COWON introduces A3 portable multimedia player

COWON America, Inc. has announced the shipment of their new A3 portable multimedia player. Featuring a wide-range of high-end audio/video capabilities, the A3 incorporates direct recording from external A/V devices such as a TV, VCR or camcorder and high-definition video decoding for viewing on the unit’s 4-inch widescreen 16-million color, 800x480 (WVGA), TFT LCD display. Digital video performance is optimized courtesy of the latest Texas Instruments DaVinci DM6441 digital media processor and hard-drive capacity has been upped from the maximum 30GB, found in its predecessor the A2, up to 60GB.

As a portable digital video recording device, the A3 is capable of recording directly from a TV, VCR or camcorder using an AV input/output cable, and decodes HD video source (1280x720) for playback on its own widescreen display. The built-in Lithium Ion rechargeable battery provides up to nine hours of audio and seven hours of video playback in a single charge. Additionally, the A3 comes equipped with an FM radio and recorder, voice recorder with internal microphone, built-in stereo speakers, and functions as a full-screen photo and document viewer. With a USB 2.0 interface and USB host functionality, it also doubles as data storage and high-capacity photo backup device for digital cameras with support for JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIF, BMP and RAW image formats.

Measuring 5.25 x 3.09 x 0.86 inches and weighing 9.87 ounces the A3 features support for an expansive list of digital media codecs and formats, including digital video playback without transcoding of AVI, WMV, ASF, MP4, Matroska (MKV), TTA, APE, MPC, WV, WAV file formats, and support for DivX 3.11/4/5/6, XviD, MPEG-4 SP/ASP, WMV 9/8/7, H.264 MP, M-JPEG and MPEG 1 video codecs. Digital audio playback of MP3/2/1, ASF, WMA, FLAC, OGG, M4A, Matroska (MKA), TTA, APE, MPC, WV, WAV, and support for MPEG 1 Layer 1/2/3, WMA, FLAC, OGG Vorbis, OGG FLAC, Apple Lossless, AAC/AAC+, AC3, True Audio, Monkey’s Audio, MusePack, WavPack, G.726 and PCM audio codec files is also supported.

COWON Systems developed the A3 for the US market and is available there in 30GB and 60GB configurations for MSRP’s of USD$349.99 and USD$399.99 respectively.