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Click to see the Cowon O2 photo gallery.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

Our official rated review for the Cowon O2 portable video player is now up on CNET Reviews, along with a full photo gallery and a First Look video.

We've been putting the O2 through its paces all week and it's held up remarkably well. It's still not the sexiest piece of tech we've laid eyes on, but it's got more muscle than any other portable video player in its price range.

Audio enthusiasts will also want to give the O2 a look, considering it supports desirable lossless music formats such as FLAC, Apple Lossless, and WMA Lossless, and offers a killer 10-band graphic EQ.

In spite of some great features, however, there are a few omissions on the O2 that could be deal-breakers for some users.

Read the full review for the Cowon O2 portable video player.

Video fanatics rejoice! The Cowon O2 is powerful, flexible, and surprisingly affordable.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

It hasn't been a terribly exciting year for portable video players. Despite its relatively small screen, the iPod Touch is one of the few PVPs we've been giving an unqualified recommendation for in 2008. The Archos 5 is ambitious, but the battery life just isn't there; the Q5W is overpriced and bulky; and the A3 left us feeling kinda "meh." Thankfully, the Cowon O2 looks like it's going to close-out our year of PVP reviews on an upnote.

First off, let me mention the official U.S. MSRP for the O2, because I know there have been a few guesstimates floating around. The Cowon O2 will retail for $219 (8GB), $249 (16GB), and $299 (32GB), which you can pick up in either black or white. If 32GB isn't enough storage for you, keep in mind that the O2 includes a SDHC card slot for quickly swapping out content and increasing storage as you need it.

The second thing to notice about the O2 is its stupefying amount of file support. On the video end the O2 can play back AVI, WMV, ASF, MP4, MKV, OGM, DAT, MTV, DivX, XviD, MPEG-4, WMV 9/8/7, H.264, M-JPEG, and MPEG 1. The O2 is also agnostic when it comes to video resolution, accepting files all the way up to 1,280x720 at 30fps. For me, native format and resolution support is huge deal, because my home media collection is all over the place and few things test my patience more than re-encoding batches of video files.

Another huge deal for me is battery life, and Cowon is claiming that the O2 will get up to 8 hours of video playback (under "optimal" conditions) before surrendering. If Cowon's right, 8 hours of video playback would put the O2 far beyond the 4 hours of video life on the Archos 5, and ahead of the 6 hours of video on the iPod Touch and even the iPod Classic. Audio battery life isn't as impressive, with only 18 hours, but it's still ahead of the 12 hours of playback time on the Archos 5. Another thing to bear in mind is that all of the O2's competitors require a proprietary cable to recharge the battery, which can be a huge pain if you lose the cable while traveling. The O2 charges best when using the included AC adapter, but you can charge over its mini-USB connection, as well.

The Cowon S9 touch-screen portable media player has not yet been officially announced for the U.S. Bummer.

(Credit: Cowon)

Cowon is teasing three new portable video players for the upcoming 2008 IFA showcase in Berlin. Along with the Cowon P5 unveiled last month, the newly announced S9, O2, and L3 make up a formidable new product lineup of touch-screen beauties--none of which have been officially announced for the U.S.

The prettiest of the bunch, the Cowon S9, includes a 3.3-inch OLED touch screen (480x272 resolution), music and video playback, photos, Bluetooth, composite video output, FM radio, voice recorder, and a built-in accelerometer that will rotate the screen depending on how it's held.

The backbone of the S9 is a 500MHz dual-core processor and a rechargeable battery capable of 40 hours of continuous audio playback. No word yet on price or memory capacity.

The Cowon O2 looks like an A3 without the infuriating joystick.

(Credit: Cowon)

Next up is the Cowon O2, a portable video player with a gargantuan amount of video and audio format support. The O2 is being offered in white, pink, and black, with either 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB capacities, which can be expanded using SD memory cards. The O2's 4.3-inch touch screen can be used for video, photo, and music playback, and extras such as a built-in speaker and TV output are also included. Cowon also lists a "recording" feature on the O2, which could mean video, line-in, or voice recording (or all three).

Given that Cowon saw fit to load the O2 with so much video codec support (Divx, Xvid, MPEG-4, WMV, H.264, MPEG11, MJPEG), and the O2's side panel looks remarkably like the video input panel on the Cowon A3, I'm betting we'll see similar AV recording capabilities included on the O2.

Finally, the biggest beast of the bunch, the Cowon L3 is a 7-inch touch-screen PVP (800x480 resolution) that continues Cowon's encroachment into the realm of GPS.

The Cowon L3 includes a built-in mounting bracket on its back.

(Credit: Cowon)

A SIRF III GPS antenna seems to be built in to the tablet-size Cowon L3, along with an internal speaker, FM transmitter, SD card slot, an IR sensor for the included remote control, and a metal latch plate presumably for mounting the device in your car.

The L3 relies on Flash memory, although there's no official word on how much memory Cowon has crammed in there, how much the device will cost, or if it will even make it to the states.

(Credit: Dalhousie University)

In the tradition of cars that run on water and air , now there's a go-kart that zips along on compressed O2. Considering that air is (still) free, this project by mechanical engineering students from Canada's Dalhousie University is on the right track.

The air-powered vehicle apparently compares favorably with electric-powered carts. In test laps, the students managed three rounds or just under 2 minutes going full out at 43kmh on two tanks.

But the air-powered go-kart still has some ways to go--literally. It runs out of air quickly, according to its makers. Nothing that time and refinements won't improve. We can't wait to try it out--all in the name of sustainable energy, of course.

(Source: Crave Asia)

(Credit: O2 Planet)

(Credit: DEG)

After having witnessed their rise in the bacchanalian heydey of the dot-com boom, we've always had an odd fascination with oxygen bars. And yes, we admit that it probably has something to do with Dennis Hopper's character in Blue Velvet too.

That aside, the "Entertainment Oxygen Lounge" may prove too difficult to resist even for skeptics like us. Not only does it have the requisite stress-reducing and mood-enhancing equipment, according to BornRich, but it combines that system with a massage chair. And we all know how we feel about those.

It gets even better: Add a DVD player, stereo, and high-end earphones for "audio/video therapy" to an "Aroma O2 Headset," and it's Bliss City. Come to think of it, we'll skip the oxygen and have a beer instead. Pabst Blue Ribbon, of course.

The 8GB iPhone has practically disappeared from the U.K. after a price cut last week.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Price apparently was an object for U.K. iPhone shoppers.

The decision by U.K. carrier O2 to cut the price of the 8GB iPhone prompted shoppers to exhaust stocks of that model at O2's Web site and at Carphone Warehouse, an authorized iPhone reseller. Pocket-Lint confirmed with Carphone Warehouse that the 8GB models are kaput, and O2 told the site that while online stocks of the 8GB model are gone, retail stocks are dwindling fast.

It was only a week ago that O2 cut the price of the 8GB model from 269 British pounds ($533) to 169 British pounds ($335), a move that was seen as a inventory-clearing measure ahead of the expected introduction of a 3G iPhone. Both Carphone Warehouse and O2 told Pocket-Lint they were "reviewing" whether to order more 8GB models from Apple, which is yet another hint we're going to see a new model soon.

Does this mean Apple has a 32GB iPhone planned for the 3G launch, expected to come in June at or around the Worldwide Developers Conference? Perhaps, although it's only been a few months since it upped the capacity to 16GB. At that time, Apple's Greg Joswiak said the company still believed there was demand for a 8GB model, but that stance might have changed to reflect a "bigger is better" mentality.

Alcatel OT-E206A

(Credit: Locus Telecommunications)

After introducing its cell phones to North America at the 2006 CTIA show, Alcatel has remained silent on exactly when its handsets would arrive here. But this weekend Locus Telecommunications and O2 Wireless announced they were adding the Alcatel OT-E206A and the OT-ET227A Alcatel to O2's lineup. MVNO O2 is the first wireless operator in the United States to offer Alcatel handsets.

The GSM OT-E206A is a black candy bar phone. Its features are limited to text messaging, polyphonic ringtones, games, a 250-contact phone book and a 65,000-color display. The GSM OT-ET227A is equally simple. It sports a light brown color, the flip phone even lacks an external display. It also offers text messaging, polyphonic ringtones, games, a 250-contact phone book and a 65,000-color display.

(Credit: O2 Innovations)

Allergy season has already arrived in many places, as you might have sensed from the preponderance of red-eyed colleagues even before St. Patrick's Day arrived. And the onslaught of killer pollen might leave many wishing that they had their own oxygen supply.

O2 Innovations, however, is making this purported state of bliss a bit more accessible with the "O2B," which Chip Chick describes as a portable oxygen bar. The device still isn't cheap at $659 on Amazon, but that's still nearly half the cost of the "O2hi Personal Oxygen Machine" we saw last year.

The O2B, which bears the oh-so-California tagline of "Oxygen Is Beautiful," comes with its own headset, 12 mouthpiece filters, and 5 nose hoses, which we hope aren't as uncomfortable as they sound. But if they really want to distance their product from the pack, we'd recommend a mask so customers can do their best Dennis Hopper impersonations from Blue Velvet.

(Credit: Crave UK)

U.K. phone network O2 announced today that it has partnered exclusively with online music vendor Napster to provide a la carte, over-the-air music downloads to O2 customers, direct to their mobile phones. Napster's entire 5 million-track catalog will be available for download from this weekend and includes listings from every major record label.

While many O2 customers enjoy free handsets, those who spent the 269-pound premium (about $545) to buy the O2-exclusive iPhone will not be able to use this service, however. U.K. Apple devotees will have to wait for over-the-air music downloads.

Songs will be accessed through O2 Active, the network's mobile portal, which cannot be used on the iPhone because the handset doesn't support WAP. The service will be available to both contract and pay as you go customers, and your songs will still play if you cancel your contract.

Individual tracks will cost 99 pence (about $2.01), with data charges for each song included in the cost of the download. For a limited promotional period of three months, O2 will offer five tracks for 4 pounds ($8.10). A Napster spokesperson would not confirm or deny any plans to offer deals on complete album downloads.

After downloading a song to one of 35 compatible handsets, an identical copy is sent to a user's email account that can be played on a PC or moved to a compatible MP3 player and are identical to files downloaded using Napster's traditional a la carte service. All songs will be protected by Microsoft's Windows Media DRM, PlaysForSure, and are encoded at 128-kbps WMA.

For those of you keeping track of movements in the mobile music downloads space, you'll notice the O2/Napster service is very different to Omnifone's MusicStation Max, which is due to launch later this year, offering unlimited access to 1.5 million tracks from all four major labels for a fee built into the cost of the handset. Napster also has deals with Sonos to distribute its entire catalogue to subscribers who own Sonos music systems.

So will you pay 99 pence a pop for access to Napster's entire catalog? Are you a disgruntled iPhowner? Leave a comment below or visit our MP3 forum over yonder.

(Source: Crave UK)