We reported earlier on Cowon's announcement of their flash-based iAudio 7 MP3 player, and now we have the photos to prove it. Even more, we've heard directly from Cowon that the iAudio 7 will be available for purchase in the U.S. beginning the first week of July. The product we received is still not the finished version, so we can't subject it to a real review yet. 
So far, it looks and behaves nearly identical to its microdrive predecessor, the iAudio 6. That's not such a bad thing, given what an outstanding player the iAudio 6 was. It's a little surprising, however, that the player's thickness hasn't come down at all now that they've tossed out the microdrive. It also seems to weigh exactly the same.
Regardless, the real substance of this upgrade is not cosmetic, it's the rated battery life of 60 hours and the increased reliability that comes with Flash-based memory. The only player that can really beat the iAudio 7 on battery life is the MobiBlu B153, which can handle 153 hours of playback, but maxes out at a 2GB capacity and is relatively light on features. By comparison, the iAudio 7 has features in spades, including support for FLAC and OGG file formats, Janus DRM support for online music rental services, and an amazing suite of EQs and sound enhancements. We should get a real price on this soon.
iAudio 7 main menu
The main menu screen of this preview unit for the iAudio 7 looks nearly identical to the menu of the iAudio 6. From left to right, you can choose from music, video, radio, recording, photos, text viewer, and settings.
Out of the box and jacked in
Like its predecessor, the iAudio 7 works over MSC or MTP connection modes, allowing compatibility for both Mac and PC.
Family reunion
Here's the iAudio 6 (bottom) and iAudio 7 side-by-side. Beyond some changes in color, they're nearly identical in size and shape.
Album artwork
To our surprise, we loaded an MP3 with embedded album artwork and it showed up as a background image during playback.
Don't walk away
From the back, you can see that the iAudio 7 (right) uses a glossy plastic backing now. You can't make it out in this photo, but the text on the back of the iAudio 7 gives off a prismatic rainbow reflection. Neat.
Yep, same here too
The iAudio 7 (top) and iAudio 6, stacked up. Absolutely identical, aside from color.
Writer: Donald Bell
