|
CES 2006 Main Show Floor - Part II
COWON
COWON isn't a very well known company in the United States, but they've certainly impressed us time and time again with their iAudio MP3 players. Competing with Apple's iPod is tough, and I don't expect the scales to tip in anyone else's favor for a while, but if you are the type of person who likes to take the path less traveled, COWON's products are certainly work a look. These are some shots of their booth; it was the only company I saw in South Hall 2 which I recognized (they were all companies in the Asian market).   The iAudio U3 is a little bigger than its predecessor, the U2, but that is mainly due to the larger LCD - 160x128 as opposed to 128x64. Just like the U2, it comes in 256MB/512MB/1GB/2GB capacities. One thing the new version does that the old one couldn't is play video. Granted, the screen is tiny, so it might be annoying to watch video on it, but that comes down to personal preference.   Next up is the iAudio6. It's just a little bigger than the U3, but their boasting it as the world's first MP3 player with a .85" HDD, allowing it to have a generous 4GB capacity. It has all the features of the U3 plus a USB Host feature that lets you do things like transfer images from a digital camera directly to the device. Since it has a nice little LCD screen you can also view those images and/or movies on the device. I didn't get a chance to actually play with it, but one of the features is "swing touch" navigation which is basically just a touch-sensitive control pad.    Watch out iRiver, the A2 is a portable media player that means business. It sports a 4" Wide (16:9) TFT LCD with 480x272 resolution, 20/30GB capacity, can be used to play audio, video, or view images, and it just looks cool. Another nifty feature, like the U3, it has a USB Host function. Boy would I love to carry one of these around with me when I'm taking pictures with my 20D. You could fit a lot of 3MB JPEGs on this thing, and then have a decent size screen to view those images on later. I'm definitely going to have to get one of these to review.      COWON's iAudio G5 wasn't even officially launched, but they did give me a peek at it. It has the same LCD as the U3 and it has all of the same features except for the USB host. The coolest thing is, it runs on just a single AA battery. The last picture is of the iAudio X5, which you might recognize from our review a while back. I just figured I'd take a picture since it's so purty.       SanDisk The SanDisk booth wasn't very exciting, with lots of memory cards and card readers. At least, that is what I thought until I noticed their new audio player, the Sansa e200. It won't be available until March this year, but the reps at SanDisk are calling it the "Nano Killer." The player uses flash media and comes in 2/4/6GB capacities. It has a built-in 1.8" LCD (resolution not known) to allow you to play videos and view images, and it has a removable, rechargeable lithium ion battery. I'm not sure about the user interface since this thing was behind glass, but it looks like it may have a touch-sensitive wheel similar to the iPod. One of the things that will be interesting to see is what price-point this product launches at, since flash media is more expensive than miniature hard drives. This is another product we'll definitely want to review, so keep an eye out for that.       
Page 1: Introduction / Antec
Page 2: Cooler Master Page 3: SilverStone Technology Page 4: Microsoft Page 5: COWON / SanDisk Page 6: Dell / Samsung Camera Page 7: LG / BenQ / Monorail / Conclusion 
Related Articles Add Comment
0 User Comments Add Comment To add a comment without being a member, you may omit the password field, but you must enter your name (or nickname) along with your comment. * Denotes required fields. |
Recent Reviews Video Cards September 23, 2009
Gaming Devices July 17, 2009
Portable Media Players July 16, 2009
Thumb Drives July 14, 2009
Recent News VICE Nov. 20, 2009 - 7:17 pm
Wired Nov. 20, 2009 - 7:07 pm
Engadget Nov. 20, 2009 - 6:58 pm
Telegraph.co.uk Nov. 20, 2009 - 6:48 pm
BBC Nov. 20, 2009 - 6:38 pm
Destructoid Nov. 18, 2009 - 11:55 pm
Wired Nov. 16, 2009 - 11:56 pm
Ultimate Typing Championship Nov. 16, 2009 - 11:42 pm
|
|||||||||||||||
