Samsung's upcoming YP-R1 uncovered, just barely worth the effort

There's nothing particularly offensive about this DAP, but we can't imagine it changing anyone's life -- and really, is that too much to ask out of a portable audio player? After catching wind of this upcoming YP-R1 from Samsung, the fine folks at DAP Review did a bit of sleuthing to pair up the specs with a photo, and it's all pretty traditional: 8GB of flash storage, a 2.7-inch 400 x 240 touchscreen display, a good amount of video and audio codecs, TV-out, Bluetooth, FM, e-book reader and even some games. Supposedly it'll be out in the UK on July 30th for £109.99 (about $181 US). Like we said, pretty standard stuff, but who knows, maybe Samsung will surprise us all with a new UI theme or something.

[TareX @ Jun 13th 2009 8:37PM]

isn't that resolution considerably higher than the Zune "HD"?

[giuliop @ Jun 13th 2009 8:53PM]

And how is 400 x 240 "considerably higher" than 480 x 272?

[kwikit (aka tikiwk) @ Jun 13th 2009 8:54PM]

ZuneHD is supposed to be 480 x 272.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/26/zune-hd-is-official-heading-your-way-this-fall/

[TareX @ Jun 13th 2009 8:58PM]

oh rite :)

[Doug @ Jun 13th 2009 9:29PM]

FAIL.

[DR House @ Jun 13th 2009 10:29PM]

Both fail anyway
Zune HD cant even display SD on screen
Should have made 800x480 screen like many smartphones or at least 640x360

[darkmax @ Jun 13th 2009 11:23PM]

for a Samsung product this one is very disappointingly underwhelming.

[loosely_coupled @ Jun 13th 2009 11:25PM]

@DR House

I agree, but I'm sure it had to do with the fact that is has an OLED screen. Its definitely a hard trade off to make... Brilliant colors and extreme contrast or ultra sharp HD-ish detail?

[TareX @ Jun 13th 2009 11:26PM]

The Omnia HD has both a WVGA screen & an AMOLED display.

[jay jay @ Jun 13th 2009 8:51PM]

all mp3 players released today should come with at least 16gb and if it's going to be touchscreen the screen has to be at least 3 inches. in both cases samsung failed.

[ptj @ Jun 13th 2009 9:38PM]

Except for fm, tv out, Bluetooth (maybe not os 3.0), and $50 more in the pocket...

[jay jay @ Jun 13th 2009 8:53PM]

+1 impressive

[Quikboy @ Jun 14th 2009 10:49PM]

I like your display picture jay jay. Do you mind telling me where you got it from?

[richb93 @ Jun 13th 2009 8:55PM]

You're clogging up the series of tubes that make the Engadget comment system work! (I guess that explains it's failure)

[loonix @ Jun 13th 2009 9:09PM]

Well, technically, it's not spam...

[Gad Get @ Jun 13th 2009 9:14PM]

What's the point? They just released the YP-P3.

[Ghen @ Jun 13th 2009 9:19PM]

Why $180? Just get an iPod touch.

I don't like going with the crowd just as much as anyone, but lets be real.. the touch does way more than this crappy DAP.

[Gad Get @ Jun 13th 2009 10:24PM]

You don't even know what it does yet, or whether it's crappy. Talk about passing judgment prematurely. Sort of reminds me of a certain crowd you don't like to follow.

[Gad Get @ Jun 13th 2009 10:25PM]

I'm not a hypocrite.

[Ghen @ Jun 14th 2009 5:38AM]

Well from the article I'm assuming its a Digital Audio Player aka DAP. Care to prove me wrong?

[Gad Get @ Jun 14th 2009 7:46AM]

Actually, it would be far better described as a PMP (Portable Media Player), since the article clearly states (and the picture clearly shows) that it does more than just play audio, and you obviously don't throw in that size and resolution of an LCD just for giggles. (Unless it's a really funny LCD, but this one appears fairly humorless.)

[Al @ Jun 13th 2009 9:27PM]

Touch may do more but two things this and other Samsung mp3 players have over Apple players is OGG, and support, which for some is a key feature. Another one would be SQ, many have argued that Samsung has better SQ than Apple, or the average player on the market.

Now that said seriously what is the point of this when the P3 has a .3in larger screen, more memory(unless this also comes in 16gb and 32gb flavors) and the same or better specs.

[Daza @ Jun 13th 2009 11:09PM]

From the source: # Video: MPEG-4, WMV, H.264, Divx, Xvid,and RMVB

If it natively plays MPEG-4 ASP (DivX/XviD), WMV and H.264, well, that's a lot better than any iPod can do to begin with.

[CreepinJesus @ Jun 14th 2009 5:10AM]

Exactly - where Apple keep adding features which are pretty pointless on an MP3 player or a PMP (email, browser, etc), other manufacturers are busy adding wider multimedia support, which is kind of useful on a PMP!

[grull27 @ Jun 13th 2009 9:27PM]

You're my hero. Your post has been +'d

[Scotjo @ Jun 13th 2009 10:28PM]

I'm sure there's a copyright violation in here, somewhere...

[CharlieX @ Jun 13th 2009 10:52PM]

Yawn..... despite any technical prowess, no momentum equals no sales

[redcard @ Jun 14th 2009 6:00AM]

Cos more formats = better player

Creepinjesus, I'm sure the ability to play H.264 on a 3 inch screen sway less pointless than having access to email. You suck

[glenn s @ Jun 13th 2009 11:02PM]

Actually, a very good friend of mine is married to THE copyright protection lawyer for Sesame Workshop. (Yes, it is really one person, at least one point person). But I promise not to tell. +1

[mcmx @ Jun 14th 2009 1:12AM]

Not a bad player

[Garst @ Jun 14th 2009 3:58AM]

It is really going to be an e-book reader? Or did your source misquote and it has audiobook support instead?

[tekdroid @ Jun 14th 2009 7:19AM]

grandpa sez:
"Fixed storage? That's so 1999"

"Doesn't Sammy know we have dirt cheap SDHC?"
"Where's the harm in us choosing how much storage we want in an industry-standard format?"
"Don't they know flash media hs limited write life?"
"Overcharging for crumbs, they are!"

I nod. I remind him that:
FLAC and Ogg Vorbis = cool.
http://flac.sourceforge.net
http://www.vorbis.com

Grandpa tells me "it'll have a non-removable battery for sure, too... so forget it". He reminds me once again not to support companies that rape the earth by making "perfectly good electronics designed for disposal".

Grandpa is so wise!

[Andrew @ Jun 14th 2009 7:34AM]

But isn't it amazing that this is just brushed over and just another mp3 player? Not even 10 years ago this would've sold tens of millions. Technology is really good nowadays. ¬¬

[superhobo @ Jun 14th 2009 8:23AM]

That's the laziest bashing I've ever seen