They've been on the way for awhile, but Samsung's pulled the lid off their new iPods MP3 players, the Samsung S2 Pebble and S3 (no cute name). But make no mistake, these are definitely shaping up more as cool budget options than direct Apple competitors.
The multi-hued S2 Pebble is the more visually interesting of the two, and looks to be aiming squarely for the iPod Shuffle with 1GB of storage, plus an FM tuner. The light at the bottom changes color to let you know what mode it's in. Nifty as it looks, the Pebble seems to be lacking the one thing so essential to a Shuffle: the clip. Hope you have pockets when you go jogging.
The S3 is pretty mu
ch your standard iPody design, with some backlit touch controls instead of buttons or clickwheels. It's lined up on the Nano, coming in at 4GB and 8GB models that look bigger than any Nano. Seriously, they couldn't bump it to six and ten just for bragging rights? Well, they do have commercial-heavy FM radio to make up for it, and offer flash games on that 240 x 320 display.
No prices spilled as yet, but one expects some aggressive undercutting of Apple products when these suckers arrive in June. Either way, they'll be eligible for a SquareTrade warranty, just in case that Pebble-player isn't pebble-tough.
Honestly, there's nothing wrong with these two, the quality is going to be there and the Pebble looks way cooler than a Shuffle, but it's the little things - and the lack of genuine one-upmanship - that guarantee the king will keep its crown. Nice try, though, Samsung. Nice try.
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