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]

Cowon's sexy little S9 Curve PMP isn't the only device we'll see out of the company at IFA this year -- there's also the L3 nav unit and the O2 PMP. The O2 isn't quite as much of a beast as the S9, but it'll more than hold its own with a 4.3-inch touch screen, a T-DMB tuner, TV-out, and SD expansion, while the L3 nav has a 7-inch 800 x 480 touch screen, SiRF III GPS chip, hidden touch controls, a T-DMB tuner, and an FM transmitter. Well get a closer look at these when IFA starts later this week, but expect minor tweaks if these ever make it out of Korea.


Read - L3
Read - O2

If you've been holding off on getting an A3 for some strange reason, perhaps a bump in capacity will push you over the edge. That's right, Cowon's little performer just got more junk in the trunk -- 80GB of junk, to be exact. Sure, you'll have to drop €448 (or about $691) on this thing, but think of all the pics, music, and "movies" you'll be able to load up on it.

As lovely as the D2 is, we've always had a secret wish for it to offer up a bit more internal capacity. Apparently the higher-ups at Cowon have heard our inner cries, as a 16GB edition of the player is now available through JetMall. Aside from being more capacious, nothing else has changed, but if this was just the thing to push you over the edge, you can hand over your $240 right now and join the club.

[Via AnythingButiPod]

Better get used to it 'cause wood emblazoned consumer electronics is a trend that's apparently here to stay. This time, it's Burl Walnut (not bamboo) on this N3 which Cowon puts up for sale in Korea on April 28th. We're not sure when deforestation become synonymous with ecological so we'll assume that Cowon's going for recyclability here and involved in some form of sustainable forest management program. Surely this isn't just some marketing ploy. The 2GB DMB with GPS device will cost you ₩419,000 (about $437) -- a $20 premium over the standard 2GB N3.

[Via Akihabara News]

If you're an owner or prospective owner of the Cowon Q5W, you're probably impressed with its myriad audio and video playback capabilities -- but did you know it can handle emulation as well? Apparently, since the device is based on Windows CE, it's fairly easy to get game emulators up and running on the 5-inch PMP. In the video you can watch a setup of what appears to be an SNES imitator playing both Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario Kart (two favorites of our SNES fanboy, Paul Miller, we suspect). The games are controlled by a decidedly non-Nintendo accessory -- a PS1 controller connected via USB adapter. With that recent $50 price drop, this may be just the incentive you need to spring for a shiny new edition to your gadget library.

When we actually stopped to think about it, we realized that we've waited an awful long time for Cowon's A3 to finally make its way into our grubby paws, and while you've been teased before with unboxing shots and the like, we figured it prudent to snatch one of our own and decide if it really was worth the wait. On paper, this multimedia powerhouse has just about everything you could ask for given it's sub-$400 price tag, but if you've been hesitant to pull the trigger before someone else gave you the low down, head on past the break for all the deets you crave.

Call it fate or call it luck, but regardless of what you deem it, the latest wave of Cowon price drops will certainly save you a few bucks. Judging by listings at JetMall, Cowon has slashed dollars off of price tags attached to a variety of its devices, including $50 off of the luscious Q5W, $20 from the A3 30GB and some $90 from the 16GB iAUDIO 7. What's more, the entire Q5W lineup now comes with a free GPS cradle and a warm fuzzy feeling to boot. So if you've been holding off on treating yourself to a new Cowon, we'd say now would be a fairly decent time to pull the trigger and indulge.

[Via CNET]

Don't feel bad if the iAudio U5 hasn't creeped into your mind since it "debuted" at IFA last September -- it's not like Cowon's doled out any sort of marketing blitz to keep us intrigued. Nevertheless, this somewhat stylish little DAP is apparently making its way to the US of A for those who like to avoid the me-too crowd. Specs wise, you'll find a 1.8-inch 160 x 128 resolution LCD, up to a full day of battery life, 4GB / 8GB of internal memory, MP3 / WMA / WAV playback, a built-in FM radio and voice recorder, user adjustable five-band EQ and USB connectivity. Good enough for you? Cough up $149.99 / $109.99 to snag one in 8GB or 4GB, respectively.

Cowon has really been tossing out a lot of winners of late, and if this N3 is any indication, there seems to be no stopping the DAP manufacturer at this point. While the N3 doesn't look to be headed for US shores in the immediate future -- thanks to that pesky built-in DMB tuner -- it does seem to have all the codec goodies and design refinement of its older siblings. The player is a followup to the N2, with a 800 x 480 7-inch touchscreen, 600MHz Alchemy AU processor, dual SDHC slots (but no built-in memory), and GPS. Software is based on Windows CE 5.0. No word on price or release date, but hopefully we'll be finding out more next month at CES.

Although Archos may have stolen some of its thunder with the less-expensive, arguably more full-featured 605 WiFi, Cowon is still hoping to ride the wave of buzz that followed its A3 PMP's launch at CES, as the first players are finally finding their way into consumers' hands almost a year later. Gadgetaholic's already got its hands on the 30GB version of this 4-inch device, and has posted some nice unboxing photos along with a few shots of the interface. Keep reading to check out the icon-based home screen, and then hit up the Read link for the full gallery plus some brief impressions....