Must Read: Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet: Beating the iPad mini (review)

Topic: Hardware

Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

Summary: Rumor is that the Samsung Galaxy Player will debut at CES 2011 and be designed to take on the iPod touch, which is great since no one else offers a very good alternative at this time.

Matthew Miller

By for The Mobile Gadgeteer |

CES 2011 kicks off next week and the rumors of upcoming devices are already starting to flow out from various sources. Boy Genius Report posted a link to the Samsung Hub website that states Samsung has announced a Galaxy Player (YP-GB1) that brings the Samsung Galaxy S experience to a device without phone functionality. This is clearly designed to take on the very successful Apple iPod touch that no one else seems to have had any luck taking on so far.

The Samsung Galaxy Player is an Android-based device that runs Android 2.2 and has a 1 GHz processor (most likely the Hummingbird variant), 4 inch LCD display (interesting that it doesn't have Super AMOLED like the Galaxy S devices), WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, 3.2 megapixel rear camera, front facing VGA camera, GPS, microSD card slot, and 1200 mAh battery. It will supposedly come in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB versions.

With the decent back camera and GPS, the Galaxy Player may actually be a better alternative for folks than the iPod touch and if the gaming experience on Android can be improved Samsung may have a real winner here. Samsung will have to come with a great system for getting content onto the device since iTunes is the default for many people.

Topics: Hardware, Apple, Mobility, Samsung

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback

32 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion

  • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

    As the owner of an Epic, I have to say that finding and loading movies to an Android device is cumbersome at best. Hopefully, Google TV will come to Android soon.
    vailmcc
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

      @vailmcc Umm.. DRAG AND DROP is cumbersome?

      Fine, you need to rip your DVDs... lots of freeware out there to make that happen. As well as many companies making software that does this.

      Getting it into the device though? PIECE OF CAKE. It is just a USB drive when plugged in. Drag and Drop an mp4 video file...same as the ones the iPod Touch Plays... onto it. .. Boom.. it plays.. Not complicated.
      condelirios
      Reply Vote

      • How about rmvb movie

        @condelirios

        Would it play it?
        FADS_z
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

    No.
    james347
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

    No. It doesn't have the infrastructure of the iPod Touch. Let's be real about products like this and stop trying to compare it to something that is quite frankly superior. Matthew Miller, you should know better.
    Keonidas
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

      @Keonidas : if it does what the rumor says it does AND costs less, at least I will be willing to take a look at it. It doesn't have to be superior to the iPod touch. Why are you so afraid that the Touch may have some more competition? Do you own Apple stock, work for them, or are just a fanboy?
      nomorebs
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

      @Keonidas The biggest problem this alleged device has is that it's late to the party. Apple's had nearly 10 years to itself in the media player market. The Zune was a flop - twice - and the other PMPs that come out from Archos and other companies just don't have the mindshare that Apple and its iPod line have.

      It would be good for Apple to have some competition in this space so it can be pushed to incorporate better features more frequently into its future iterations. There is room for multiple media players in this field, just like there's room for multiple phone OSes in the mobile industry. It's just a matter of getting people to look away from what they already know.
      HCMarks
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

        @HCMarks

        I think I have to agree on you with this one. I own an Archos and it's not at all the ideal device. I wanted a lot of disk space so they put a giant HDD in the thing. It's got a nice screen, but its pressure sensative and uses a restricted version of Android, (no google apps or app store!). It is also prone to freezing. Its a nice dev toy, but by no means an ipod killer. I doubt Samsung will kill the ipod, but it will have a niche market, (I may just buy one, assuming the battery can be replaced). I onyl had two gripes with the ipod, 1. The battery is crap after about a year and a half and you can't replace it yourself easily. 2. You need itunes for a seamless music experience, (for adding and removing music). This one, though isn;t necessarily true anymore as I just recently found out that winamp has what seems to be full ipod compatibility now. It's simply drag and drop in the interface just like itunes, which is great for me because i dislike itunes interface, (bland), and I can't stand propritary media formats.
        anonymous
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

        @KBot Samsung doesn't have to kill the iPod to succeed, just like Android/WP7/Palm doesn't have to kill the iPhone to succeed. There's so much Highlanderism in the tech sphere (much of it egged on by writers at ZDNet) that people forget what makes capitalism work: competition.

        Contrary to popular belief, we will never have a "Mac vs. PC" war of the '90s again. Things are different, companies are different, distribution methods are different and products are different. There will be segments of the market geared toward specific demographics with each big player pushing the other to outdo the other one.

        Regarding iTunes, I don't hate it as much as other people. I'm sure if you're running it on Windows, you have a lot to hate. I wish they'd rewrite it from the ground up for both systems the way Microsoft rewrote Office 2011 for Mac from scratch. It's still Office, but it's a lot better than it was.

        Also, the music isn't proprietary anymore - it's all DRM-free, but the movies are still locked down, unfortunately. :(
        HCMarks
        Reply Vote

  • Only if Android fixes getting media on and off of the device.

    Talk about a RPITA. Dealing with mounting and dis-mounting "drives", different volumes, half transfered files/album art and obscure errors does not inspire consumer confidence.
    Bruizer
    Reply Vote

  • As I said on O'Grady's blog...

    As much as I'd like to see this device (and other Android devices like it) succeed to make some real competition in this market, I have my doubts that it'll take off. iPod has been around since 2001 (almost 10 years now), and it's become entrenched as "the" media player of choice. The growing success of the Android phones out there may give it some added oomph, but I really think it would be like another desktop OS trying to take on Windows - look how long Mac OS has been taking on Windows and it's still only a niche player. The fact that there is no really standout default media player app for Android also doesn't help its cause.

    Maybe I'm just pessimistic (and I hope I am), but I don't think this will rise above a niche group of consumers and those looking for a cheap alternative to an iPod Touch (if it comes in at the right price point, which I think it will definitely need to). I hope they've got some really good marketing planned for it.
    NetAdmin1178
    Reply Vote

    • Too pessimistic

      @NetAdmin1178

      A media player is a very simple environment, unlike the desktop. If the HW is good, the price better and games/content readily available, competing with Apple is not that difficult.

      Mac OS did not stand a chance because Windows PCs were cheaper and Windows SW more available..

      The Android ecosystem will grow and start to give Apple a run for its money. Just wait and see.
      Economister
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

        @Economister "Did not stand a chance"? With currently nearly ten percent of the US market and half that of the world market not to mention 90% or so of the over $1000 market I'd say the Mac OS is doing just fine, thank you. It's good to be a high end, high quality product instead of competing with Yugos.
        As for Android it's WinOS redux. Yes they will totally dominate the low end commodity product market while Apple provides the consumer with the best quality, best customer service on the market. "Stand a chance" I'd like that chance any day of the week.
        dheady@...
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

    If you people think drag and drop is "cumbersome", then I have nothing to say.
    ConceptVBS
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

      @ConceptVBS Of course it's not cumbersome, unless I'm sitting at the airport, etc...
      vailmcc
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

      @ConceptVBS For a geek, no it isnt. But try explaining the concept to an average joe/joet that has an average level of computer knowledge (ie: very little).

      Where as compared to an iPod, you simply check the box next to it, and you're done. No other user interaction required.
      Stuka
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Will the Samsung Galaxy Player take on the Apple iPod touch?

        @Stuka Even the most average user knows how to copy a file onto a USB drive. Adding Music and Movies to an Android device is that simple. You plug it in, it becomes a USB drive...you copy and paste the files onto it. It is so simple, people make it hard. iTunes is FAR more complicated. Don't get me started on how hard it is to make Apple's crappy drivers work on Windows XP.... Not sure how any normal user makes that happen. Maybe after about fifteen phone calls to Apple, or like my mom does... calling ME.

        Having complicated software isn't a problem...because if it were Apple would have stopped making iTunes for Windows long ago... They are the worst Windows Software vendor on the planet....and we all know they make it work poorly on Windows in an attempt to move people to OSX. Only, it backfires, because if your software stinks and your name is on it, it reflects poorly on you... not the OS your are running it on.
        condelirios
        Reply Vote

      • Getting media on/off an Android device is FUBAR.

        @condelirios

        It really is that much of a pain. Depending on configuration, you have to mount the "SD" card locking media access from the phone. Attempting to access the media card will get "SD Card Busy" and no other information.

        Merging song data from multiple devices is a challenge at best and easily results in multiple/lost songs.

        Volume management from internal memory to external memory is a pain.

        Obscur error messages durring copying are not uncommon (at least on the Droid X). What is an Error 509?

        Don't forget to "Safely Remove Hardware".

        Album Art? Sometimes goes, sometimes does not.

        And drivers? The drivers you need to install on Verizon's Droids keep pulling up web sites every time you connect your phone with prompts/pop-ups everywhere.

        You have no idea the pain I deal with helping friends that thought they got "something simple with Android". They were told by "friends" it was easier than using iTunes that just always synced their music between devices with no issue.
        Bruizer
        Reply Vote

      • actually...

        @bruizer

        [i]Don't forget to "Safely Remove Hardware".[/i]

        This is not needed unless "writeback caching" is enabled on [b]all[/b] drives in Windows, which is not the default for removable drives, local only. But if someone edited that registry setting, they would no doubt know to clear their cache file before they could safely remove their external/removable drive.

        [i]Album Art? Sometimes goes, sometimes does not.[/i]

        Same problem with iTunes, my man...missing art, wrong art, etc.; it's not just isolated to the other guys.
        SonofaSailor
        Reply Vote

      • @ SonofaSailor

        @Stuka

        Also depends on OS. Key point is, you better do it. Just an extra step and adds to confusion and potential data integrity/loss issues.

        As for album art? 99% correct is much better than 30% correct as what I get on Android devices. Media handling on Android is a huge FAIL and substantially more more complex than the WP7 and iOS solutions. No other way to put it.
        Bruizer
        Reply Vote
CNET Join | Log In | Privacy | Cookies Close