Credit: Cowon America                                                               

(First Look) - As unentertaining as it might be to talk about the same old MP3 players from time to time, it’s still fairly interesting to see what companies come up with to differentiate their products from their competitors. Take the iAudio F1, for instance. If nothing else, Cowon has worked on a design that more or less mimics the Formula 1 racing car. Intriguing, isn’t it?

The multicolored iAudio F1 MP3 player is a flash based device with support for MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF, WAV audio formats; it’s nice to see default support for OGG. Cowon latest audio player is based on the USB 2.0 interface with standard features such as voice recording, FM radio and FM radio recording functionalities. Interestingly, the rechargeable lithium-ion battery takes two hours for normal charging and six-and-a-half hours for slow charging to give ~22 hours of battery life.

The front of the iAudio F1 depicts a 9-way multi button with the necessary navigational buttons. Moreover, the F1 has a 128x64 OLED display for the utmost vibrancy on the screen. Other than that, the iAudio F1 packs in a variety of Cowon’s exclusive technologies to give the player a Cowon feel.

The price for the 1GB (black) unit is $159.99.

Initial Thoughts: The exterior of the device indeed looks sleek and matches well with the F1. The flash storage capacity and battery lifespan are both well implemented. The same holds true for OGG support. However, the most supporting aspect of the F1 is that it’s quick to charge. Although the difference between the normal and slow charging modes is unclear, the time it takes to get the player up and running again is efficient either way. The price of the unit, at $159.99, isn’t too appalling either. If Cowon can deliver on its quality, it should have yet another solid contender in the market.