COWON iAUDIO Media Players

Got this press release thru email from PC Trends. Check 'em out...

Introducing: COWON iAUDIO Portable Music Players

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - PC Trends, Inc. recently announced the Philippine launch of COWON iAUDIO portable music and MP4 video players.

"We've seen the portable music player market being dominated by a select few" says Robert Wong, PC Trends Inc. marketing coordinator. "We then saw cheaper alternatives coming in to answer the needs of buyers who wanted an MP3 player but couldn't afford a 'branded' one. Granted, they were breaching the 'affordable' mark, but the players being sold at that particular price range were nothing more than USB flash drives that played music and tuned in to FM stations" he continues. "I believe that the timing is right. The demand is there, and we shall address it. We intend to provide audiophiles with affordable, high-quality music players at competitive price points. They need an alternative; the choices right now are either 'good but expensive' and 'dubious but cheap'...with COWON iAUDIO portable music and video players, 'sturdy, full-featured and gives excellent value for money' comes into play" Robert Wong
concludes. PC Trends Inc. starts the rollout with four notable iAUDIO models, two flash-based and two based on the new 0.85 HDD format. The flash-based
models are the iAUDIO G3(512MB) and the iAUDIO U3(2GB). The 0.85 HDD-based models include the iAUDIO 6 (4GB) and the iAUDIO X5(30GB).

Common features found in COWON iAUDIO Portable Music Players include BBE technology, the proprietory JetEffect preset equalizers, and support for multiple file types. COWON iAUDIO Portable Music Players have support for MP3, WMA, ASF, OGG and FLAC music files. Video playback (for some models with 260K-color screens) feature support for AVI and XviD MPEG-4 files. User-friendliness is provided for with the inclusion of easy file navigation systems, support for M3U and Dynamic playlists, firmware upgrades, editable startup screens, support for both MacOS and Linux and multilingual menus. COWON iAUDIO PMPs, among other things, also allow for high-quality voice recording, Direct-Encoding (which allows on-the-fly conversions of CDs, tapes and vinyl records to MP3) while acting as USB storage devices.

Some models even allow the user to read .txt files and view JPEGs stored in its memory. The iAUDIO 6 and the iAUDIO X5 both have USB HOST functionality, which lets users connect to and transfer files directly from digital cameras or other mass storage devices.

Lastly, COWON iAUDIO Portable Music Players feature audiophile-grade sound reproduction. COWON iAUDIO PMPs run sound effect software from world-renowned BBE Sound based in the United States. The exclusive BBE process corrects phase distortions and allows for the original sound to be reproduced with superior fidelity. Another BBE-licensed sound effect is Mach3Bass, which extends the bass response characteristics of speakers and earphones, resulting in deeper and tighter bass.

COWON iAUDIO Portable Music Players have been critically acclaimed by reviewers such as c|net, HWM Singapore, T3 and CHIP online. PC Trends, Inc. is the Exclusive Local Distributor of COWON iAUDIO music players in the Philippines.