I was just browsing through some of my favorite retailers websites and lookie what I found. It appears the S9 has made its way to Amazon, as well as J and R Electronics. The latter is selling the 16GB model for $219.99, a $20 savings over the retail price. It's a Pre-order so you might have to wait a little longer than buying it directly from JetMall.
S9 Specs- Capacity: 16GB
- Display: 3.3" AMOLED touchscreen display (480 x 272 resolution, 16 million colors)
- Flash-based User interface
- Dual-Core CPU and built-in G-Sensor
- Audio: MP3, WMA, Ogg, FLAC, etc..
- Video: MPEG-4, Divx, Xvid, WMV, etc.. Plus TV-Out
- Audio enhancements: Custom EQ, JetEffect 2.0, and BBE+ with 30 presets
- FM tuner
- Recording: Voice, FM and Line-in
- Bluetooth 2.0
- Battery life: 55 hours for audio, 11 hours for video
- Extras: Text, Dictionary, Flash, and a calculator
- Color: Titanium black
Cowon S9 at J and R
Cowon S9 at Amazon
Cowon S9 Firmware 2.05 Available:While we're on the topic of the S9, we thought you'd like to know that Cowon has already released a "Day 1" firmware for the player that fixes some minor bugs that shipped with the player:
Download Here
I was just browsing through some of my favorite retailers websites and lookie what I found. It appears the S9 has made its way to Amazon, as well as J and R Electronics. The latter is selling the 16GB model for $219.99, a $20 savings over the retail price. It's a Pre-order so you might have to wait a little longer than buying it directly from JetMall.
S9 Specs- Capacity: 16GB
- Display: 3.3" AMOLED touchscreen display (480 x 272 resolution, 16 million colors)
- Flash-based User interface
- Dual-Core CPU and built-in G-Sensor
- Audio: MP3, WMA, Ogg, FLAC, etc..
- Video: MPEG-4, Divx, Xvid, WMV, etc.. Plus TV-Out
- Audio enhancements: Custom EQ, JetEffect 2.0, and BBE+ with 30 presets
- FM tuner
- Recording: Voice, FM and Line-in
- Bluetooth 2.0
- Battery life: 55 hours for audio, 11 hours for video
- Extras: Text, Dictionary, Flash, and a calculator
- Color: Titanium black
Cowon S9 at J and R
Cowon S9 at Amazon
Cowon S9 Firmware 2.05 Available:While we're on the topic of the S9, we thought you'd like to know that Cowon has already released a "Day 1" firmware for the player that fixes some minor bugs that shipped with the player:
Download Here
As the year draws to an end, it's time for us to make our nominations for the Best DAP of 2008. Overall it's been a pretty sober year for DAP releases with a few eye openers here and there. Last year we broke it down into three simple categories: Simple, Mid-range, and High-end. We realize this was a conservative way to organize the players, so we took your feedback and will now use the following categories:
Simple (S) - This is your basic player, usually being small in size and capacity.
Mid-range (M) - Players in this category will typically have a display size ranging from 2.0" to 2.5", and focus primarily on audio playback
High-end Flash (HE) - Flash players with displays typically ranging from 2.6" to 3.3" and a greater focus on video and other forms of multimedia (i.e. WiFi, Internet radio, etc..)
HD DAP (HD) - Audio-centric Hard drive players
PMP - Players with a screen size of 3.5" or larger and a primary focus on video (can be flash or PMP)
We're of course open to suggestions so make sure to give us your feedback in the comments section
Now onto the players. I've looked through our archives and have composed this list of major players released in 2008, organized by company:
Best DAP of 2008 Nominees
 | Apple:
- iPod Classic (HD)
- iPod nano 4g (M)
- iPod touch 2g (HE)
- iPod Shuffle 2g (S) (
Archos:
- Archos 5 (PMP)
- Archos 7 (PMP)
Cowon:
- P5 (PMP)
- O2 (PMP)
- U5 (M)
- A3 (PMP)
Creative:
- ZEN X-Fi (M)
- ZEN Mozaic (M)
- Zen Stone w/ Speaker (S)
iriver:
- E100 (M)
- Lplayer (M)
- Spinn (HE)
- T7 Volcano (S)
| | Microsoft:
Samsung:
- P2 (HE)
- S5 (M)
- S2 (S)
- S3 (M)
Sandisk:
- Sansa clip (S)
- Sansa Fuze (M)
- SlotMusic Player (S)
Sony:
- S730/S630 series (M)
- E430 series (M)
- A820 (HE)
- B130 (S)
Other:
- Slacker G2 (HE)
- Your nominees here!
|  |
Are we missing anything? Should a certain player be in a different category? Make sure to let us know in the comments section. Once we're satisfied with our list, we'll run a poll for each category listed above. The winners from each will then make it to the final round where you will decide what DAP was the Best of 2008.
A few years ago it seemed like Insignia was making a serious attempt at showing up the major companies in this industry. That's a big statement when you realize they're only an in-house brand for Best Buy. With players like the
Video and
Pilot under their belt, Insignia has shown that even smaller companies can create higher quality players, and at a great value too. And then there was the
Kix. My first reaction to it was "Why??" Yep, all that potential I was just speaking about was disappearing with every glimpse of that player. The Kix was a very basic DAP and how do I say this politely? When it was released, 5,937 mirrors around the world instantly shattered (That's 41,559 years of bad luck!).
So I've all but forgotten about Insignia until tonight when I decided to check out their website. It seems like they have a new Kix model on there and it looks much better than the original. I have no idea if this is new or not, but here's your Extreme Makeover: DAP edition
Mostly everything else about the Kix is the same. It has a 1.0" OLED screen, 2GB capacity, a built-in USB plug, WMA, WMA, and Audiblle support, an FM tuner, and 32 hours of battery life. Still nothing to write about, but I guess I just did huh? Being the optimist that I am, perhaps its a sign that Insignia is finally back in the game.
LINK
Cowon duped us again! They said the S9 would be available on the 19th, but it's not. It's available NOW. Yeah I know, I'm pleasantly surprised too. So less reading, more clicking. If you want an S9 for Christmas hit the link below. It'll lead you to the wondrous pages of JetMall.net, Cowon's official US distributor.
There just waiting for your cash is a 16GB velvety black (err.. I mean "Titanium" black) touchscreen player with bells and whistles and so much more (but mostly just bells and whistles). Your entrance fee to this carnival of joy is a mere $239.
LINK
via engadget
Thanks bloodycape | |  |
2009 is looking like a stellar year for flash PMP's with touscheens. One to keep on your radar is the YP-P3, which Samsung just made official. It looks to pick up right where the P2 left off, improving with a new haptic touchscreen, revamped interface, and a brushed aluminum body. Nothing shows off that new metal body better than that sexy new silver color.
Last time we
saw the player, we were pretty impressed with it but the interface seemed a bit sluggish (using a beta FW). As you'll see in the video below, the interface looks a lot more responsive now.
Features:
- Capacity: 4,8 and 16GB
- Display and UI: 3.0" Haptic touchscreen (480 x 272), Flash-based UI with widget support
- Audio: MP3, WMA, AAC, Ogg, and FLAC
- Video: WMV9, MPEG-4, H.264 (480 x 272)
- Bluetooth 2.1
- Built-in Speaker
- FM Tuner/recorder, Voice recorder
- Extras: Flash games, Text, and Dictionary
- Battery Life: 30 hours for audio, 5 hours for Video
- Dimensions: 52.7 x 102 x 9.9mm (96g)
- Colors: Black or Silver
The P3 will begin shipping in Korea early January at the following prices: 239,000 Korean won (~$180US) for the 4GB, 279,000 won (~$211US) for the 8GB, and 329,000 won (~$248US) for the 16GB.
Official P3 Product Page (Korean)
Check out this nice hands-on video of the P3's colorful and customizablel new interface:
Continue reading to see a few more videos of the P3...
Another "new" player you'll be seeing from iriver at CES 2009 is the "Mplayer Eyes". The Mplayer was developed by iriver through a partnership with Disney and has been a tremendous success in Asia. Now it seems the mouse is finally getting animated. Depending on what action you do to the player you'll be treated to one of the following smilies:
The player will come in either blue or pink and feature 10 LED expressions for most of your basic functions (on/off, play, FF, etc..). There's also a couple for errors that may occur. Nothing else appears to be changed from the previous iterations of the Mplayer. It's all a bit silly, but these things will fly off the shelves when they're released later this month in Japan. The 2GB model will sell for 8,980 Yen or about $99US. No official word on whether these are coming to N. America, but the fact that its being shown at CES leads me to believe it will.
iriver Japan
In a recent
article, we wrote about a potential delay in the much anticipated S9 for the US. Well fellow Americans, it looks like Cowon is right on schedule for a December release. You can get your order in starting on December 19th, the same day Europe gets it, and 3 days after Korea. The 8GB will sell for $199 and the 16GB for $239. Here's an excerpt from the official Press Release:
COWON Ships the Ultra-Stylish COWON S9 PMP
IRVINE, Calif. – December 15, 2008 – Delivering on its promise to satisfy both the design-conscious gadget seeker and digital media enthusiasts, COWON America, Inc., today announced the shipment of the new COWON S9 portable media player (PMP). The COWON S9's innovative design features a titanium/black face and a curved-back casing surrounding a 3.3-inch Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) touch screen display. To complement its sleek form design, the S9 features an exclusive GUI system boasting capacitive touch screen operation, advanced video functionality supporting transcoding-free playback of most DVD-quality MPEG-4 videos and TV output, Bluetooth® 2.0 support for stereo headphones, G-sensor accelerometer for auto-pivot display, and extended battery life of 11 hours for video and 55 hours for audio. The S9 is also the first COWON player to offer next-generation JetEffect 2.0 audio technology with improved EQ filter, stereo enhancement and BBE+, which includes upgraded BBE, Mach3Bass, 3D Surround and MP Enhance audio processing.
Developed for the U.S. market by COWON Systems, a global leader in digital multimedia solutions, the COWON S9 is available with 8GB or 16GB internal flash memory and priced at $199.99 and $239.99, respectively. Customers can order the product starting December 19, 2008, through JetMall (www.jetmall.net) and at select authorized U.S. retailers Amazon.com, Newegg.com, B and H Photo-Video, ZipZoomFly.com and eBay.com.
"The COWON S9 is by far the most attention-grabbing media player we have introduced to the U.S. market. Users looking for the next 'must-have' fashion gadget will be impressed by the S9's streamlined design, while digital media aficionados will appreciate the S9's amazing video and sound quality," said Francis Choi, senior marketing manager, COWON America. "Thanks to its dual next-generation portable media technologies, AMOLED display and BBE+ audio, advanced GUI system and extended battery life, the S9 ushers in a new standard of portable digital media excellence that most other PMPs simply can't meet."
Well it looks like Christmas has come early this year. I'll more than likely be ordering one on the 19th, anyone else?
via
engadgetThanks jeff, and DaHarder
GenerationMP3 Previews the Cowon S9And for those that want a little bit more, this should whet your appetite (for now). GenerationMP3 has a test unit in-house and took a bunch of photos of the S9's wonderful GUI:
LINK
Unless you're Dick Tracy or James Bond you should not own an MP4 watch, nor a pair of DAP sunglasses. Since neither of those characters actually exist, I assume anyone who possess such products to be out of touch with reality. Now I'm all for spy tech (still waiting on my jetpack), but the current t market offerings are just ridiculous. Why would anyone want a pair of MP3 sunglasses anyway? Are headphones so obtrusive that you need a pair built-in to your shades? Do wearers of these abominations actually think they're cool? If someone even considers getting a pair they qualify for my biggest douchebag of the year award.
Don't get me started on DAP watches, or shall I say "MP4" watches as they're commonly called. I want a watch that tells the time, that's it. And oh there's video support now? Awesome, I've always wanted to stare at my watch for 2 hours straight. No one would think that was odd. God help the person who owns both. *Shudders*
I clearly have a lot of pent-up rage when it comes to these two "gadgets", but I want to know what you think. Hit up the poll below and tell us which you think is worse.
Vote Now!(and yes I realize that photochop of Bond with Oakley thumps was crude)
Just a heads-up to my fellow Sansa Fuze owners out there that Sandisk has just released their newest Firmware for the player. Unbeknownst to most, there are actually two hardware versions of the Fuze.
Sandisk has not specified what the differences entail but have stated they will function the same. It does mean there will be a separate firmware for each version. Revision 1 players will download Firmware 01.01.22 and Revision 2 players should download Firmware 02.01.17 (you can verify through your players' system settings).
The only new feature added in this FW is a sleep timer, but there's also a number of enhancements including an expanded "GoList" (their OTG playlist), an accelerating scroll wheel during navigation, and more detailed below:
Sansa Fuze Firmware 01.01.22 and 02.01.17 Release NotesNew features• Sleep Timer – accessed via Settings > System Settings > Sleep
Enhancements• Accelerating Scroll wheel speed during navigation
• File cursor position saved for last played file of each Audiobook
• GoList expanded to 200 tracks
• Add entire Artist or Album to GoList with press and hold during navigation
• Support Disc Number ID3 Tags for Sorting Multi Disc collections
