MP3 players going wireless

Just taking a breather from my Siquijor post. And this is not a paid post by the way, I was able to attend one of Samsung Philippines’ product launch last Wednesday at Manila Peninsula Makati. Yes, that’s the day before the Trillanes Stand off in Makati happened. Again, bloggers were included in the company’s marketing wheel so a few were invited in this 3 day event. That was the last day and there were supposed to be some other bloggers on that day along with other media from TV and print publications as well. Well it seemed that the others rescheduled and came on different dates. As for that night I came with fellow invitee Ricky Manzano of ProjectManila. All photos taken with my Sony Ericsson K800i.

The event was at the Presidential Suite, quite cozy and very homey for a launch and we had a small chit chat with the managers there on the living area before the event started. Nice points for them as they really wanted the event to be a bit intimate than the usual product launch. Well their launch is about the new Samsung Peony LCD TV HD and their new Bluetooth MP3 players set to be released early 2008. Their Peony LCD TV has a true black technology along with other features. I must say that the picture quality there are quite sharp and colors so vibrant from what I have seem. Now only if I could take it home. Hahaha.

What interest me more are the brand new MP3 players they have. I’m a music freak and it is my constant companion. When I travel, I make sure my player which is also from my phone Sony Ericsson K800i and W200i is fully loaded with MP3s. It makes long transits more enduring. Now Samsung is going head to head with Apple’s Ipod line with their new MP3s players which focuses on wireless connectivity through Bluetooth technology. It’s funny they have the apple ipods along there to compare. The Samsung P2 a touchscreen interface player goes head to head with IPod Touch. And the Samsung T10, a stylized customizable player is pitted against the new Ipod Nano. I only got to play with it for a while but first impression, I’m still won over with Apple’s sleek design and the IPod Touch which I was able to play with extensively before has a much cooler interface with finger flicks and all. But what the new Samsung MP3 players have is wireless capabilities and a bunch of features that’s truly lacking in all Ipods like FM radio, dual headphones through Bluetooth so you can share audio while watching a movie and some text readers as well. Well I can’t say pretty much since I’ve only handled it for a while. Samsung though said they would loan us a Demo/Pre-production unit to play around soon.

As a token in attending the event, each of us got to take home a Samsung U3 1gig MP3player. And playing along with it for a few days, I can say it’s really fun to use for such a small device. In truth, first time I saw it, I thought the packaging was really cheap and so thought the player as well. Fiddling around with it, I found out that it’s a touch base interface and it was really fun using it, the LCD is impressive and it’s cool factor as well was the blinking led light at the top. But what really won me over was the sound quality. I’m not kidding when I say it’s the best sounding MP3 player I ever tried and not because this is came in free. I’m very meticulous when it comes to sound quality I even asked an Audiophile friend of mine to test it out and he did agree after listening to it that it’s quite good, especially with an 8000 pesos worth of headphones he used. That’s coming from a guy with 6 generations of iPod and a Creative Zen at his disposal. iPod sound quality doesn’t match to Samsung’s sound, and Samsung made this possible with their DNse (Digital Natural Sound engine) which I always set to either 3D Studio or 3D Stage setting. For Ipod, you still have to buy a very good headphone to get that crisp surround sound.

The only quirk I find on this player is that you can’t use it quite well if you are running or exercising with it. With a smooth touch base control, you’re not sure what you’re pressing. Especially with a very sensitive touch surface. What I like with the side buttons of my phone players is that I can stop, adjust sound, skip a track by just feeling the buttons and not looking at the unit itself. If that isn’t a big deal to you, the Samsung U3 MP3 player is a sleek and amusing player to use with excellent sound quality, FM Tuner, Voice recorder and 10-15hrs battery life. I’m sure to bring it with my travels this time around.