Hands-on with Samsung's YP-T7 flash MP3 player

Nah, we didn't actually get hands-on with this ourselves, but when reader by the name of "Bobbetta" offered to send in a few pics of the YP-T7, Samsung's new flash-based MP3 player which one of her relatives who works for the company brought home, we had to say yes. Like we said before, this one feels like it's going to be for Korea-only. Comes in 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB sizes, and sports a decently-sized color screen for looking at digital photos, a text file viewer, a battery life of about ten hours, and support for playback of Ogg, MP3, WMA, WAV, and ASF audio files. Click to see a couple more pics.

UPDATE: We just received confirmation from Samsung's PR rep that this will be sold here in the States. Should be out in about a month or so.

[Pedro @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

anyone else notice all her other stuff is Samsung too?

[sean @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Gah... why does all the cool stuff only come out in Korea or Japan??? Do they really think something like this wouldnt sell like hotcakes in the US?? It would especially appeal to the nerds, with its OGG playback... daddy like!

[Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I noticed

[kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Something fishy about the picture with the hand. Kind of looks like it's been manipulated.

[Jetblade @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

It's almost as big as a cell phone! boo!

Why bother when cell phones are coming with built in mp3 players and flash cards coming in up to 1gig. Then they can also do megapixel cameras. Sounds like a no brainer.

[Subliminal Fusion @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Almost as big as a cell phone? You do realize that the middle picture is the player next to an eraser and not a cell phone, right? If you want a usable device with a screen, you really can't go much smaller...

[Peter Rojas @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

The photo wasn't manipulated, but I did raise the contrast a bit to sharpen it.

[yupkixtokki @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

my hand!

yes every single item in my household is samsung

and the first picture isnt photoshopped lol

[Xio @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

stop the monopoly.. it looks like an awesome player & way better than the ugly shuffle.

People be realistic!

[Markus @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I'd love to show one of these to by sheep friends that keep blathering about the shuffle.

[Joey Geraci @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

This thing is so way cooler than the shuffle, and even no that much bigger. It has a full color screen for god's sake! If only it would come to America.

[fresh27 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Yeah, that looks much better than the shuffle. Small, good capacity, great looking sharp screen.

[saidat @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

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[anand @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

This is going to be relased in the US. Check out the products page on samsungusa.com. They have a blue version(256MB) and a silver one(1GB) listed.

[Vincent Oberle @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

How long before most phones come with at least 256 MB and kill the flash music player market?..

How long before flash is so cheap and there are phones with several gigabytes of storage?

Now who has the easiest: Samsung adding flash and a decent player interface to their phones, or Apple developing a phone, something they have never done and that isn't that easy?..

[JK @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

That's why Apple will (and already has... more than once) partner with Motorola. Turns out they know something about building cell phones (ya know... having invented them and all). Thanks for playing!

[gmoshe27 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

How long before phone batteries can last long enough to let you listen to mp3/wma/aac audio? Unless battery life increases, audio in phones won't kill the dedicated player. And this one is a cool one at that :)

[PB @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Confirmed that it's currently listed on Samsung USA's website under Digital Audio Players. I asked Samsung via email a week ago whether they were planning to offer either YP-t6 or T7 in USA, and they mentioned the YP-MT6X would be offered as Sams Club soon, don't know about availability of T7, although the fact it's on the USA website is encouraging.

[Dmitry @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

There is a story at cnet: http://www.cnet.com/4520-10602_1-5619676-1.html

for $199 for 1GB I would buy it over shuffle anytime

[Anonymously @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Interesting this thing "Partnership" ... is that something like what DirecTV and Tivo had right before DirecTV came up with their own "Tivo-like" box and told Tivo to beat it?

I'm sure Motorola would never do something like that to Apple. Because, as we all know, it's IMPOSSIBLE to build an MP3 player into a phone without Apple's help. ... or really, really not hard at all.

And remember, Tivo had the PVR market "locked-up" and was THE brand for a while. Now look at them. Fewer and fewer companies care about partnering with Tivo as everyone figure out the underlying tech is pretty simple (hard drive + software) in contrast to launching satellites/laying cable all over the country.

The parallels to Apple's partnership with Motorola should be ominous. Particularly with Apple's drive down-market and away from certain features that got them where they are, and their increasing focus on branding over innovation in the DAP market (i.e., the Shuffle).

Thanks for playing!

[Usman @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Ogg, MP3, WMA, WAV, and ASF?

Why doesn't anybody support AAC besides Apple? This thing won't play my decrypted (thanks Hymn!) iTunes files.

[JK @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Yeah good point, anonymously. Just like how creative realized how easy it is to build an mp3 player, and look! now they're obliterating apple! oh wait... no. no they aren't. Moto is smart enough to realize that they will quickly have 75% of the (soon-to-exist) cell phone/mp3 market IF AND ONLY IF they partner with apple. Otherwise, they'll be just another easy-to-build piece of hardware in an endless sea of such.

Just like creative, rio, samsung, toshiba, and everyone else who makes an mp3 player today... fighting hard for a DISTANT second place.

Thanks for being dumb and then pretending you aren't!

[JK @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Careful Usman... all the nerdier-than-thous around here will get all over your ass for wanting to play AAC files... the iPod is an attractive and easy-to-use device... what kind of geek are you if you use one???

[B @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Available in the US?
Which part of "Samsung Portable Audio are not available in the United States" am I missing?
http://www.samsung.com/Products/PortableAudio/index.htm

[TheZodiac @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

OK great 1GB. Lets see some 2GB ones now. 1GB is very 2004'ish! :)

MORE MORE MORE!!!

[Joshua Ochs @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I gotta say, that is damn impressive. Sort of blows a hole in Jobs' "a screen wouldn't work on such a small device" argument.

Personally, I'd still get the shuffle if I was going to choose (but lacking money, I'm not) because of the iTunes integration. I'm frequently amazed no one has written up-to-date device plugins for iTunes - it does support them, after all.

[Grandpa @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Well Microsoft Smartphones have had 1 gb + capacity for a year now and it hasn't hurt the mp3 player market.

[Quevar @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

"I'd love to show one of these to by sheep friends that keep blathering about the shuffle." by Markus

"stop the monopoly" by Xio

I hope neither of you are using Windows. If so, you are extremely hypocritical.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Shuffle Killer!

[Thought @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

JK: It is easy to build an MP3 player into a cell phone...even the companies trailing Apple in the DAP market know how to do the tech stuff...it's just the brand, the marketing, and the interface...

Your prediction that Motorola will have 75% of the cell phone/MP3 combo market is rather humorous. You obviously don't know much about the cell phone industry. Once Apple starts playing in that arena, they are going up against the big boys, like Nokia instead of Creative. Plus, consumers choose cell phones on other features besides any built in music player. Most of those buying a cell phone with DAP will be buying a cell phone first, with the DAP thought of as the added feature, not the other way around.

I do think the cell phone will largely take over the DAP market in the future...it's just too easy of a convergence. In the end, all Apple will have is licensing iTunes compatibility to cell phone manufactures...

[Thought @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

This is infinitely better than the lame shuffle...

[JK @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Thought, the first well thought-out statement I've seen here in months.

*Obviously* it's easy to build an mp3 player into a cell phone. In fact, my treo has had one in it for going on 18 months now.

I agree with your fundamental point that the consumer's choice process becomes diluted when you add in a cell phone to the whole mess. Now, instead of worrying only about DAP capabilities, they also have to worry about cell phone capabilities too. So sure, if Moto builds a bad phone and Apple adds some fantastic iTunes features to it, there will be a big problem for Moto and Apple in that market.

BUT... as you noted, Apple IS good at branding, marketing, and interfaces. People buy this stuff. LOTS of it. If Moto comes out with a phone that works well (they've managed that before-- remember, most people don't care what bluetooth profiles are disabled by default-- most people don't know what a bluetooth profile is), and Apple puts serious R&D into integrating iTunes, then that phone is going to have a HUGE advantage in the emerging cellphone+DAP market, period.

Sure, the dorks who read engadget will turn up their noses, adjust their taped-together glasses, and say "but I can get a 4GB SD card and pocketTunes for my Treo, why do I want that hyped Apple crap that is just well-marketed junk?"... meanwhile, the rest of the market is going to see an iPod in a cell phone and shit their pants (and buy it). The momentum Apple has because so many are locked into AAC files is alone enough to carry serious weight in this market. I know I'll be heavily sweighed by the phone that can play AAC, since about half my collection is that now.

As for your last point: "In the end, all Apple will have is licensing iTunes compatibility to cell phone manufactures..."

That isn't a bad thing for Apple. I agree that it'd sure be nice to keep selling super-high-margin hardware. For a while, as phones are in the 1-10GB sizes, Apple will still be able to sell 40-100GB dedicated players. But even when the DAP is gone and we all just have that integrated in our cell phones, I think someone is going to be willing to pay a lot to Apple for that license.

[Yong @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

...
Guess what, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Apple release a plus version shuffle which does include a screen and is the same price as current one

[MaxSMoke @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

That is the COOLEST MP3 player I have ever seen. I have like 5 MP3 players... and now I need an excuse to buy a 6th! I hope they don't screw it up with some stupid DRM or some mindless oversight in the User Interface.

As for Apple, who cares? Not even worth mentioning in the face of this coolness.

[mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I'd love to show one of these to by sheep friends that keep blathering about the shuffle.
----
Hrm. That's funny.. Windows has an even bigger marketshare and you never hear anyone 'blathering' about it. I guess it got old back in 1991 huh?

Now all you hear are people cursing and crying about Windows.

[Brad @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Hey, yupkixtokki,

Could you try out the voice recording & let us know how it sounds? I'm curious as to...

1) Does it record voice directly to high-quality mp3 (vs lower quality low-bitrate wavs), and...

2) How is it recording normal speech from a distance of a few feet, as opposed to speaking directly into the unit? (This seems to be a failing of some units -- great up-close, poor from even small distances.)

[sauceruney @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

"Why doesn't anybody support AAC besides Apple?"

sounds like you've locked yourself in to buying apple hardware whether you want to or not

[Thought @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

JK: I agree that the Apple name carries with it some weight in the marketplace.

However, you also correctly write "If Moto comes out with a phone that works well..."...well, that is a big "if." Moto can surely do it, but they have also released their share of duds before.

When people look at phones they see the phone, not the software. If Apple gives Moto some help on the design, and the phone looks more like an Apple phone, then it will sell. However, if people see a Moto phone, with just some iTunes sticker on it or such, then it may not go over so well.

Ironically, Moto phones are typically not easy to use and have a poor user interface...the opposite of Apple.

I personally think Nokia would have been a better fit for Apple, from the standpoint of corporate design and philosophy.

You are correct in that Apple has built itself some momentum with iTunes and AAC. However, time will tell if that will translate into it becoming a long lasting standard. I remember at the height of Palm-mania many predicted that the Palm OS would be found integrated into every conceivable gadget, and would become the standard, but that certainly hasn't happened. In fact, Palm is hurting, the success of the Treo notwithstanding.

So market advantages can erode very quickly...

I have huge respect for what Apple has accomplished, but the question will be if it can transcend its trendy and lucrative market niche...

[JK @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Interesting example about Palm... but Palm's perceived advantages were perceived by techno-dudes for techno-dudes (and techno-chicks). What I mean is... they had a huge portion of what was really a relatively small market. Furthermore, this market segment seems somewhat fickle, and perfectly willing to jump ship the instant something better comes along (does that mean windows CE/smartphone/mobile is better? shudder to think... anyway, off topic).

The DAP market, especially Apple's dominance in it, it driven by a relatively ignorant but massive public that just doesn't KNOW any better (and I think it's well documented here that I believe there isn't anything better to know. overall, the iPod *is* the best player out there, I'll contend. but that's rather irrelevant to this discussion). While trying to tell my brother what iPod accessories I wanted for xmas, I discovered that to him the word "iPod" meant "mp3 player" in the same way that "ziploc" means "sealable plastic bag." It is THAT pervasive amongst the unwashed masses.

Now, I couldn't agree more that it's going to take a lot more than a sticker that says "iTunes!" to make this thing work like I think it could. I'm not so sure I agree nokia would be a better fit. Yes, they make a more friendly interface than Moto, but by the same token I suspect they're more attached to that interface, which isn't very compatible with an Apple corp that, I suspect, is going to want a lot of control of its own. Furthermore, Nokia's past attempts at two-in-one functionality have been ... less than stellar (hello nGage).

I guess what I'm trying to claim is that IF Apple has a lot of say in the mechanical and software design, a Moto+iTunes phone would be a market killer. Yes, if they just stick an mp3 chip inside a leftover Timeport, it'll be a non-starter. I'm suspecting (and hoping) that Apple'll be smarter than that.

Tangentially, I suppose it's even possible that this could go backwards from what we've all assumed... Apple *could* license a cell phone design or two from Moto, and glom on some iTunes love. Hmm... stranger things have happened.

[Eric @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

what are you guys talking about the shuffle is cool

[Eric @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

what are you guys talking about the shuffle is cool

[Honifer @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

The shuffle IS cool. It's not the perfect mp3 player, but it's going to do what it's meant to do well. No screen? It's only an inch across and 1/3 inch deep. A screen would have to go lengthways to show anything useful and that'd look too obscene to mention.

Back OnTopic.

I thought this was meant to be about the Samsung DAP, not about the phone/mobile integration..

The player does look very nice and the screen will be good for seeing what you are listening too. I'm not sure how useful people will find these photo/mp3 players. I couldn't really imagine bringing photos around with me on my music player. I guess it's just a strange link someone made at some point and we're going to either love it or just not use it..

OffTopic again..
I would agree that Nokia would be a far better choice for a mobile phone/DAP venture as the Nokia phones:

1) Already have a big share of the mobile market (in europe at least)
2) Have good user interfaces
3) Are stylish enough to appeal to the iPod market (maybe just personal taste there). I admit that for every 10 phones Nokia make, at least half of them are/look virtually the same lol..

[leetlefeesh @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

B - "Available in the US?
Which part of "Samsung Portable Audio are not available in the United States" am I missing?"

B, try this page that clearly says Samsung USA:
http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?prod_id=YP-T7Z%252fXAA

[VoiD @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

NICE!!
I want one!!

[Longing for A.M. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I really like the looks of this player. Any word on the ease of replacing the battery? Also, can anyone tell me why mp3 players rarely include AM radio? And please don't tell me it's because AM sucks as lots of sports and news programs just don't make it to FM. Thanks.

[leetlefeesh @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Also, if you go here:

http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?prod_id=YP-T7Z%252fXAA

and then click on "Download Center" > "Manuals" you can download the 10MB! manual with lots of juicy info!!!

[leetlefeesh @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

10MB Manual:

http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/support/b2c_downloadcenter_detail.jsp?eUser=&mobile=N&oid=73978&cntType=UM&cntId=237576〈=EN

[Telematic @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I just read bits of teh manual and... Wow! This player is amazing, it does ripping straight from CDs to MP3 (with line input), so you could also use an external Mic for recording straight to MP3. It's miles ahead of the competition in terms of features and a la par with iFamily in looks.

I can't get to get one!

[Roy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

All I can say - iPod Killer :)

[Alex @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

"Why doesn't anybody support AAC besides Apple? This thing won't play my decrypted (thanks Hymn!) iTunes files."

Nokia supports AAC. They were part of the consortium, along with Dolby, who developed it. You can playback unprotected AAC files on some of their phones and communicators.