Cowon's S9 rocking retail next month

We tried and we tried but we just couldn't get COWON to show us its new S9 Curve at IFA -- they weren't meeting with the press, only business partners. At least we have a ship date and full specs in consolation. Germany at least will get its hands on the 3.3-inch, 480 x 272-pixel, 16 million color, capacitive touchscreen, AMOLED player at the end of October. The 57.08 x 105.75 x 12.7-mm player (a bit shorter and narrower than the 8-mm thick iPod touch with 4.3-inch display) will initially ship with 8GB / 16GB of storage before getting bumped to 32GB sometime down the road. A 3.5-hour charge off the mains (5.5-hours off USB) will deliver up to 8-hours of video (MPEG-4 SP, WMV9 SP, H.264 BP codecs) or 40 hours of audio (MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, WAV formats). Integrated Bluetooth is of the more power hungry 2.0 (not 2.1) variety with support for A2DP stereo and AVRCP remote control profiles. The S9 for Europe supports FM recording and dictation buts lacks the integrated DMB television tuner of its Korean cousin. Line-in recording and DAB radio is also in the works.

[Thanks, Vesal]

[Adam @ Sep 3rd 2008 2:32AM]

Looks nice!!!

[MrFairladyz @ Sep 3rd 2008 12:37PM]

looks nice? looks surprisingly similar to the white iphone 3g....

[Techie @ Sep 3rd 2008 9:31PM]

If only Cowon made cellular phones. Their audio program is just fantastic and it beats every single mp3 I have tested so far. Like the Archos PMP/MP3, Apple Nano, Sansa Mp3/Mp4, Sony Mp3 and about every other mp3s/mp4s.

[nate @ Sep 3rd 2008 2:47AM]

itd be nice to have a peek at the ui in action

[thefiendster @ Sep 3rd 2008 2:56AM]

It almost looks better than the iPod Tou...eehhhhhhh, I'm not going to finish that.

[rkls @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:05AM]

cowon topped the ipod touch long before the touch even came out. its called the D2. look it up. granted it has a smaller screen, but then again, its a smaller device. battery life and sound quality both trump the ipod touch by leagues and bounds. and the customizable GUI along with the library of supported file types. i dont understand why cowon isnt more famous already....

o wait, its cause they dont advertise at all.

[Muhammed @ Sep 3rd 2008 8:51AM]

who told you cowon isn't famous ? it is.

surely not like the ipod as apple invests a huge amount of money in ads

[Big Al @ Sep 3rd 2008 9:43AM]

Hey, I like Apple's stuff, but I'd trade in my iPod Touch for this.

[Wwhat @ Sep 3rd 2008 10:50AM]

Needs wifi to compete in today's market though, not just BT

[Joe @ Sep 12th 2008 3:39PM]

Cowon is famous, but only amongst circles like these (people who read tech blogs/care about the audio quality of their DAPs/at least consider anything beyond the iPod aisle at Wal-Mart). Most of my friends have no clue what my D2 is when I first pull it out and have never heard of Cowon, let alone anything else besides Apple/Creative/Sandisk.

[Operation Northwood @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:05AM]

In truth, it is so easy to make an iPod Touch killer!

[Pdexter @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:26AM]

One of the best looking gadgets ever imo. Wouldnt mind to see it's ui in action too like nate already said.

[nightstar @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:58AM]

All we need is the price now...

Just wish it had a MicroSD slot.

[black @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:49AM]

You know a MP3 player that can play HD radio would be great. That's the only fault I can see in this MP3 player, otherwise I think its a better product than the iPod Touch.

[AmazingRobie @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:58AM]

If it's from Cowon, chances are, it will be nice looking on the outside, but have outdated tech stuffed in it's innards. Cowon won't let you see their products before they come out because they know once the truth is out and an honest review of it's limitations is made, their products won't sell except to the really stubborn niche consumers that think a higher price tag and nice exterior equals better device or the one off consumer who doesn't research any of their purchases other than typing "mp3 player" in on Amazon. All of the codecs and everything that Cowon is known for can be purchased for most less expensive devices in a third party app if your player is customizable. Coreplayer plays everything that Cowon's interface is capable of and lot's more and is available for a variety of processors. Cowon America's support is absolute garbage as well. They are liars, and cheats.

They're also very poor about after purchase support. Most people RMA their devices to Cowon whenever something goes wrong, only to have the devices kept for a couple of weeks then repackaged and sent back without having any work done to them. Look it up on the web. You'll see it's true. Cowon is a terrible company to deal with, that's why they don't advertise, not because they're too cool to have to.

[allislost @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:30AM]

dude... relax...

[Noodles2k @ Sep 3rd 2008 6:20AM]

higher price tag, outdated limited tech and customers who think nice exterior equals better device?... sounds just like Apple!

[ybd @ Sep 3rd 2008 8:30AM]

Honestly, you're completely wrong about this. Just about every popular Cowon player is popular because of the 'innards'. The i7 because of its great battery life, the D2 because of the battery life, flash GUI and touch screen, the A2 because of how great it was when it came out. Plus just about every Cowon player has a reallly good audio quality compared to other brands - yes, I did a comparison myself.

Sounds to me like you bought one of Cowon's recent blunders like the A3 or Q5. Yes, it sucks that sometimes they release crap - and I'm sorry that you got stuck with a shitty device, but that's why you should check reviews before buying from a company that never advertises. Because when they DO get stuff right, the result is some of the best DAPs/PMPs in the market.

[Jeremy K. @ Sep 3rd 2008 8:55AM]

To everyone who says it doesn't, IT SUPPORTS DIVX/XVID.

[jorvay @ Sep 3rd 2008 9:27AM]

what? i suddenly flashed back to the simpsons episode in australia:
"Cowan please."
"Apple?"
"no, no, CO-WAN"
"AP-PLE?"
"C - O - ..."
"A - P - ...?"

Seriously, best sound processing in the industry, great battery life, infinite file support, and the most unsung feature of all: Drag and Drop file management on even their largest capactiy players. No itunes. no media player. no other crap software required.
And I'm not even a cowan owner. I have a nice little creative zen, but i'd trade it for a d2 in a second.

[Wwhat @ Sep 3rd 2008 10:53AM]

A 480x272 OLED display is cutting edge, and I expect a thing to behold, that alone makes up for tons of shortcomings as they are discovered.

[TFM @ Oct 17th 2008 7:33AM]

Lol. Outdated tech stuffed in the innards? I guess that's why I listen to music from my D2 all day even when sitting behind a desktop that sports a quality audio card.

I guess that's why even non-audiophiles feel they get spoiled by Cowon audio quality so much that they suddenly do recognize the poorer audio quality of other products, specifically Apple audio products...

The reason I keep coming back to Cowon (this will be my fourth player from them) is because no other phone or PMP maker implements the same audio conversion quality and rarely any other maker implements a really powerful and accurate amplifier that drives high end headsets without a problem. All the other features are just a bonus for me. If I plug my Shures into an MP3 player I want nothing less than audiophile quality.

But, I always buy a PMP simply because it plays music, that is my only need from such a device (apart from an occasional movie). I want quality, capacity and a big battery. Put 3G and Wi-Fi in it and it would be a matter of time before I stopped using those features anyway. Audio quality will last. Go Cowon.

[MNA @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:44AM]

wow these guys never cease to amaze... truly impressive gadget. I agree what someone pointed out earlier in post, its strange how Cowon isnt more famous than they are looking at their product portfolio. Once again goes to show how much marketing can do to sell even inferior products (ie.apple) Wishing them all success and hope they wont stop in creating the markets best players

[RAQ @ Sep 3rd 2008 6:15AM]

Oh come on people more DIVX and XVID support on your devices. You've got the battery life now concentrate on the video codecs.

[DigitalMemory @ Sep 3rd 2008 7:25AM]

Since when is there an iPod Touch with a 4.3 inch display? I believe it is a 3.5 inch display, if I am not mistaken.

[gylman @ Sep 3rd 2008 7:41AM]

As stated above, the reason Cowon isn't hotter is that their stuff
looks good, but doesn't work so good. In this particular instance,
who would want to transcode their entire xvid and divx library for a
device that's inferior to one of the VGA handhelds from 4 years ago
(HX4700, Axim, etc). And those 4 year old devices can play any format using Coreplayer, as well as provide other functionality.

[Jeremy K. @ Sep 3rd 2008 8:57AM]

Cowon isn't more popular because they don't advertise. Their products work great. I have an A2 I bought in 2005 and the battery life still kicks ass. It works perfectly.

[msalivar @ Sep 3rd 2008 12:58PM]

Not always.

I loved my U3 and X5, but my i7's interface just completely blows. Both the U3 and i7 had the ogg playback issue, as well, though I hear that was fixed on the D2 (never on the i7, though?) Then I seem to recall the Q5 having some issue with bulging or cracking or something in the casing.

This is gorgeous, and on paper it does everything I want, but I'll wait for the early adopters to test it out for me while I wait for the 32GB version.

I really hope it's more of a premium player like their hard drive models have been in the past. The U and iAudio series just don't compare to the M5, X5, A3 and the like, and it's a shame. Even the highly praised D2 is all plastic, even if it is high quality plastic.

[Jeremy K. @ Sep 3rd 2008 8:51AM]

MPEG-4 SP = DivX/XviD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4_Part_2

[jorvay @ Sep 3rd 2008 8:54AM]

With Cowan, it's pretty safe to assume that if the file type exists, then a cowan player will play it back.

[jorvay @ Sep 3rd 2008 9:03AM]

what? i suddenly flashed back to the simpsons episode in australia:
"Cowan please."
"Apple?"
"no, no, CO-WAN"
"AP-PLE?"
"C - O - ..."
"A - P - ...?"

Seriously, best sound processing in the industry, great battery life, infinite file support, and the most unsung feature of all: Drag and Drop file management on even their largest capactiy players. No itunes. no media player. no other crap software required.
And I'm not even a cowan owner. I have a nice little creative zen, but i'd trade it for a d2 in a second.

[jorvay @ Sep 3rd 2008 9:27AM]

Damn, this was a reply to AmazingRobie that didn't post right.

[cwk @ Sep 3rd 2008 9:15AM]

to shift the focus here a mite..

what could be reasoning behind not promoting what seems to be such a good product more? I've seen this this other times where a product that seems like it could be a market leader doesn't advertise.

("they don't because they suck responses" notwithstanding)

[msalivar @ Sep 3rd 2008 1:00PM]

I'd guess they're testing the market and keeping their foot in the door until:

A) they see Apple falter
B) they feel they have us sufficiently figured out to make a strong run

[jorvay @ Sep 3rd 2008 1:06PM]

I think Cowan is more interested in other markets, especially their native market in South Korea. iPods aren't nearly as huge there than they are here, with companies like iRiver, Cowan, and Creative leading the charge. So they are happy to just distribute a few overseas for the tech savvy folk who want more than the iPod can offer, but for the most part, they're happy to save their money trying to gain ground in a north american market so entrenched in one brand.

I guess the other (and related) issue is that the extra features and drag-and-drop file management are great for people that really know what they're doing and what they want, but the ipod and itunes are simple and that suits north americans better for the most part (not meant as an insult, just an observation of the market).

[David Rankine @ Sep 3rd 2008 9:37AM]

TYPO... The ipod touch has a 3.5 inch display, not 4.3

[Patrick Parker @ Sep 3rd 2008 9:47AM]

"iPod touch with 4.3-inch display"

That is something new?

[scott @ Sep 3rd 2008 10:01AM]

this looks nice =)

[Valgas @ Sep 3rd 2008 11:00AM]

I want more details on the O2. This is nice but I wouldn't feel satisfied with it as a D2 alternative since there is no card slot.

[Geonerd @ Sep 3rd 2008 11:43AM]

NIIICE, best thing is A2DP BT, that leaves the Touch on the prepaleolitic era. I'm getting the Korean version with TV for sure.

I would love a 60G+ storage though. 32G is to short .... but I'm replacing my Ibiza Rhapsody for this anyway.

[Vik @ Sep 3rd 2008 11:44AM]

Is this comparable with the iRiver Spinn? They have similar specs with the Cowon having better battery life, but the iRiver has a card slot. Anyone have any opinions on how these might compare? They both look good and have an FM radio which I love to have. OLED touchscreens, the Cowon is capacitive, I don't know about the Spinn, and the Spinn has haptic feedback, I don't know about the Cowon. Although they're media devices first, the only thing the iPod Touch has over these that's important to me is wifi, web browser and app store, but I want to go a different route this time I think, depending on what Apple announces next week.

I appreciate anybody's feedback.

[LostPhil @ Sep 3rd 2008 1:40PM]

Not sure how they will compare. Personally I'm put off by the recent reviews of players being released by iRiver, they seem to be dropping in quality which is a shame so I'd hold off until the Spinn has had some decent reviews out for it. My D2 has served me well, it's certainly very well built and can take some punishment so I'm more inclined towards the S9 than the Spinn anyway.

I don't know whether the videos for the S9 will need converting though, it would be nice if they didn't.

Might just save up for an O2 and keep my D2 rather than going mid way between the two!

[Maphew @ Sep 9th 2008 8:20AM]

Just came back from Korea last weekend and was prepared to come back with a Spinn, but was ultimately disappointed. The haptic feedback was clumsy--seemed to be a delay and the vibration felt 'off center'--and the touchscreen was near useless. It was difficult enough for exact movements while standing still at the counter; imagine trying to navigate while walking through city streets. But the biggest let-down was the screen quality. I don't know what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn't expecting the amount of artifacing and jaggies that I saw, both in video and the GUI. The pre-loaded movie trailers played back at the same quality of DMB broadcasts.

The spin wheel was cool, though. And the device itself was a lot smaller than I had expected, and felt solid in the hand. Overall, however, a very unfinished device and truly disappointing in its unrealized potential.

[Vik @ Sep 9th 2008 9:46PM]

I've decided that it's between the Touch and the s9 as of right now. I've read some reviews on the Spinn, and apparently it's not expandable which sucks. And it does have some quirks with the ergonomics that I'm hearing about and the battery life could be better.

I'm really looking forward to the s9, it's got bluetooth and an FM radio, and yes an FM radio is a biggie for me while I'm at work and want to listen to some sports radio or CSPAN radio and streaming is blocked from my cpu.

[Nick @ Oct 18th 2008 3:25PM]

I was thinking about getting the Ipod Touch, but came across this. Looks very nice and depending on the price, I might get this over the touch. What is important to me is not just the hard specs like battery life and space, but also the UI. The Ipod Touch is such a winner because it feels and looks so nice. The menu changing and scrolling is seamless and almost instantaneous. If the UI on the S9 beats that of the Touch (and the price is reasonable) then this is sure to be a hit.

I bet it's gonna be really expensive. I'm calling £200-£350 for 16GB.

[hannah @ Oct 26th 2008 7:46PM]

I read this thing has a g sensor. what is that and what does it do?