“All right, we’ve now entered Year 5 of the iPod Era. Apple’s rivals have had plenty of time to study the iPod, figure out what makes it such a hit and offer reasonable competition,” David Pogue writes for The New York Times. “As you may have noticed, however, that hasn’t happened. Of every 100 people walking by in their little music isolation bubbles, 78 of them seem to have telltale white iPod earbuds. Year after year, the iPod’s market share drifts upward, leaving its rivals to fight over the scraps; call it Snow White and the 20 Dwarfs. The iPod’s competitors have wasted years of opportunity by assuming that they can beat the iPod on features and price alone. They’re wrong.”
“In fact, at least six factors make the iPod such a hit: cool-looking hardware; a fun-to-use, variable-speed scroll wheel; an ultrasimple software menu; effortless song synchronization with Mac or Windows; seamless, rock-solid integration with an online music store (iTunes); and a universe of accessories. Mess up any aspect of the formula, and your iPod killer is doomed to market-share crumbs,” Pogue reports. “This week, Samsung is the latest company claiming to have cracked the iPod formula — specifically, that of the wildly popular iPod Nano [with] ts new Z5 player… the Z5 plays music for a staggering 35 hours between charges, according to Samsung, which is 2.5 times the duration with the iPod. Unfortunately, that beefier battery means that the Z5 is no Nanoesque wafer. At just under half an inch thick, it’s two-thirds thicker than the Nano.”
“Like almost all non-iPod music players, the Z5 is based on Microsoft’s music-player software. That is, it doesn’t work with the Macintosh. And while the Z5 can’t play songs from Apple’s iTunes Music Store, it can play songs from Rhapsody, Napster, Musicmatch, MSN Music, Wal-Mart, AOL Music Now, Yahoo Music and other members of the “MMS-MMS” consortium (Microsoft-based Music Stores with Minuscule Market Share),” Pogue reports. After ticking off ways that the Samsung entry compares to Apple’s iPod nano, Pogue writes, “The Z5… will not cause any discernible dip in iPod market share. It does, however, deserve to be a hit for Samsung. For someone who wants a Nano that’s not a Nano, it’s a close enough match in looks, sleekness, capacity and crystal-clear software design. In fact, if iPod didn’t loom over every conversation as the screamingly obvious point of comparison, the Z5 could be the next little thing.”
Full article here.
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Related articles:
Samsung’s iPod nano killer software created by former Apple Mac, iPod designer – February 27, 2006
Samsung: we will take top spot in music players from Apple by 2007 – January 09, 2006
Samsung: no plans to launch ‘Apple iTunes Music Store killer’ – November 03, 2005
Samsung plans 16 new MP3 player models in bid to compete with dominant Apple iPod – August 18, 2005
Samsung determined to oust Apple to become number one in iPod market by 2007 – March 17, 2005
The Video that accompanies the story is well worth the watch!
Thanks Doug… for the note. That was a good video.
MDN word: usually.
35 hours of party time without a charge. You would need to be Superman and Wonderwoman on recreational druge to make full use of that little sucker.
This battery life thing is crap. Unless you are one of the superbeings mentioned above you will never need battery life like that to kick in before you get a chance to stick the little critter into a wall plug and re-charge before the next ebvening with family and friends…..
leo
MMS-MMS” consortium (Microsoft-based Music Stores with Minuscule Market Share)” – funniest thing I’ve read all day!
Da Vinci,
It will still last more recharge cycles than the iPod, since Lithium-Ion batteries all have a rough limit. This means that the battery won’t need replacing as quickly if you use it a lot. Also, being able to use it a week between charges would be very nice. Still, I think for most people the battery life on the nano is sufficient.
MDN MW: Less, as in “Less is more”? Maybe not when it comes to battery life.
I love the MMS-MMS!
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Looks damn Ugly compared to the Nano.
MDM headline: “Samsung the latest to try to kill Apple iPod nano”
No where in the article does it say that. No where does Samsung say that.
Samsung has a product that they think people will buy. They did not make the product to “try to kill Apple iPod nano”.
When Dell brings out a Intel chipped computer is it to try to kill the Macbook?
When Apple brings out its overpriced iPOd Hi-fi speakers is it to try to kill Bose´s iPod speaker system?
Silly, silly MDN.
I prefer MMS<sup>2</sup>.
oops, I guess this forum won’t allow me to type squared.
What a Wally
I’m actually impressed by what I’ve seen here. Though I don’t intend to switch away from my iPod, I hope that Apple will pay attention to any device that does things well. For example, the hold indicator and dedicated volume controls sound pretty useful, and I wouldn’t mind having features like that rolled into the iPod.
I say Kudos to Samsung on this one.
I prefer the iPod but I have to say this is probably the best effort… it will satisfy most but what remains to see if they’ve added too many ‘features’ which might complicate the use.
Also, how do you sync the songs… and what about accessories?
(it ain’t an option for me since I be a Mac person)
Does anyone know if Google is really interested in buying earthlink?
There are some rumors here and there however no real news so far
http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=949
Quote from article that made me laugh:
MUSIC STORE INTEGRATION No. At Samsung’s suggestion, I tested the Z5 with Rhapsody’s store, which is available directly from the copy of Windows Media Player provided by the Z5’s installer. After banging my head on the keyboard for an hour, unable to get it to work, a Rhapsody rep finally let me know that, in fact, Rhapsody’s subscription store doesn’t work in Media Player — only with Rhapsody’s own software jukebox. (So much for the Microsoft “Plays for Sure” logo. Try “Plays for Some People.”)
“No where in the article does it say that. No where does Samsung say that.
Samsung has a product that they think people will buy. They did not make the product to “try to kill Apple iPod nano”.”
MDN’s just trying to generate hits by using a provocative headline, much like the articles they ridicule for doing the same thing.
I’m sorry, but I fail to see anything at all to applaud here. It’s yet another blatant copy of an iPod, both in form factor and function, and this coming from one of the major corporations in the world. Is ANYONE else besides Apple capable of creating something new? Are these great corporate powers only able to produce carbon copies of others’ innovations, with but minor tweaks and adjustments? Is that it? How embarrassing for them.
I can’t provide the quote, but Samsung did call it an iPod killer when they showed it to the press. MDN is right, you are wrong.
the … dedicated volume controls sound pretty useful
Really? The review spun this as great because you don’t have to be listening to music to adjust the volume. But if you’re not listening to anything, how do you know where to set the volume in the first place?
ed: “I’m sorry, but I fail to see anything at all to applaud here. It’s yet another blatant copy of an iPod, both in form factor and function,”
Couldn´t you say that about every product line?
Every computer, car, pencil, pen, light bulb, socks,washer, dryer,tv, can of beans, boxer shorts, whatever justs copies each other in form factor and function?
Big Al: “I can’t provide the quote, but Samsung did call it an iPod killer when they showed it to the press. MDN is right, you are wrong.”
No they didn´t – and I can´t provide where they didn´t say it. So you are wrong.
” call it Snow White and the 20 Dwarfs. “
ROTFLH!
Big Al (MDN) – The official Samsung press release. You see “iPod killer” in there?
http://www.samsung.com/PressCenter/PressRelease/PressRelease.asp?seq=20060111_0000224665
Could we all just take a deep breath for a second? Let’s remember one thing… Competition is not a bad thing. Samsung has to most impressive non-ipod mp3 player out there. Every item has several companies that make very similar products. Look at all the companies that make pots and pans. You don’t see anyone saying that All-clad ripped off the shape of their stock pot from another company. While I do agree that the iPod is the best we must remember that people like choice. There might actually be people out there that like the Samsung player better. You know what? That’s okay because it doesn’t stop me from enjoying my iPod.
Can we please get rid of this “US vs THEM” attitude?
OK, I’m going to create a version of the old board game, Clue. The “victim” will be Mr. iPod. There will be a number of suspects: Samsung, Creative, iRiver, Dell, Microsoft, etc. You move through the game trying to figure out who killed Mr. iPod. When you figure it out, you announce the who, what and where.
“I figured it out. Mr. Dell did it with the DJ in they kitchen.”
“Sorry. Wrong. Next guess.”
“Mrs. Samsung did it with the Z5 in the observatory.”
“Nope. Wrong again. “
The game will go on and on, but you will never convince the players of what becomes painfully obvious. No one actually killed Mr. iPod. They all tried, but it just didn’t happen. They will keep on playin’ because they just don’t realize it!
JvW