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Samsung Set To Introduce Android-Based iPod Touch Competitor

Posted by Soulskill on from the touch-and-go dept.

blixtech writes "Virtually unchallenged in the portable media player market, Apple's iPod Touch is set to receive a pretty strong competitor at CES 2011. Samsung has just announced they will showcase an Android-powered PMP called the Galaxy Player, featuring almost the same hardware as the Galaxy S smartphone."

41 of 221 comments (clear)

  1. This will really confuse a good fanboi by gearloos · · Score: 2

    Android and Itouch? they'll never figure it out.

    --
    "Computers are a lot like Air Conditioners" "They both work great until you start opening Windows"
  2. The usual $50.00 question... by mlts · · Score: 2

    The usual $50.00 question I have for any Android device: How easy is it for this device to be rooted? An additional question would be how easy it is to flash a custom ROM image.

    I just hope it isn't too hard to have custom, fast ROM images for this device.

    1. Re:The usual $50.00 question... by Atari400 · · Score: 2

      I got a Samsung Galaxy I7500, and it's stuck at 1.5 - Samsung aren't upgrading it at all. I wouldn't recommend buying Samsung Android equipment - HTC looks a much better bet.

      --
      IBM doesn't play chess with the Universe.
    2. Re:The usual $50.00 question... by yincrash · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Galaxy S phones are ridiculously easy to get root access. It's just a manual software update using the normal update mechanism. Samsung doesn't do the things that Motorola and HTC have been putting in their phones to try and prevent rooting. I suspect that the Galaxy Player would be the same.

    3. Re:The usual $50.00 question... by bemymonkey · · Score: 2

      Are you sure? What happened to the new Galaxy Tab firmware that apparently upgrades your bootloader to an encrypted one that doesn't allow downgrading OR custom ROMs?

      http://www.xda-developers.com/android/warning-leaked-galaxy-tab-firmware-comes-with-protected-bootloader/

      Has this been resolved?

    4. Re:The usual $50.00 question... by teh31337one · · Score: 2

      z4root uses the rageagainstthecage method, which is uses an adb exploit to gain root access. That vulnerability has been fixed in android 2.2.1, so an i9000 running on JPU/JPX/JPY can't be rooted via z4root/visionary etc.

      However, the Galaxy S is still easily rootable, because you can build a kernel that is pre-rooted like Chainfire's CF-root, or like voodoo (you have to install the SU and busybox box binaries yourself from the market in voodoo) and flash it in download mode (hold the vol down, middle button and power button on i9000 when booting) using Odin/Hiemdall or just through the OS itself using the redbend_ua method with apps like SGS kernel flasher by neldar. Using SGS kernel flasher is just like rooting via update.zip, and uses the same (redbend_ua) method to write the kernel to stl4

    5. Re:The usual $50.00 question... by teh31337one · · Score: 2

      Eh, blame the carriers. The international Galaxy S, and the Canadian etc all have official 2.2

  3. Virtually unchallenged? by bfree · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What's so different about this Samsung compared to the range of Archos Android devices like the 43it (I don't care about Android myself so at a guess there are plenty of other devices out there)? Is the "virtually unchallenged" moniker in any way warranted?

    --

    Never underestimate the dark side of the Source

    1. Re:Virtually unchallenged? by Trev311 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The Archos devices have several limitations that put them at a clear disadvantage compared to the iPod Touch. First of all, they do not have access to the Android Market. Sure there are other, smaller, markets and I'm sure those are great, but most people are going to want to run the same Android "Apps" on a PMP and a Phone. Much like the iOS devices. Archos also chose to go with a resistive screen instead of capacitive screen that makes a fairly big difference in usage. Go to a BestBuy and play with the an Archos, if they have one set up near you, and then an iPod Touch and you should see the difference.

      So yes the moniker is warranted because there hasn't been something that can stand up to the iPod Touch and seem even somewhat impressive. Hopefully this will bring some competition to the market.

    2. Re:Virtually unchallenged? by samkass · · Score: 4, Informative

      What's so different about this Samsung compared to the range of Archos Android devices...

      The Archos uses resistive touch screen with much lower resolution. It doesn't connect to the Android Marketplace for apps. They're not built in any quantity so are always "Out of Stock" (go ahead... I dare you to try to actually buy a 43it). And for that it's basically the same price as the iPod Touch. It's hard to say they're a competitor when almost no one can actually buy one.

      Samsung, though, is a household name associated with quality products, and more to the point they operate their own screen and chip fabs so can actually make the things in quantity. I could see an iPod Touch competitor from them actually being real.

      --
      E pluribus unum
    3. Re:Virtually unchallenged? by will_die · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If you only want a music player then why are you looking ios or android device? Go get a Cowon player they generally have the best audio and don't have those other capabilities.

    4. Re:Virtually unchallenged? by DrXym · · Score: 3, Interesting
      The reason Archos devices don't have Android marketplace is because they fail the compatible device document and therefore do not qualify to ship it. Why don't they qualify? Because they (sensibly) omit a bunch of crap mandated in the CDD which a PMP has no good reason for needing - compass, gps, camera etc. The CDD as it exists makes sense for phones, it makes no sense for other kinds of devices.

      The only way Samsung can stay compliant with the CDD is if a) Google change the CDD in Android 3.0 to specify a range of device profiles (a way overdue change) or b) Samsung bloat the price of their device by packing it with superfluous features.

      a) is obviously the most preferable option. The CDD really should be specifying basic and extended profiles for tablets, media players, ereaders etc. Expecting tablets to be glorified giant phones is just going to stymie the Android tablet market and confuse everyone.

    5. Re:Virtually unchallenged? by hitmark · · Score: 2

      the CDD for 2.3 seems to have turned a whole lot of MUST in to SHOULD when it comes to hardware requirements, so things are changing. I may well be that we will see official market and google apps on whatever archos device that gets 2.3, if they can be bothered to have a talk with google.

      --
      comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
    6. Re:Virtually unchallenged? by madprof · · Score: 2

      You listen to your portable music player with an environment and with amplification equipment that let you readily tell the difference between high-bitrate MP3 and FLAC?
      Hang on, I'm going to go and sell some new clothes to an emperor...

    7. Re:Virtually unchallenged? by mattcsn · · Score: 4, Informative

      Take a look at Sansa's Clip+. It's compact, cheap, weighs almost nothing, has great battery life, has a microsdhc card slot, works as a standard USB mass storage device, has genuine physical buttons, plays ogg and flac in addition to mp3 and wma, and has sound quality easily as good as your Zen.

  4. About Time by alvinrod · · Score: 2

    I don't understand why it's taken this long. The iPod has been on top of this market for ages. It may not be as lucrative as it used to be, but Apple wouldn't be in it if they weren't making a decent amount of money. Apple is probably able to control a decent portion of the market if only because they can keep costs low through scale, but Android vendors should be able to cut costs and take lower profits. This is probably the first legitimate iPod competitor in a long time.

    The only question is if this market is worthwhile anymore. Smartphones have most likely already started to cannibalize PMP sales. Once they become truly ubiquitous, how much of a market is left for devices of such caliber without phone capability.

    1. Re:About Time by Richy_T · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The scroll wheel was nice. Being able to locate the music you wanted to listen to quickly definitely made for a better experience. Touch screens have since made that much less important.

    2. Re:About Time by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They made it 'idiot proof' (translation: 'Easy to use') and they coupled it with a library of music that is also 'easy to use'. The 'best features' of the other MP3 players were trying to compensate for their lack of a good/popular legit source of music.

      The reason you don't understand is that you're neglecting iTunes.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    3. Re:About Time by r3x_mundi · · Score: 2

      You say you don't understand why the iPod ever got to the top, but you list the #1 reason why they did...they made it idiot proof. Most people are not geeks and don't enjoy exploring every piece of functionality or configuration option. Most people arnt idiots either, but they don't have the patience to explore every arcane bit of new technology. Apple just made it work and made the majority of people happy (except geeks).

    4. Re:About Time by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't understand why the iPod ever got to the top. It was never the best player, never had the best features and the audio quality was never particularly great. Not that any iPod owner would know seeing as most of them seem to use the included ear buds.

      As far as I can tell the only thing they did right was make it idiot proof with the lack of software to put music on and a huge marketing campaign.

      Easy. Timing and It Just Works(tm).

      First is because the whole "portable digital music" thing was in its infancy and just awaiting its exponential growth. Apple got there are the right time.

      Second because they had a player that had the right formfactor, ample storage, and a usable UI. The iPod was the size of a deck of cards with 5GB of storage. Players that size had a whopping 128MB of storage! Expandable with 64MB expansion cards that cost an arm and a leg. And the scroll wheel was one of those "why didn't I think of that?" ways of navigating huge quantities of music. The competitor in storage would be the Creative Nomad, which had the bulk of a really old portable CD player, with a pile of heft. Creative included two sets of batteries because the battery life was fairly atrocious - a couple of hours-ish per set.

      Then you had Firewire. Filling 6GB of Nomad storage at USB 1.1 speeds took forever. Filling 5GB of space at Firewire speed took an hour or less.

      Finally, you have iTunes. In one app you can do your ripping, library management, and syncing.

      And Apple had it in such a combination that when the whole digital music revolution took off around 2003-2004, Apple was right there with product in the store. (The iPod, which was the best selling MP3 player since it came out, only sold its 1 millionth unit 3 years later).

      Next, Apple came out with the iTunes music store. Suddenly, a way to legally acquire music easily. Now Joe Q. Public had a stupid-simple way to rip their existing CD collection, to buy music, to manage their music, and to copy their music to their portable player.

      And yes, it also helped that all the user had to do was plug the thing in and it would automatically sync and update and everything. Suddenly even tech newbies (e.g., your parents) could manage their iPods themselves and their music collections. And the marketing campaign helped spread the idea that MP3s weren't just a geek thing. Which meant the 99.9% of the non-geek population could suddenly have entire music libraries in their pocket.

      And when the non-geek population started getting into this, music stores and DRM-free were the result because they cared. Otherwise who would bother serving the 0.1% geek market?

    5. Re:About Time by mbourgon · · Score: 2

      Here, let me help you out:

      "No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame." - Rob Malda, Slashdot, October 23, 2001.
      http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/1816257&tid=107

      --
      "Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
    6. Re:About Time by Corporate+Troll · · Score: 2

      Apple? A big name? In the times of the first gen iPod? That's revisionist history. Yes, Apple was known by geeks, but I assure you that I had talked to many people in that period about getting an Apple Computer. They had vaguely heard about it, but wouldn't know to get one if they wanted one.

      Today, Apple is a big name. To the extent that people tend to forget they have an Apple product. Overheard at my wifes-family Chistmas party: Person A:"Say, iPhone, is that the brand?". Person B: "Yes, I think so.".... Me: "No, the brand is Apple and the iPhone is something like a model name". Them: "Glazy eyes". (Of course, the last part may be due to the copious amount of wine that flew.

    7. Re:About Time by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    8. Re:About Time by John+Hasler · · Score: 2

      > Thats a huge advantage given the number of idiots out there.

      Right. Recall that Apple products are for "the rest of us". Who do you think he meant by that?

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  5. Year of the Android by Dzimas · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My LG Optimus One cost $200 (without contract), runs Android 2.2 and makes phone calls. I think the PMP market is going to be tough to crack, because manufacturers will have to price their handhelds extremely aggressively to make them appealing in a world that is about to be flooded with some fairly impressive Android phones in the iPod Touch price range. Still, it's a sure sign that 2011 will be the Year of The Android.

    1. Re:Year of the Android by jordonwii · · Score: 2

      The biggest advantage this will have over a phone is that it doesn't require a cell contract/plan. I could easily buy _just_ the LG Optimus, but with a cell contract at $50 a month...$600 a year...I can't do that. An cheap Android device that doesn't require a cell plan would be awesome.

    2. Re:Year of the Android by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      At least in the US, the main reason to suspect that Android based PMP/non-phone devices have a chance is factoring in cellular costs:

      The cell modem hardware isn't free; but the overwhelming majority of phone hardware is picked up, mildly subsidized, as the hook to get somebody onto a contract(or at least our month-to-month plan, rather than somebody else's).

      There is a good sized market that doesn't really want to pay $80 a month for two years; but has frequent wifi access(most homes, many businesses and places of public congregation, many schools and most college campuses). Loads of kids who have occasional bursts of spending money(their own or holiday/relative); but basically no steady month-to-month income to maintain a full data plan. Plenty of students whose, again, aren't made of money; but whose entire campus is blanketed with wifi.

      Were the US cellular market more accessible and dynamic, with doing things like "getting a spartan voice only plan for a bells and whistles smartphone" easy, rather than possible but obscure, it would be much harder to make the case for something that includes everything but the cell modem: the option to drop in a SIM at some point and do some calling would likely be worth the cost. As it is, though, while that isn't actually impossible in the US, it is so far from being the default that it is fairly rarely considered. Thus, selling a pure "PMP", at a price point available because you ditched that extra radio(and either slimmed the device or added more battery...), has a potential to be reasonably attractive.

      I know that I would strongly consider one: My home has wifi, my workplace has wifi, if I need wifi on the go there are always coffee shops and snack places willing to oblige me for as long as it takes to nurse my cup of coffee(particularly if, unlike That Laptop Guy, I'm just using something indistinguishable from a phone, and not taking up a multi-person table doing it). I don't make that many phone calls or texts, so I have a dirt-cheap prepaid plan. Now, in an ideal world, I'd carry one less device and(as noted above) use my prepaid SIM in a full phone. That isn't supported, so I suck it up and carry a $20 Motorola dumbphone when I need it. I have virtually no need, and no desire to pay for, particularly on a long term contract, cellular data when I'm within wifi range during virtually all the times that I would want internet access...

    3. Re:Year of the Android by MichaelSmith · · Score: 2

      The biggest advantage this will have over a phone is that it doesn't require a cell contract/plan. I could easily buy _just_ the LG Optimus, but with a cell contract at $50 a month...$600 a year...I can't do that.

      I got my LG Optimus for zero up front. 20 AUD per month (thats the same as USD at the moment) on Optus, 24 month contract.

      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
  6. Galaxy, huh? by n_djinn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Call me a troll, but I can hardly wait for a $700 iPod touch competitor.

    --
    I do not play in the middle of the road
    1. Re:Galaxy, huh? by Cyberllama · · Score: 2

      And as someone looking for a tablet, you simply have to decide which size screen you prefer. The smaller screen size makes typing far easier on the tab (as its the perfect size for thumb-typing in portrait mode -- whereas the iPad can't be held and typed on at the same time).

      The iPad's larger screen is clearly superior, imo, for web-browsing and movie watching, but trying to do any work with it can be unpleasant and it's significantly "less portable" in that it weighs 1.5 pounds (almost twice as much) and fits in far fewer pockets.

      Which form-factor is superior is ultimately a matter of opinion probably will vary from person to person.

  7. I've been hoping for such a thing by amigabill · · Score: 2

    OK, sure, I'd love an android phone, but I'm not willing to pay the hefty data plan fees.

    I'd really been considering how to get a good android phone without a phone plan at all, and use it like an iTouch, only with wifi and no voice or cellular data whatsoever. The *pads are too big, I want something phone/iTouch sized that will fit in my normal sized pockets. Too bad the demoted the camera on this compared to it's Galaxy S phone cousin. I've not seen an amoled screen to know if I care that's gone too. I'd really like to see someone do as good of a product as the really good smartphones and just leave out the cellular part of it, without degrading any other features in the process. But at least this sort of thing is being seen now.

    1. Re:I've been hoping for such a thing by bored_engineer · · Score: 2

      I have similar trouble, though I want to add cellular service to the device and leave out the data plan. I want a phone, but don't want the data plan; I'm quite happy with intermittent wifi. I think that I'm going to switch to either a Nexus 2 phone or a Nokia N900, then buy a prepaid contract with AT&T or Tmobile. I'm still thinking about the options, though. My really old LG flip phone, and N810 still work. I just want these two devices combined into one. They're old enough to finally justify replacing both of them, but I don't know what I want. Maybe I'll wait to see what MeeGo brings.

      [pause]I just looked, and found that Meego is available for the N900. Any N900 users out there who've tried it? Willing to tell me what you think?

  8. DLNA could be the killer app? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Seeing that my Samsung TV can do lots of stuff through a cat 5. It would make sense if their Android tablet had a tuned dlna server installed so things like internet tv, youtube, jpegs, m4v, vobs, mp3s and radio could stream from the tablet. I have some features working with mediatomb and twonky (non-free) does some other things like youtube. There is no reason why the Android OS could not do streaming internet over wifi, it would even be possible to make it work with other DLNA compliant devices. If this is not a feature then the release will just sit there and do squat in the market place like Archos. Would be nice if I could take a tablet to other peoples houses and use dlna to show pictures or whatever.
    However I just cannot see the manufactures taking advantage of the saleability of cross platform dlna. As it is they are doing the old trick of changing standards so that the consumer gets screwed into using compatible devices of their choosing. When will they learn.

  9. Always the best by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It was never the best player

    Actually it was; just not by metrics you choose to deem important.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Always the best by Osgeld · · Score: 3, Insightful

      hammering your amp's low power input to save "wear" on the part thats been designed to actually do work

      Brilliant

    2. Re:Always the best by russotto · · Score: 4, Informative

      hammering your amp's low power input to save "wear" on the part thats been designed to actually do work

      ROTFL. It makes sense to keep the input signal at the maximum non-distorting power level, because that's typically going to result in the highest SNR for the system as a whole. "Wear" isn't involved at all. It makes sense to do as much amplification as possible close to the source, which in this case is the iPod's DAC.

  10. That's something not many of us can work out. by Mr+EdgEy · · Score: 2

    I can see why the iPhone gained and maintains the market share it does. Disregarding the whole 'closed garden' thing which is only relevant to us /.ers, it was genuinely the first decent touchscreen phone and continues to match its rivals in anything Joe Public cares about. iPad generally the same deal. The iPod? Fuck knows. Probably the same reason adidas, Nike and A&F do so well. It just took off for whatever reason, and now in the eyes of most, anything else is like buying store's own brand food (that's a story for another day!)

  11. A WiFi Skype Phone by flyingfsck · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Nice, I would buy a handful of these to use as WiFi Skype phones.

    --
    Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
  12. Oblig. by l00sr · · Score: 2

    I, for one, welcome our new Android PMP overlords.

  13. Re:It had beter be able to runs apps. by Darkness404 · · Score: 2

    Constantly consistent if you choose to use everything Apple. A total pain in the rear if you don't. Sure, if you have several thousand dollars to spend on getting -everything- Apple you will have a decent user experience, but if you don't it is a complete pain. Take for instance iTunes on Windows. First off, the thing pretty much has to install 1/4th of OS X to even run, because of this, it is easily the slowest running music player out there when compared to native, or lightweight applications like Foobar2000 or VLC. Quite honestly, iTunes is the reason I no longer really use my iPod touch. Everything in iTunes managed to be a complete pain when compared to my Android phone. With my phone, I just plug in a USB cable, mount my SD card as a USB storage device and copy and paste my new music from Amazon MP3. With iTunes it had to back up all my data, applications, etc. which took forever and quite honestly there was very little worth backing up in the first place, I mean, really I'll take the risk that my Final Fantasy II save file might be deleted if something goes terribly wrong. Then when you download things from iTunes it takes -forever- not to download the files but to "process" them, the UI is sluggish and iTunes seems to think it needs updated all the time. Yes, I want to download a new iOS version for my iPod touch and I really don't care about the fact that I'm using iTunes 8, 9, 10 or whatever. And no, I shouldn't need a Core i7 to manage my music and "sync" a device, when Foobar2000, VLC and pretty much every single application other than iTunes works just fine, it is a problem with iTunes.

    I'll take my "harder" approach that takes 3 minutes to get music/video/etc. to my device than take the 20 minute ordeal that is iTunes any day.

    --
    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  14. You're obviously not a CONSUMER, you're a TECHIE. by crovira · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't begrudge you your Achos stuff, or whatever you're using, but its not quite as seamless as using Apple OS X 10.6.5 stuff.

    It definitely does NOT take me 20 minutes to spend my money at the iTMS. (The downloads come in at about 20mb/s in NYC. May I suggest you get a better performing ISP. :-)

    I use VLC, QuickTime, WindowsMedia, whatever, and my old 2.66 Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro is quite capable of keeping up with whatever I throw at it, even in 1080p.

    Apple is definitely a maker of good CONSUMER grade stuff.

    Its a question of the choices one makes.

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.