor @ May 17th 2006 4:36PM]

lol, thats easily fake, generic photoshop textures/effects.

[adam @ May 17th 2006 4:36PM]

i cry PHOTOSHOP! i'm not that good at telling a good photoshop job from a real picture, but even i can see that this is fake. the edges of the screen don't seem clear-cut like it would on a real product. it looks like the edges of it are fuzzy. besides, i could do a better job rounding out corners myself using photoshop. if you look closely at it, the edges do not appear sharp.

for example, i took a jpg of the miami dolphins schedule from their site last season and photoshopped it into microsoft's energy bliss wallpaper. i had perfectly round corners on it, which wasn't really that hard to do, somebody just got lazy here.

last thing and i'm done: the buttons seem really cartoon-ish and just too fake. i think if this was real cowon would have done a better job and made it look more real than this was, and i bet cowon would have put a screenshot of the UI on there instead of that crap.

[Pat @ May 17th 2006 4:37PM]

FAKE

the bevels are crappy photoshopped. and the scrollpad+entire player are jaggy wtf.

the screen pattern is a default PHOTOSHOP

not to mention the shadow is a crappy drop shadow as well?something that is physically impossible to have

[rolfo87 @ May 17th 2006 4:37PM]

you're kidding right?....it's like they didnt even put any effort into it

[Marc Perton @ May 17th 2006 4:51PM]

I don't think there's any question this is a mockup. The real question is whether it's an internal Cowon mockup of a forthcoming product, or a fake from outside of the company.

[meatcar @ May 17th 2006 4:56PM]

fake...

the pattern on the screen is a default photoshop pattern...

[Daniel @ May 17th 2006 4:57PM]

I don't think it's a Photoshop fake.

More like MS Paint.

[Tom @ May 17th 2006 5:17PM]

The guy who posted it says, "It was photoshopped; I don't have the real image."

The comments also say that, "Wasn't this on Kowan Gang-nam Center?"

Jeez...

[Scott @ May 17th 2006 5:36PM]

Are you kidding me? Lemme say that that is the worst photoshop ever. The worst part is the screen. That is a premade pattern that comes with photoshop. I think engadget goofed by posting this poo.

[Radical Conformist @ May 17th 2006 5:48PM]

I petition that Engadget renames this news post:

"Is there anybody who actually believes this is the Cowon A3?"

[Mr. B @ May 17th 2006 5:59PM]

...not remotely newsworthy.

[Evan K @ May 17th 2006 6:03PM]

Comon Engadget,

Is this really newsworthy..?

It's obvious to everyone that this is just some kid experimenting with MS Paint... it's that bad.

[kowalski @ May 17th 2006 7:43PM]

that pattern is enourmously trippy.

[theCardinal @ May 17th 2006 8:02PM]

Why was this posted? This is a terrible fake. Seriously Marc, what were you thinking?

[Terc @ May 17th 2006 8:06PM]

Engadget, I love to read your articles, but please start weeding out fakes. This one is too obvious. Seriously, did you even look at that pic before posting this story? If you did, best put on your reading glasses next time.

[Evan @ May 17th 2006 8:12PM]

Aha. Ahaha. Ahahahahahaha. FAKE! WTF??? Whoever made this shouldn't have even posted i ton the internet, now it's on Engadget, they should be really embarrassed.

"Worst fake EVER."

[Torien @ May 17th 2006 8:23PM]

Fake = External Mockup

Cheap Korean Design firm = Poor Quality Internal Mockup


Whose to say which this is

[Echid @ May 17th 2006 9:02PM]

People, please stop saying fake like you are the only genius to catch on. We know, Engadget knows. As #7 says, its really about whether this IS possibly a picture of the future Cowon A3. Geez, this is getting rediculas.

[Tucker @ May 17th 2006 9:43PM]

thsi is just sad. no effort at all. wow. just awful.

[Virtical @ May 18th 2006 1:07AM]

I whole heartedly agree with #21, seriously people, read all the comments before screaming FAKE live youre the only one to notice, the original poster of this image said "It was photoshopped; I don't have the real image."
The comments also say that, "Wasn't this on Kowan Gang-nam Center?" (read #11)

[Gmo @ May 18th 2006 1:59AM]

...the DMB antenna is probably mock too...but dang to have a screen that size...oh what if.

[zoara @ May 18th 2006 8:58AM]

OMG!!!! That is such a fake!!!!

[kyle @ May 18th 2006 1:14PM]

wwhy would you even post this engadget? this was originally posted in the iaudiophile.net forums as a joke, this is truely a testamentto your professionalism.

[Ji.Woong.Yoon @ May 20th 2006 10:40AM]

I am a korean.
This is never exist.
this is a joke by other korean.
I'm sorry. I cannot speak English very well....

[AJ @ Oct 9th 2006 7:09PM]

I work in the Design Industry and there are heaps of quickly photoshopped concept images for products that are in the design phase. So if there is an A3 coming out, it could look like this, or something like it...We'll just have to wait and see.