The mp3 player market has been playing catch-up to the almighty Apple iPod for many years. However, as technology has improved, more is expected of today’s mp3 players. The screen resolutions have improved, the battery life increased and the overall dimensions have got smaller.

With the recent launch of the iPod Touch, comes a worthy competitor in the form of the Cowon iAudio D2, a feature-rich mp3 player. The Cowon mp3 player has some interesting features that are lacking on the iPodTouch.

Firstly the iPod Touch uses either an 8G or 16G flash-drive, limiting the overall capacity of the unit, whereas the Cowan mp3 player uses an SD card slot, making it easy to add additional memory, or swap cards very easily. The device is compatible with SD, MMC and MMC-plus cards. This makes it simple to view data/photos from a digital camera or PDA unit.

The Cowon mp3 player has TV-out capability making it very easy to view video or photos on a television screen. This feature is missing on the iPod Touch. Which means you are limited to the 3.5″ screen on the iPod for all your browsing needs.

The Cowon multimedia player pips the iPod Touch to the post with regard to it’s battery life. The iPod Touch is quoted as giving up to 22 hours music playback and up to 5 hours video playback from a full charge. The Cowon multimedia player gives up to 52 hours music playback and up to 10 hours of video playback from a full charge. This is a substantial increase in usage time, making the Cowon a more flexible device ideal for taking on holiday, Airplane flights or on long car journeys.

Both devices feature a touch-screen, however, the Cowon multimedia player includes a touch-pen for accurate browsing of features. The device also includes a stand, making it easy to watch a video whilst the unit is placed on a desk.

The Cowon comes in at around £170, about £30 less than the iPod Touch. Of course both devices have their unique selling points, however the Cowon multimedia player certainly offers better value for money, as well as including some extra features. Have a look at C|Net’s review of the Cowon multimedia player which gave the device 8.7/10.