We'd already heard that the Cowon A3 would be getting a bump to 80GB, and the company has now not only gotten official about a US release for it, but dropped word of new 80GB Q5W as well. You can look for the upgraded A3 to land in the US first on May 26th for $440 (a good deal less than the $691 Euro-to-dollar conversion we heard about initially), with the 80GB Q5W following in late June for $600. Both models are otherwise identical to their less capacious counterparts.

It's been quite a while since caught our first glimpses of what purported to be the Cowon A3, but it looks like the device's natural gadget news cycle is finally drawing to a close, with the usual in the wild and unboxing shots now followed by one of the first reviews. According to gadgetaholic.com, however, it seems like this particular product has been worth the wait, with the A3 making up for what it lacks (WiFi and Bluetooth) with sheer versatility, including support for seemingly every audio and video format one could want. The fact that it also has a "gorgeous" 4-inch LCD screen and an apparently intuitive interface doesn't hurt either. About the only downsides the site could find were the lack of a remote control (which would have been handy given the unit's TV-out functionality), and the absence of a synced-up TV schedule for recording (you'll have to make do with timed recordings instead). Still, for about $350 or $400 depending on your storage needs, it seems like this one is a solid bet.

Cowon's been teasing us with its A3 personal media player for some time now, and it looks like the whole charade is now finally nearing a close, as the company has just announced the long-awaited US launch details for the PMP. According to Crave, the player will start shipping in early December, with it setting you back $349 and $399 for the 30GB and 60GB variations, respectively. If you've got a bit more money to spend, however, you may do well to consider Cowon's just-released Q5W player, which adds some WiFi to the equation, among other things.

[Thanks, Justin]