The MP3 Players

I guess you must agree that the hottest Cowon’s product must be its iAudio 6. Exact details of the iAudio 6 are still unknown yet. The only thing disclosed is that it features a 4GB 0.85″ MicroDrive and touch sensitive navigation control. The suggested price is estimated to be around $200 - $250.

DAPreview has captured some video demonstration of iAudio 6 during their visit to Cowon’s booth.

{ Download demo here }

We can’t see Rio’s booth in this year CES since the pullout of D&M Holdings in MP3 player industry. Nevertheless, DAPreview managed to peek on the unannounced Rio Avalon during an interview with SigmaTel’s Hugo Fiennes, the man behind the Rio Karma, Chroma, Avalon, Cubic, and Opel.

We got a product demonstation of Sigmatel’s reference design for a player that’s just like the Rio Avalon - an 8gb MicroDrive based player which has the same body style as the Rio Carbon but has a color screen and all the features of the Rio Karma. All that and more… video playback, animated backgrounds, album art, semi-transparent menu overlays, etc. Very nice. We also learned details of the Opel - which could have been, which still could be - the ultimate DAP.

{ via DAPreview }

SanDisk has show us its determination in digital audio player industry with 2 new Sansa series, E200 and C100. These 2 series are scheduled to be available in March 2006.

Sansa E200 (left) and Sansa C100 (right)

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Finally the rumor of new iAudio products comes true! Cowon unveiled the first 0.85″ hard drive player, iAudio 6 before International CES 2006. The new iAudio features a 4GB 0.85″ HDD (which is expected to be Toshiba’s MK4001MTD), 1.3″ 260K colors OLED display, Swing Touch navigation and USB Host capability. iAudio 6 is speculated to come with attractive price tag, which is competitive with a iPod Nano 4GB.

Will Cowon introduce iAudio G4 and iAudio F2 also?

{ More pictures via iAudiophile }

While MPIO officially launched its cool FY700 in China and Taiwan, its unannounced FE100 was secretly listed in Japan website. It was first spotted on 28 December 2005.

MPIO FE100 is probably a budget-wise MP3 player if looking at its specifications. The features are not that attractive. It features a 2 colors OLED display (4 lines, 128 x 64 pixel). It plays MP3 and WMA audio files up to 8 hours of continuos playback with 1 AAA battery. It only available in 1GB with blue and pink color.

{ Product Page via iMP3.net }