Samsung unveils new MP3 player to challenge Apple's iPod

AFP, March, 2006

SEOUL (AFP) — South Korean electronics giant Samsung will unveil its new portable music player on Sunday in a direct challenge to the now iconic iPod, one of the world's best-selling products from US rival Apple.

Samsung's new flash memory MP3 player, called the YP-Z5, will be released first in the United States on the home turf of its rival. Europe will have to wait until late March and Asia until May to see the new contender for dominance of the lucrative MP3 market.

The YP-Z5, priced at 199 dollars to 249 dollars, is designed as a head-on challenger to Apple's newest iPod nano, which costs 149 dollars to 249 dollars.

Samsung says price alone is not a decisive factor. Instead, the South Korean firm is playing up the capacity and user friendly aspects of the YP-Z5.

It boasts that the device ...