Cowon just rolled out a beta of a fairly substantial firmware update to the S9. A list of the added and improved functions can be found here along with a download link. The important updates to note are the additions of widgets and the pitch correction on the video playback. These are noteworthy since these are some features the Samsung P3 already has.

I have been carrying both the Cowon S9 and the Samsung P3 for the last few months and they are both worthy opponents on features and on quality. Though personally I found that I use the P3 more than the S9 mainly due to the UI; the P3 is much more organized and intuitive. Though, with the addition of the widgets on the S9 has made the home screen even more cumbersome, just from the few hours I have been using it. The problem is the S9’s widget screen is a toggle, widgets or icons, where as the P3 mashes both icons and widgets on multiple “desktops” you can flip though. But I digress, once both firmware’s become more stable look for a P3 vs S9 throwdown.

The US has yet to see the light of the P3 though it has been out for a few months in Korea and is available now in the UK. So we are in a way lucky that we will see a more feature filled and more refined P3. Journal Du Geek is reporting on the change log with the biggest news is native video playback of up to 800x600 resolutions natively. In addition on the video end they have added SMI format support and a mosaic video browser (video) similar to the S9. With this and added DNSe setting for movies.

There are some other small things like a drawing notepad similar to Paint, a Dictionary (only Korean at the moment), and also a new mirror album art now playing screen which does look very cool. More importantly they have increased the performance by 30%. Touch responsiveness was lacking in early versions I used at CES and it improved in the retail version, so this will bring it up to par with the best of the touch screen players.

My initial impressions of the P3 have been very good; however I previously questioned whether it could go head to head with the Cowon S9 since it lacked native video support. But with this soon to come update they will without a doubt be direct competitors. The touch player battle is heating up. Stay tuned to out P3 forum for its release sometime in early March

Cowon has always had a strong underground following for its very clean sound and great support for audio codecs. However, this underground support is slipping due to very poorly written firmware. Even in the past being a Cowon user have been bothered by numerous buggy and botched firmwares. I in fact have bricked an i7 as well as U3- bricked to the point of having to be returned to the manufacture to be fixed. Both of these happened while upgrading firmwares.

After we learned about the 8GB Sansa Clip a few days ago the crave for a new firmware and FLAC support has grown even stronger. Well people you can stop hoping, FLAC support is now available along with other updates through the 01.01.30FW.

Along with FLAC support the update brings general upgrades like better M3U playlist support and faster database updates. There are also a lot of bug fixes which alone should be worth the update. Along with the 01.01.30 firmware theres a 2.01.16 update apparently linked to "hardware revision 2". No one really knows what this is at the moment but it might be the 8GB Clip. Hit the jump for a changelog on 01.01.30.

[ABi Forum Download Page|SanDisk Forum Official Release Thread]

Having used a Cowon D2 for over a year I must admit that I was losing hope in the manufacturers' ability to make useful firmware updates that actually fix stuff and add useful features instead of breaking what's already there and adding "scicntific" calculators. Luckily it's not just Samsung that knows how to do firmware and the latest update to the Sansa Clip shows that there is still hope if a player doesn't have everything you want at release. Read on to find out what's new in 1.01.29

The Zune team has been hard at work in the Zune headquarters (cleverly disguised as a library) lately and is now going live with the next milestone, version 2.5. It is a fairly substantial update adding to the social aspect, implementation of auto playlists, better meta data editing, and even a video section where TV shows can now be downloaded. The most interesting I find to be the Gapless playback, since it has always been such an elusive appearing only on a hand full of devices over the years. It may go unnoticed by some, but for the live music listener and or electronic mix fan it’s a feature we longed for.

For the details on all of the latest changes in software/firmware version 2.5 check below for a quick look list and screen shots of the software that should be live in a few hours.

When I went to CES I carried a bag filled with the latest MP3 players. At various dinners and events I would pull out this magical bag of MP3 players for show and tell. It is one thing to read users’ reactions to MP3 player, but to be able to put one in their hands is when you really get quality feedback. Out of all the players the one that never ceased to impress was the P2, especially when I showed them how I could dial their phone without my Treo in sight.

I like all of them, am still impressed (review) and even more so with the second firmware updated dubbed “BlueWave 2” which adds improved functionality, features, and games. It’s not over yet, there is still a BlueWave 3 on Samsung’s roadmap. Even though the firmware is “unfinished” it is still extremely stable, much like how Microsoft handles the Zune firmware updates- adding stable updates on top of stable firmwares.

We have a growing P2 community, so if you would like to get real consumer feedback, hacks, and latest info on the BlueWave updates; check out our very helpful Samsung P2 forum. Also compare the P2 to the Touch, it can definitely hold its own.

Here is an unexpected curve ball for you from the Sansa team. The newest firmware has added video and getting the new firmware is as easy as turning your Connect on for a few minutes and connecting to your wi-fi network. The Sansa Media Converter handles the conversion process just like it does with the View. Video is converted the 3GP format at 15 FPS common to mobile phones. The video does look choppy at the low frame rate, but still is pretty damn good for a player that was not intended to have video in the first place.

Check it out in action below.