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Subject COWON Releases Next-generation Wide PMP 'COWON A2' Date 2005.09.12
COWON SYSTEMS, Inc. (CEO: Park, Nam-gyu www.cowon.com) announced that it would release the next-generation PMP (Portable Multimedia Player) COWON A2 on September 12. It is equipped with a state-of-the-art 4-inch wide liquid crystal display that allows users to enjoy high-definition images as clear as those on DVD players.

The new 'COWON A2' features a cutting-edge, digital 4-inch TFT LCD with a pixel pitch of 0.183 mm that can express 16 million colors for a life-like viewing experience, and combines high integration with high vividness technologies. In addition, it boasts a powerful high output of 64 mW and the JetEffect sound function to which finely tuned BBE effects enable the adjustment of various tones, as well as high-fidelity stereo speakers.

This product comes with a high-capacity, rechargeable 4300 mAh battery, enabling 10 hours of video playback and 18 hours of audio on a 5-hour charge. Furthermore, the COWON A2 is equipped with XviD, MPEG4, and WMV9 codecs to play back most video files without cumbersome format conversions. It also supports AC-3 6.1 channel down-mixing.
Unsupported movie files can also be easily transcoded thanks to JetAudio VX, digital multimedia software from Cowon. In particular, recently popular EBS Internet educational programs for college entrance exams (ebsi.co.kr) can be immediately played with the COWON A2 so that students preparing for the exam can do so easily and conveniently.
Also, users can easily connect COWON A2 to external AV devices such as TVs, VCRs or camcorders to record high-quality video and music, while the timer recording feature enables users to record broadcast programs and listen to them at their leisure. Users can enjoy music and view text files on the 4-inch wide screen simultaneously. The slide show and enlargement features for image files (JPG, PNG, BMP) allow the device to be used as a digital photo album.

COWON A2 can not only play back various music formats such as MP3, OGG, WMA (ASF), and WAV, it can also be used as a high-quality voice recorder and portable storage. In particular, as the first PMP product, it supports Melon (www.MelOn.com), the new-concept, ubiquitous music service from SK Telecom, which allows users to enjoy unlimited high-quality music for just 5,000 won a month.

COWON A2 supports the high-speed USB 2.0 downloading of 480 Mbps for transferring large movie files. Using its USB host feature (On-The-Go), users can quickly send pictures taken with a digital camera to COWON A2 without a PC. COWON A2 also supports direct encoding that allows users to convert music from a CD player or cassette player to MP3 files without a PC, and supports Macintosh and Linux users as well as Windows users.

In addition, users can decorate their COWON A2 with an avatar, pretty picture or photo, and specify a JPG picture as the background screen, personalizing their A2 to their own tastes. A stylish, stable carrying case made of high-quality leather protects the product, and for viewing videos it keeps the A2 in an upright position.

CEO Park Nam-gyu said, “COWON A2 is a full-fledged next-generation PMP product with upgraded functionality and quality. Based on Cowon’s proven digital multimedia technology in our MP3 players, we will lead the portable multimedia player market.”