http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/ Engadget Comments for Samsung's YP-Z5 flash player announced for the US http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 18th 2006 6:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 18th 2006 6:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/]]>Feb 18th 2006 7:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 18th 2006 7:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 18th 2006 8:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
Where was this on my x-country drive? Of course, my "12-hour" Zen Micro battery really only lasts for less than 8 hours (on a good day), so I don't believe 38 hours is accurate. But here's to hoping...]]>Feb 18th 2006 8:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 18th 2006 8:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 18th 2006 8:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 18th 2006 9:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 18th 2006 9:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 18th 2006 9:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
I hope you don't think you have a sense of design.

]]>Feb 18th 2006 10:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 18th 2006 10:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
I think you should be asking if it has XM!]]>Feb 18th 2006 11:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 18th 2006 11:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
I still don't understand why everyone harps on the iPod for not supporting wma, but no one is harping on these other players for not supporting aac. iPods, 80% of the mp3 players out there, support aac. At some point these competing MP3 players will be locking themselves out of the market if they don't support aac.

It's like competing against MSOffice and not supporting the .doc format!]]>Feb 18th 2006 11:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 19th 2006 12:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
www.nasdaqtrader.blogspot.com]]>Feb 19th 2006 1:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
38 hours of battery life is good.]]>Feb 19th 2006 2:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 19th 2006 4:54AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
4gigs, 38 hours, $250.... where do I buy one?]]>Feb 19th 2006 5:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 19th 2006 8:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
To the person that asked who uses WAV for portables. Some people do listen to lossless audio on the go. I'm one of them. Space will soon be a non-issue, if it isn't already. Why compromise? I don't need my whole music collection with me, anyway. Although FLAC support would have been a better choice..]]>Feb 19th 2006 10:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
WMA, on the other hand, is used by a good number of Windows users, especially given that WMP defaults to ripping CDs to WMA. One of those advantages of being a monopoly, I suppose.]]>Feb 19th 2006 10:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 19th 2006 11:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/its not a bad product though. ]]>Feb 19th 2006 11:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 19th 2006 12:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 19th 2006 12:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
I've been waiting for a reasonably high-capacity MP3 player with atleast 20 hours usable battery life - the battery is probably the only thing that's kept me from picking up a Nano yet. Hence, I'm awfully interested in the YP-Z5. I just wish a higher capacity (8gb or more) model was also offered.

I hope that navigation is atleast on par with the iPod's.

#17 - One reason folks might be more lenient on non-Apple players not supporting Apple's variant of AAC is (as far as I know) Apple won't let them. This is Apple's fault, not Samsung's (or Dells, or Creatives, etc). WMA on the other hand *is* readily licensable. Personally, I use neither (MP3's ubiquitous support > marginal file size improvement).

#31 - I disagree with the assertion that iPod's capacity is the key to its market dominance. For example - I own a pre-iPod MP3 player that takes laptop harddrives. Huge amounts of storage, readily upgradable... but a design monstrocity. Bulky, akward to carry, poor battery life, mediocre display, poor navigation, etc. The device now sits on a shelf gathering dust. Design is important.

#31 - I also disagree that its integration is why it dominates the marketplace. I'd argue the intergration is the *result* of its dominace. The iPod was far from the first portable MP3 player - it was just the first one that got the design so right. That said, the integration is a double-edged sword - it helps prop the iPod against its competitors, but also locks the iPods interface so it can remain backwards compatible. Break that compatiblity, and the you've removed both the advantage over the competition and upset current customers who've already made substantial investments. It's a curious position - reminds me of Windows.]]>Feb 19th 2006 5:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
The same people who developed mp3 also developed AAC.

AAC is shorthand for MPEG-2 AAC and MPEG-4 AAC; MP3 is actually short hand for MPEG-1 layer 3, so in that sense AAC is now four generations 'newer', or better, than MP3. AAC is licensable from the MPEG group.

If you want more information, read this about AAC and MP3.

Wiki has some more information as well.]]>Feb 19th 2006 7:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.mpeg.org/MPEG/aac.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding

]]>Feb 19th 2006 7:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
We looked at a sampling of new iPod users (from the Fall) where the owners were ripping their own CDs from iTunes. About 90% of the tracks were in AAC (iTunes default, so not surprising). Any player that wants to seriously compete with the iPod will have to attract people who already have iPods (as a second player or a replacement player). Increasingly this means you have to support AAC.

]]>Feb 19th 2006 9:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
So, I backtrack a bit on my previous comment. That said, a player claiming to support cleartext AAC but not Apple's DRM mechanism would be confusing to the public - right or wrong, if something says it plays AAC, the expectation is it plays FairPlay-encumbered AAC files as well.

In regards to the Microsoft licensing WMA - I was under the impression that they'll license to anyone. It's in their interest to get as many on board the format as possible - Microsoft doesn't gain from locking out anyone, while Apple does. I'm unaware of the licensing terms (not my area of interest), but I'd imagine they're pretty reasonable - Microsoft's DRM is fighting an uphill battle, afterall.]]>Feb 20th 2006 3:01AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 21st 2006 11:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 24th 2006 11:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 27th 2006 2:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
If any other company wants to win me over, and I'm by no means an Apple loyalist, they need to make to easy for me. How do they do that? Make an iTunes clone and support AAC. Not that hard!]]>Feb 27th 2006 4:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 28th 2006 11:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Feb 28th 2006 12:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
I must agree that the screws in the side is a bit odd.

It's interesting that the guy who programmed the iPod's interface programmed the Samsung's as well. There's an article at the NewYorkTimes.com about it.]]>Feb 28th 2006 4:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
Now it's here: the YP-Z5. I was happy to hear that Samsung hired a former Apple iPod designer to design the new YP-Z5. Brilliant move. Samsung has finally matched the iPod Nano ... by eliminating all those features that I need. So now, I'll probably have to wait another two years for Samsung to add back all those features that it just deleted in the YP-Z5.

Thanks Apple, for inspiring Samsung to emasculate its MP3 players ... in the name of "design," "usability," and "style." I guess Samsung now defines "progress" the same way Apple does - removal of features.

Anyone know of existing or announced 2GB+ flash players that have the following: color screen plus things like A/B repeat, play speed adjustment, etc.?]]>Mar 1st 2006 8:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Mar 5th 2006 5:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Mar 17th 2006 4:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
Personally my whole music collection is mp3/ogg (mainly ogg). My mum got an Ipod because it was on the TV - I set here ITunes to convert mp3 rather than AAC - for the sake of her sanity in future.

All things change - so I try to err on the open source side as much as is reasonable... ]]>Apr 13th 2006 7:07AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
As for integration, it is easy to be drawn into Apple's marketing ploy. Because of the large (and easily impressionable) consumer base that owns iPods, many auto manufacturers and car radio manufacturers have decided to integrate functionality of the iPod into their products. While they can't integrate ALL MP3 players, the large consumer base of iPods allows them to integrate the iPod to their products.

Integrating EVERYTHING would be an almost insurmountable task. It is just like the Windows OS. Most people don't realise that Windows is made to accomodate an almost infinite amount of hardware permutations, whereas MacOS is made for a very very small amount of different machines. Anyhow, I digress.

MP3 players are just that--MP3 players. I don't need AAC (in fact I've never used it before, nor came across it nor plan to ever use it). I don't need games, organisers, coffee machine, etc. I just need something to play music to occupy me on my 2.5hrs of commute to and from the university. It is kind of like cellphones. I just need a phone to call people. True, things like calculators, photoalbums, notepads, and contact lists are great. In fact, I'd say they're almost indespensible. If I have those on my phone, I sure don't need another device that does the same. But, I still do not need games. A phone is a phone, an MP3 player is an MP3 player. My graphing calculator can handle my games for me...yuk yuk yuk...

Quality is debateable, because in most instances one would use headphones (namely earbuds) to listen to the music. MP3's quality (or lack thereof) is not the limiting factor, the earbuds are. If one were to use Sennheiser headphones (best headphones EVER, btw), sure, you could notice the difference. Likewise, hardware driver units can compromise quality. Indeed, if you plug in your MP3 player into your car stereo, you could easily tell the quality difference (say, between MP3 and OGG or WMA [which I use for my uber-HQ music]).

Styling is subjective. Personally, I find it very attractive, and a whole lot better than iPods. Never been a big fan of them. Nonetheless, I do love the brushed aluminium, kind of like the PowerBook or Macbook Pro.

All in all, I'm buying it. The price doesn't seem bad at all. Even here in Canada, where everything is more expensive (except housing and car insurance), it is a pretty decent price. I mean, 4GB of solid-state? Crazy! The Samsung's price is almost that of a 4GB CF card for DSLRs!

Independent reviews quote the battery life as 36hrs btw.]]>May 14th 2006 3:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/The scrolling is a lot better enhanced than the iPods.
The coloured screen is very dynamic and handles my pictures very well and I would highly recommend to even buy the headphones, they make the sound sounds a lot better than what it actually is and it has a good balance on it...
No, To answer your question it doesn't have FM Radio, considering it's an MP3 Player.

I would choose Samsung over iPod any day!

Keep up the good work Samsung...
]]>May 23rd 2006 3:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Jul 29th 2006 1:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/Jul 29th 2006 1:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/18/samsungs-yp-z5-flash-player-announced-for-the-us/
This player is very simple, to the point, has great looks, and best of all has some class mixed with rebelion.

I have iPod experience as well. I bought a 40GB iPod...very clunky, confusing, HEAVY!! as hell, scratches as soon as you touch it, sound in vehicle was poor, and most importantly...if you are a pirate with yer music, good luck getting it to play, at least easily...The older you get, the easier you want things to be.

I've notice peoples comments on the price of this device...You can go to BestBuy and pick up the 4GB for $179.00YP-Z5 and the neoprene jackets/armbands for $26.00.

It's an awesome player...happy listening! ]]>Sep 18th 2006 5:46AM