COWON A3 Portable Multimedia MP3 Player Ships

Successor to the Top-Rated A2 PMP Features Enhanced Video Capabilities, High-Performance DaVinci™ Media Processor, 30GB or 60GB Storage, and Expanded Digital Media Format and Codec Support

Providing digital media enthusiasts with their most versatile portable multimedia experience yet, COWON America, Inc., today announced the shipment of the full-featured COWON A3 portable multimedia player (PMP). The COWON A3 delivers a wide-range of high-end audio/video capabilities, including direct recording from external A/V devices (TV, VCR or camcorder) and high-definition video decoding for viewing on a 4-inch widescreen color TFT LCD. Product highlights include optimized digital video performance courtesy of the latest Texas Instruments DaVinci™ DM6441 digital media processor and increased hard-drive capacity up to 60GB.

Developed for the U.S. market by COWON Systems, a global leader in digital multimedia solutions, the COWON A3 is now available at JetMall (http://www.jetmall.net) and at select U.S. authorized retailers Amazon.com, Newegg.com, B&H Photo-Video, ZipZoomFly.com and eBay.com.

“The COWON A3 has been designed and equipped to impress digital media fans and first-time novices alike. The A3 has improved upon the popular A2 with a new look and upgraded features that maximize video performance and digital media storage,” said Francis Choi, senior marketing manager, COWON America, Inc. “The A3’s bright, widescreen color LCD is perfect for enjoying movies on the go – and its audiophile-quality digital audio player works with all popular audio formats and high-definition lossy and lossless codecs.”

Extreme Portable Multimedia Player
In addition to boasting the latest Texas Instruments DaVinci DM6441 digital media processor for accelerated video performance, the COWON A3 provides a 4-inch, widescreen, 16-million-color TFT LCD with 800×480 (WVGA) resolution, and available with 30GB or 60GB 1.8-inch hard-disk-drive storage capacities.

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 (1280×720) 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 its high-speed 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.

The COWON A3 features all the advanced multimedia enhancement technologies from COWON and BBE Sound, Inc. (http://www.bbesound.com), and adds to the features an expansive list of digital media codecs and formats, including:

• Enhanced sound quality with JetEffect (BBE, Mach3Bass, MP Enhance, 3D Surround) and 10 Band with eight EQ audio settings
• 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, MPEG 1 video codecs
• Digital audio playback support 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, PCM audio codecs

The COWON A3 measures 5.25 x 3.09 x 0.86 inches and weighs 9.87 ounces. The MSRPs for the 30GB and 60GB configurations are $349.99 and $399.99 U.S., respectively.

About COWON America
COWON America, Inc., is a division of COWON Systems, Inc., a global leader in digital multimedia solutions. The company remains at the forefront of new multimedia software developments and sales of COWON products in the North American market, including various versions of multimedia software (COWON Media Center), portable MP3 players (iAUDIO) and portable multimedia players (COWON Q5W, A2 and D2).

COWON Systems is headquartered in Seoul, Korea, with its North American division office located in Irvine, Calif. More information about COWON America and its products is available online at http://www.cowonamerica.com.