As I always say, I like Cowon’s stuff — the look, the interface, the support for many formats — and this S9 is no different. People will complain that it’s kind of lifting the iPhone interface, but I think that’s a pretty pointless criticism at this point: the iPhone’s interface came early but really, it was never groundbreaking, simply usable. And now the same principles of usability are being applied to other devices like the S9, which we now know will be released on December 16th.
Cowon’s new flagship model has a pretty nice-looking interface, and from what I can tell, they’re integrating traditional controls in a touchscreen way, which is fun: an actual graphic equalizer, an actual dial for choosing a radio station, and so on. The pervasive “zoom” thing seems kind of a waste of space (why not use gestures?) but I like the general look of the thing. There’s more information at the Cowon site, but that page has been continually loading for going on an hour for me, plus it’s in Chinese so its utility may be limited.