Samsung ST700 DualView Digital Camera - Navigating Smart Touch 3.0

Following is a review of Samsung ST700 dual LCD (2View) camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BmaKmGfVLk

The NX Lens Planners Interview(ver.Eng)

Following is a video of the NX lens planners interview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFeb3E-SVRs&feature=player_embedded

Review by E-Gear: Samsung SC-HMX20C HD Camcorder

The E-Gear reviewed Samsung SC-HMX20C HD camcorder.

I’ve used a lot of Samsung cameras and camcorders over the years, and this is easily the most satisfying of the lot. Its operation is smooth and intuitive, and the video quality looks smashing on an HDTV.

The HMX20C is a medium-sized camcorder that records full 1920 x 1080 HDTV resolution in H.264 (MPEG4) format onto either the built-in memory (8GB) or a removable SD memory card. The bullet-shape design and glossy black shell give it a sleek, fashionable appearance. The large 2.7-inch widescreen LCD display looks bright and sharp, which it better because there’s no optical viewer to let you skip the LCD. The button placement and controls have all been placed to make one-handed operation easier, while the swiveling grip makes it easy to hold the camera comfortably when shooting from different angles.

I especially like the inclusion of the Mode button for toggling between video, photo and playback rather than the mode dials found on nearly every other camcorder on the market. The 10X optical zoom is also quick and responsive. One of the things that struck me most about this vidcam was how user-friendly the menu system is. This is an area that Samsung had found challenging over past years, but the company appears to have put a lot of careful thought into making every feature easy to find and understand, while making the on-screen options attractive too. People don’t tend to use their camcorders as often as still cameras, so they shouldn’t have to memorize complicated menu trees in order to get to the functions they want.

All the functions are accessed via the touchscreen LCD. Some people may worry about getting the screen too smudgy from finger tapping, but after years of using touchscreen devices, I’m not bothered by that. Just keep the kids’ messy fingers off it.Video quality impressed me as much as build quality. Some outside footage of my daughter on her new skateboard showed very minimal artifacts and noise while showing lots of detail and vibrant colors. A recording of a viola music recital looked equally sharp, allowing me to see textures in fabrics and facial details. Audio picked up from the built-in stereo mics also sounded good, which will encourage me to replay my daughter’s recital frequently.

Low-light shooting was fair-to-good, but there is no external light, so really dark scenes did show some graininess. The electronic image stabilizer performed about average for cameras in this price range. It did a fine job when zoomed out, but fully zoomed shots still showed camera shake with the stabilizer engaged. The 8GB memory will give you a little more than an hour at top quality.You can select from several resolutions, including 1080p or 1080i (at 30 or 60 frames per second) and 480p. Everything looked great on my 50-inch Hitachi plasma.

The camcorder can also take pretty decent still digital photos up to 3264 x 2448 resolution. Archiving your movies to a PC will eat up a lot of hard drive space (get an external backup) or you can back it up to a Blu-ray disc. PC connection is via USB. The files will play on a PS3. The camera ships with a copy of Cyberlink DVD Suite, battery charger and a dock to connect your camcorder via HDMI or component to an HDTV.

To be continued...

http://www.e-gear.com/story/story.bsp?sid=110338&var=story&action=thankyou&name=JameK

Production Notes: I’ve Found a New Baby

The DV.COM reviewed Samsung SC-HMX20C Full HD camcorder. Stefan Sargent, the reviewer wrote an interesting story.

I’m thinking it’s about time I write a column without getting on a soapbox. No ranting. I promise. Just plain, straightforward, honest, true-blue journalism.

Let’s just talk about my new baby.

Samsung SC-HMX20/XAAC

She’s a Samsung SC-HMX20C/XAA camcorder. Records FULL 1920 x 1080 at either 60i or 30p on its own internal 8GB of memory or on a push in SDHC Flash Card. This is not 1440x1080 HDV, this is the real thing. OK, the VBR compression is high but the result is terrific. Oh, I forgot, she also shoots slo-mo at 300fps; however the image size drops to a miserable 448x336. Perfect for golfers but not for PLUs (people like us).

You can buy 8GB Transcend SDHC cards at 30 bucks each at NewEgg here. That will give you 71 minutes of true HD recording — actually 142 minutes if you use the built-in memory as well. Compare $30 for a 8GB SD card with the cost of a SXS Sony 8GB EX1 card @ $487 here. That’s $30 vs. $487! Unreal.

Dear techie freaks, the link to all of the groovy Samsung data is here.

Here are stills from my Sony HVR-V1U vs. Samsung SC-HMX20C shoot out. The Sony V1U is roughly $4,500, weighing in at 4 lbs — the new Samsung is $850, weighing in at 1 lb.

Now spot the difference! Hmmm. Samsung is cheaper and lighter. Sony wins on picture detail but not by much. You can download 105 MB of 1920x1080 ProRes QuickTime files here.

But that name SC-HMX20C/XAA! Poor dear. Whatever happened to real names like Tahoe, Ranger, Impala, Edsel? Did the car manufacturers steal them all? (Not a rant. Just a passing comment.)

How would you like to be called, SC-HMX20C/XAA? I guess “SC” would do for short. But wait, Samsung have a SC-HMX10. So we can’t call you just plain “SC”. Maybe, “SC 20.”

“Good morning SC 20. Nice to meet you.”

“I am not a number - I am a free cam!”

“I agree. You are not a number. I name you SUSIE. My Little Black-Eyed Susie.”

“Free! Free! Free at last! Be seeing you.”

“Come back Susie, you’re not that free. But I’ve got to say I’m glad that you’re here. I’ve always had a small, cheap camera to throw around. In my days of film, it was a Bell and Howell Autoload.

Bell and Howell Autoload 16mm camera

The Autoload takes 50ft pre-loaded 16mm film cartridges. Mount it on a helmet for chase sequences and parachute jumps. Put it on conveyor belts with an assistant ready to catch it at the other end. Leave it in the middle of The Avenue of Americas and cars drive right over the top of it. Despite all the adventures, my 16mm Autoload never got hurt.” “

Wow! Am I going to have fun with you!”

Casio EX-F1 still camera/camcorder

“Hope so, Susie. I was interested in the Casio EX-F1. But it’s really a still camera that does movies. Then I discovered you with the same Sony IMX017CQE CMOS chip inside, but a real movie camera.”

“I know the Casio EX-F1, my cousin, sort of.”

“Susie, here’s the plot: we’re sending you up in a helicopter tomorrow.”

“Noooooo! Perhaps we could start with a conveyor belt shot.”

“Conveyor belts?! No such luck. The local San Rafael quarry isn’t talking to me since I let NBC News use my quarry explosion shots.”

San Rafael Rock Quarry hillside blast.

We are alone. I’ve left Susie in the edit suite, she can’t hear me. First her good points. Her movies look almost as good as my Sony HVR-V1U. Stunning. I was blown away. Better pictures than the overrated Canon HV20 (eBay for you my girl).

I did a three-camera shoot off here. At first glance Sony and Susie are equal — if you look really hard, the Sony V1 is a tad sharper but that could be just a sharpness setting. To the average viewer they look the same — the big difference is Susie’s zoom is nowhere near wide enough.

Susie with an aspheric RedEye wide angle. She’s cozy on a REDpod.

Susie needs a wide angle lens attachment for run and gun shooting. With the help of a 49mm to 62mm ring, I’ve added a RedEye aspheric. It’s a trade off between picture quality and getting a usable wide angle. On many shots, wide is better than pin sharp.

The viewfinder is bright. In low light Susie outperforms the Sony V1. Flipping from 60i to 30p gives an extra boost to low light performance.

Switching from 60i to 30p is simple. Changing the shutter speed is a pushover. There’s manual exposure and focusing. Mike audio in is a mini jack with no level control.

If you’re as confused as I am about how Susie’s 1/1.8” sensor compares with Canon’s HV20’s 1/2.7” or a 1/2” sensor, try reading this. I could be wrong, but it seems Susie’s sensor is bigger than 1/2”.

Now the bad.

First off, the REALLY bad. When I transfer the files from the card or her internal memory to my MacPro disc drive, QuickTime can’t read them. I emailed Samsung USA and they know nothing.

A passing good Samaritan, Mei Lai Wah, saw my video on Vimeo and posted:

By installing the avc1Decoder QuickTime component by MyCometG3, available free on Apple's download page, I can view 1080 60i clips from the Casio EX-F1 on a MacBook Pro.

I found MyCometG3 using Version Tracker and installed it. Bingo. How I love instant success. I could actually see the files in QuickTime. Whoo hoo! I can even import into FCP at a full 1920 x 1080. But editing ain’t easy. Susie’s timeline in FCP hates any other format. Perhaps I’m doing something wrong.

I’m lucky, I have a nanoConnect box and a BlackMagic HD-SDI card. I feed HDMI from Susie into the nanoConnect — then to the BM card. I can import right into FCP. It’s a real time transfer but it works and I get a normal ProRes timeline.

The camera is well designed but the docking cradle for HDMI out and power in╔ sucks.

HDMI comes out from a docking cradle. Whoever designed this gismo should go back to college and wear a DUNCE cap for a week. The camera sits at a crazy angle and the unit only works on mains power.

The manual comes on a CD. I had to print out 133 pages and get them bound at Kinkos. Shame on you Samsung, $850 bucks and you can’t print a $5 manual? And it’s not very good manual either. Says that a shutter speed of 1/30 will make the action appear slower. Huh? Will 1/250 make it go faster?

Here’s another classic from the manual, copied and pasted for your enjoyment: Face Detect might be displayed even if the subject to be recorded is a person like although its not a person.

Come on, Samsung. Hire a good technical writer who can speak and write in English.

Susie loves to ride on my Jeep. Today she wanted the Raynox DCR-FE180PRO lens.

All cameras have their good and bad features. Love the good and forgive the bad ones. Susie’s REALLY GOOD feature is her weight. She weighs just 1 lb.

You don’t want to put a heavy camera on an auto suction mount nor at the end of a 20ft. polecam. As for flying your new Sony EX1 up in a model helicopter — forget it. Susie to the rescue. She’ll go anywhere. Yes, today it’s the helicopter ride.

“Noooooo!”

“Susie, you’ll love it. I promise you.”

Last minute check out from Mars. Hang on tight, Susie!

I’ve teamed up with Oscar and Mars from Stratus Vision.

Mars, who designed and built the 'copter, is mounting Susie onto a lightweight aluminum plate. The neat thing is that Susie’s video output goes to a tiny transmitter so that Oscar, who is controlling the camera mount’s pan and tilt servos, can see exactly what Susie is shooting.

I switch her on — press the record button — and she starts instantly (so unlike my Sony V1). We’re good for 71 minutes of record time at 1080i. I run back to my Sony on a monopod, ready to shoot the takeoff.

The moment of truth. Susie takes off for the first time. “Wheeee! Geronimo!”

Mars spins up the electrically powered rotor blades — choof, choof, choof, and then, sheer magic — Susie takes flight. The video coming from the air is great and vibration free. Amazing! Better and cheaper than shooting from a real 'copter.

Oscar, Mars and I are excited. We are shooting an HD movie from the air and what we’re seeing is silky smooth. Good girl Susie. We love you madly.

Oscar controlling the camera, me (white shirt) shooting the flight, Mars piloting the chopper.

Susie is my third video camera. I wouldn’t use her as my prime camera, but for shoots that need an HD camera weighing almost nothing, she’s perfect. Now to fire her out of a cannon.

“Nooooo! I love the chopper but please not the cannon!”

Stefan Sargent has a production company in San Francisco. He has made a zillion TV commercials, pop videos and corporate films. Stefan's docs have been screened on the BBC, the Discovery Channel and somewhere else. You can find Stefan's Web site here.

If you would like to read the original script, please link to http://www.dv.com/columns/columns_item.php?articleId=196604125

Review: Here's How Magazine, Samsung SC-HMX20C

The Here's How magazine posted Samsung SC-HMX20C review.

The Here’s How magazine is a Grade A, the sister publication of Marketnews Magazine, Serving Canada’s Consumer Electronics, Computing & Digital Imaging Industry for thirty years.
Coverage can be found at: Here’s how Magazine, Section: Home Video Hands-on, Issue: June/July, 2008.

Style: This compact camcorder is truly a thing of beauty, with a lovely molded shape and very nice materials and textures. All controls are right where they should be.

Menus: Menus are well designed and self-explanatory

Unique Feature: There are also some unique features, such as the ability to shoot standard-definition video at 300 frames per second .

Picture Quality: I was very impressed with the picture quality: colors were very natural and detail was excellent.

Price: The SC-HMX20C has a significant price advantage over other camcorders in the market.

Followings are the copies of the magzine:

Samsung SC-HMX20C Camcorder Review

Reviewed by Sean

It has been a year since Samsung released the SC-HMX10, a high definition camcorder. Now Samsung released C-HMX20C, the next generation of SC-HMX10 supporting full high definition which is 1920x1080 resolution. SC-HMX10 seems to be a quite competitive product in its design and functionality.

Samsung has offered me to review its new SC-HMX20C camcorder that would be launching soon. Then, I have spent for a while to get to know SC-HMX20C and here is my review.
Let’s look at the appearance first and then its performance.

Appearance
Having only a few buttons, the design of SC-HMX20C looks so simple.
The first impression when I saw the SC-HMX20C camcorder was that it looked like a can of Coke or bear, a cylinder shaped body. Since SC-HMX20C is the next generation of the SC-HMX10, the design prototype seems to be the same and the shape led me to easily grab the SC-HMX20C with my little hand. However, it seemed to be a little heavier than its appearance.

The front side is full of 10x optical zoom lens which has a focal length of 6.3mm ~ 63mm and a 30mm filter diameter. Along the side arc of the lens, the built-in stereo microphones reside. When you use two hands to operate the camcorder, you have to be aware of not covering the microphone area with hands.

The right side is composed of a leather hand strap which rotates 150 degrees downward from the main body. This swivel angle is enough to move the body to capture views.

The back side has the mode button that changes modes: camcorder, digital camera and playback. A record stop/start button is located slightly on the right side with the power switch located underneath. Along the bottom curve, there is a cover in which the removable battery and SD/SDHC memory card can be inserted.

The left side is the main part. When you open the LCD cover, you can see the 2.7” LCD. The LCD panel is composed of the Q.Menu button, zoom in/out jog and the record start/stop button. The LCD panel also rotates 90 degrees upward and 90 degrees downward. On the main body side, the HDMI port and USB port are lined up. You can also find the built-in speaker, an additional Q.Menu/i.Check and flash light button on the main body.

The top side consists of the zoon in/out jog which is located on the right position to control with the right hand.

The zoom in/out jog feels so soft when operating it. This would be one of the pros of this product.


The SC-HMX20C package also includes a docking station where you can place the camcorder on it and which provides additional HDMI, USB, and component connections.


Performance
The more I use SC-HMX20C, the more I like it. The video quality is perfect. I have a 47” LCD Full High Definition TV which supports 1920x1080 resolution. I connected SC-HMX20C and my Full HD TV. The recorded videos from SC-HMX20C were perfectly played well and the LCD screen of my Full HD TV displayed the recorded contents as detail as I can see the makeup on my wife’s face. As I watch the screen, I could understand the power of the Full High Definition functionality.

However, the recorded video files could not be played well from my PC directly. The specification of my PC is a Pentium 4 Intel 2.8GHz with a built-in graphic on the main board. The video files seemed to be heavy for my PC to run. I have not tried to use a separate graphic card. But I think you should have a high performance PC to fully enjoy what you have recorded from your PC.

The user’s guide specified the PC system requirements as follows:
OS: Windows Vista/XP (Service Pack 2)
CPU: Intel Pentium4, 3.2GHz/AMD Athlon 64FX, 2.6GHz recommended
Memory: 512MB (1GB or more recommended)
USB Port: USB2.0
Resolution: 1024x768, 16bit color or more
Video Card: nVIDIA Geforce 7600GT or more, ATi X1600 series or more

Also, the provided DVD Suite software runs best under Intel Core2Duo processor or the CPU that supports MMX, SSE, SSE2 or 3DNow.

SC-HMX20C provides 8GB of built-in memory. You can also use an external SDHC or MMCplus card for additional memory. But I think 8GB of the built-in memory is enough. 1GB holds a little over 8 minutes of recording time with the best quality. This allows 71 minutes with 8GB memory. One day, I went to a picnic with SC-HMX20C and I could fully use the built-in 8GB memory with the provided battery. The battery capacity was enough for me to use 8GB.

Since the LCD is the touch pad screen, I could easily manage files and control the menu. Although finger prints remaining on the LCD is a weak point, it was not a big deal.

There are some functions of SC-HMX20C that I liked most as follows:

1. Continuous still image capture during video recording:
When recording video, still images of HD quality in JPEG format can be stored up to 5 pictures per second.

2. Slow motion video recording.
This was a good feature when I analyzed my golf swing to see what I need to correct. The 30 frames per second provided super slow motion speed.

3. Image stabilizer
The electronic image stabilization is another favorite for those who are not quite as steady handed or are in a moving motion. Also it is good when recording video while zooming in. This must be a necessity feature.

4. Still image
SC-HMX20C is also used as a 6.4 megapixel digital camera. This is more than enough to get good quality images for non professional users. Although the sensor is not super high quality and it will not replace a good high quality CCD sensor, the SC-HMX20C camera is worth looking at and using on holidays.

5. Touch screen LCD
The 2.7” touch screen LCD is really convenient when I operate the camcorder.

6. Quick power up
As soon as the power button is pressed to turn on the camcorder, the LCD boots up immediately. This quick response allowed me to get ready to take shots.


Menu and Setting Screens
It would be too much to cover all the setting that SC-HMX20C supports. I took some image cuts of the main setting menu for the camcorder to help you understand more about the camcorder.


There are 6 screens that cover the settings. Each setting has a child setting and so on. Followings are screens shots for the video setting menu and camera setting menu. As you can see, many of the same settings for the digital camera are also available for the camcorder. Some of the exceptions are features such as image stabilization and Color Nite.


The digital camera has a 6.4MP CMOS sensor and it performs quite well as an ordinary digital camera for general users. With setting the Continuous Shot feature on, I could continuously get shots of moving image while pressing the Photo button. This led me to select the best shot among them. Even, I could get still images in the Full HD quality (1920x1080) while recording video. The still images taken at dusk have some noise. This would be more common for the CMOS sensors than high quality CCD sensors. However, it would be OK for me since many other digital cameras have CMOS sensors.

Specifications
Following is the product specification in general.
System
Signal Type: NTSC
Video Format: H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC)
Audio Format: AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)
Sensor Type: CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor)
Sensor Size: 1/1.8”
Number of Pixels: 6.4MB
Lenz: F1.8~2.5 (10x Optical Zoom, 100x Digital Zoom)
Filter Diameter: 49mm
Focus Distance: 6.3~63mm
Storage Media: 8GB built-in Flash Memory, SDHC/MMC+
Dimension: 2.6”x2.65”x5.47”
Weight: 1.01 lb

LCD Monitor
LCD Size/Pixels: 2.7”, 230K pixels
LCD Type: TFT LCD, Touch LCD

Video Recording Spec
Recording Format: H.264
Recording Resolution: HD: 1920x1080i (60i30p), SD: 720x480
Recording Quality: Super Fine/Fine/Normal
Audio Format: AAC
Number of Channel: 2 Channels (Stereo)
Speaker: Yes (built-in)
Microphone: Yes (built-in)

Still Image Spec
Format: JPEG
Resolution: 3264x2448 (8M interpolation), 2304x1728(4M), 3M, 1.5M, 340K
Quality: Super Fine

Interface
USB: USB2.0
IEEE1394: No
Composite: Yes
S-Video: Yes
Component: Yes
HDMI: Yes
Direct Print System: DPOF, PictBridge

S/W and PC OS
Compatible OS: Windows XP/2000/Vista (32bit, 64bit), Not Compatible with MAC
Bundle PC S/W: Cyber Link DVD Suite


Pros:
Easy to use and carry
Good design
Touch screen LCD (2.7” large LCD)
Ultimately quick start up
Good video quality of 1920x1080 resolution: Full HD quality
6.4M CMOS sensor
8GB of built-in memory and 1.5 hours of battery life
10x video/camera optical zoom

Cons:
A little heavier than its appearance
Takes time when changing modes (video -> camera -> Play)

Conclusion
I was quite impressed with the Samsung SC-HMX20C Full HD camcorder. The only thing I could enjoy the full HD quality screen was through watching TV channels proving HD broadcasts. However, I could record and playback the full HD contents that I made by myself from SC-HMX20C. I felt like I was a movie director ^.^ Even though the quality of video and still images in a low light environment are not as good as in a bright situation like outdoors, the quality was perfectly OK for me.
SC-HMX20C is easy to operate. 8GB of built-in memory which holds up to 71 minutes with the full HD quality (1920x1080i) is enough to take video for a day with the provided battery. If you need additional external SDHC card, you would definitely need another battery.
In general, I think that SC-HMX20C would be one of the best Full HD camcorders in the world so far.

Reviewed by Sean: http://goitworld.blogspot.com

Review summary of the Samsung YP-S5

The Infosynkworld.com reviewed Samsung YP-S5 as follows. S5 got a Good grade.

In a big way, the Samsung YP-S5 is the most competitive MP3 player from Samsung, even more than their flagship YP-P2. It doesn't fill a room with sound, no surprise there, but it does use the speaker intelligently to back up some of the other bonus features on the device. The alarm clock, for one thing, was versatile and loud, with battery life that makes it great for travel. And the Bluetooth phone functions were a clever surprise, especially when paired with the speaker for speakerphone capabilities. We still think Samsung needs to think twice about all those touch buttons, and some serious interface redesign is in order, both on the device side and the desktop software. But with its unique capabilities, the Samsung YP-S5 fills a wide niche. And did we mention the music sounds great? Release: April 2008. Price: $170.

Pros: Excellent sound quality and battery life. Surprisingly good alarm and speakerphone features.

Cons: Small speakers still sound small. Interface could use redesign, and maybe throw in some real buttons. Samsung Media Studio needs serious improvement

Design - Good

The Samsung YP-S5 is a unique design for MP3 players, though it won't be so new to diehard Samsung fans. With its slide-out stereo speakers, the YP-S5 updates the Samsung YP-K5 player we saw more than a year ago, though the changes aren't too significant. We like the look of the new player better. While the K5 was a glossy obelisk, the S5 uses a glossy front with a soft touch black exterior around the rest of the player. The device is a bit smaller than its predecessor, and has a gentle angle to it, making it more visually appealing.

Unfortunately, Samsung stuck with the no-button theme for which they seem to be fond, and we think its time for the fat lady to sing on this design concept. The touch buttons are less responsive than hard buttons, and lack the acceleration and subtlety of the iPod's scroll wheel. Also, the player seriously needs a volume rocker. Instead, the only button performed two tasks. It turned the player on and it activated "hold," which kept us from pressing the touch buttons accidentally, which always happened when we tossed the player into our pocket without engaging the hold switch. It's a bad sign when a player's only button keeps you from doing things.

Interface - Good

Samsung's interface is simple and pretty, but it could stand some improvement. First of all, browsing long lists of songs was strangely both jumpy and slow. The imterface jumps page to page, but doesn't accelerate quickly through letters. Second, the organization structure could use some rethinking. Samsung players mostly share the same interface, which keeps secondary functions like Bluetooth phone controls and the alarm clock features hidden under submenus. That makes sense on other models, perhaps, but we think the S5 might be more useful as a Bluetooth speakerphone and travel alarm clock than as a player, at least for some customers. These important features should be high-level menu options, while pictures and videos, which should be a secondary feature on this device, could be buried deeper.

Sound - Very good

Samsung players have always impressed us with their sound quality, and the YP-S5 is no different, at least through a good pair of headphones. The included earbuds aren't horrible, they certainly weren't as bad as the torture devices included with the YP-K5, but they aren't the buds we chose to do our close-listening audio tests, either. The device couldn't handle advanced formats, like Ogg or any lossless files, but it played the standard MP3, WMA mix just fine. In fact, MP3 files encoded at a respectable bitrate sounded very good on the S5.

With the speakers, the sound was clean, but not very powerful. We didn't get much distortion, if any, at higher levels, but we also didn't hear much bass, let alone feel a nice thump. Alarm clock sounds, shrill as they are, were even louder than music, but as a travel alarm clock, the Samsung YP-S5 made a nice fit. When it was time to fill the room with sound, however, we turned to other options.

Features - Very good

The Samsung YP-S5 includes more features than it needs, but has some innovative ideas packed in that work surprisingly well. The player can handle music, JPEG photos and MP4 videos, and videos looked fine on the small, low-res screen, but this is more of a novelty act than the S5's real purpose. The alarm clock was a good feature, and we liked being able to set up multiple alarms on the device. But we wish we could have chosen different songs for each alarm. Instead, you assign one song as the alarm track, and that's the only song that will play on time, besides the included alarm tones.

The Samsung YP-S5 also has some of the Bluetooth phone features we saw on the Samsung YP-P2. When paired with a Bluetooth phone, the YP-S5 will not only stop playback during a call, it will actually let you answer, using the built-in microphone and your normal headphones to take the call. Also, the phone packs a primitive dial pad so you can even dial a call from the YP-S5, which then acts as a handsfree device for your phone. When the speakers are open, you can use the S5 as a Bluetooth speakerphone, which is an especially neat trick, and it worked pretty well in our tests.

Transfer - Good

Samsung's transfer software has not improved since we last saw it. The interface is confusing, and not at all intuitive. Transfers are painfully slow, especially when you have to encode a video for the device. The Samsung Media Studio has a cheesy mood reading tool that supposedly analyzes your music for your mood, but more time and effort should have gone into making an intuitive, pleasant interface that was easy to manage for music transfers and playback instead of these gimmicks. Of course, you can simply use Windows Media Player instead, but if Samsung, or Microsoft for that matter, wants to compete with Apple's iPod / iTunes one-two punch, serious thought needs to go into the synchronization and sideloading half.

Accessories - Good

The Samsung YP-S5 comes with headphones that did not cause the same immediate pain and discomfort we felt with the YP-K5's strange buds, but they were still oddly shaped and slightly uncomfortable. We managed a few hours of use without soreness, but why not go for something smaller? Sound isolating buds are pretty much the way things are going, anyway, and would be an easy way to one-up Apple, who sell their in-ear buds at a premium.

Otherwise, we're continually frustrated by Samsung's avoidance of simple mini-USB plugs. Like we've seen on Samsung phones, the YP-S5 uses a very proprietary looking cable. If you forget it, you're out of luck, as it's also the way the player charges.

Battery - Excellent

To end on a high note, Samsung's player's have always impressed us in terms of their battery life. Like it's predecessor, the K5, the Samsung YP-S5 manages a full day of playback, more than 24 hours, in fact, in a single charge. We stopped testing after a day, but that's what Samsung promises anyway, so we were more than satisfied. With the speakers on full volume, which was an annoying test to sit through, we managed just shy of five hours, so we imagine Samsung's five hour estimate is for a more soothing volume.

Comparison

Compare the Samsung YP-S5 with similar products

Who is the Samsung YP-S5 for?
Globetrotters
Outdoor enthusiasts
Video lovers

Price and availability

The Samsung YP-S5 is available now for about $170 at various retailers.

For more information, please click here:

http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/portable-media/samsung-yp-s5/9268.html

Image of Samsung YP-S2

Here are images of Samsung YP-S2 MP3 player, the Pebble. It looks like valuable shiny genuin pebble. Enjoy the images of YP-S2!

Multifunctional MP3 player from Samsung

Canada.com reviewed YP-P2. Please check:
http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html?id=ad651192-b598-4d36-b0c1-04ffa5575437&k=88499

Murray Hill , The StarPhoenix, Published: Monday, March 17, 2008

The King of the Hill in terms of MP3 players is Apple's iPod line; however, not everyone wants an iPod or a Zune, for that matter.

Samsung's new YP-P2 is designed to compete with an interface similar to the Touch, but at a lower price and a much more svelte look.

At first glance, the YP-P2 looks a lot like a smaller version of the Touch -- its entire front panel is a flat glass screen with a single LED below it. It looks clean, and the smaller size is quite appealing (52mm L x 10mm W x 86mm H). It weighs 86g, and fits very comfortably in your hand.

It's a flash based device, which means no onboard hard drive to skip or break down. Supported audio formats include ASF, MPEG4, MP3, WAV, WMA, and supported video formats include AVI, ASF, MPEG-4, WMV, and JPEGs are the picture file of choice.

Unlike iPods, this MP3 player will play a wide variety of different audio and video formats, saving users the pain of converting their files to something appropriate for an iPod.

The Lithium-ion battery with a full charge offers up to 30 hours of music play and five hours of movie play.
One of the unfortunate things about the YP-P2 is that it only works with a PC -- Windows XP and Vista. I think all devices like this should work with both Macs and PCs, so this, to me, is a serious limitation.
The three-inch widescreen is in the 16:9 format and at 480 x 272 resolution displays movies at 30 frames per second quite easily.

A big plus to the YP-P2 is that it has Bluetooth 2.0 compatibility. This enables users to take advantage of some of the excellent Bluetooth wireless headphones on the market and free themselves from cumbersome headphone wires that always seem to catch on something.

It's very easy to get your music onto the YP-P2 -- it's simple as drag and drop on your PC.
I had trouble with the touch interface -- it's not as intuitive as I'm used to with my Touch and my hands are just too big to operate it properly. I had trouble getting the device to do what I wanted because my touch wasn't accurate enough and I kept trying to repeat gestures I've taken for granted on my Touch.

You can save up to 30 presets for the FM radio on the YP-P2, and video, and text can be loaded; however, you need to use the Media Studio software that comes with the device to load and convert these files.
Is the Samsung YP-P2 a replacement for the iPod Touch? No; it is an inexpensive alternative. It is widely available, and the 8GB version sells for $270 at Futureshop.ca.

PROS: Small, but with a nice sized widescreen, plays MP3s -- so you aren't slaved to iTunes for your music. Bluetooth 2.0 and an FM radio make this more multifunctional than an iPod.

CONS: Only works on a PC. The touch commands are difficult to use and you can only charge the P2 when it's connected to a computer. Video is not very easy to load, and the largest capacity you can get is only 16GB.
E-mail Hill at: mhill@sp.canwest.com, and find past columns on the web at: http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/columnists/hill.html

Samsung Pebble MP3 Player YP-S2

Samsung's YP-S2 pebble Mp3 player is coming soon. You may refer to the following link.

http://www.electricpig.tv/news/top-stories/142351/samsungs-stonecold-shufflekiller-sighted.thtml

Samsung’s stone-cold shuffle-killer sighted

Into rock music? You’ll love Samsung’s new music player. It’s a tiny MP3 pumper that’s shaped just like a stone. We caught sight of it for the first time yesterday, although it’s not due to go on sale until May.

It’s obviously Samsung’s attempt to topple the iPod shuffle, and with a choice of metallic or marble-effect casings, it’s definitely just as attractive.
Around the back are the same simple controls as the shuffle, but inside there’s less memory, and no added extras.

Unlike the Creative Zen Stone Plus, you won’t find a screen, FM radio or voice recorder here.
Check out our video below, and let us know what you think.

Samsung to Discontinue BD-UP5000 Already

By Scott Wilkinson

January 27, 2008 — Just as Samsung started shipping its long-anticipated BD-UP5000 combo Blu-ray/HD DVD player, the company announced that the product will be discontinued as of May or June of this year, stressing that this time frame is subject to change. Retailers will be allowed to sell their existing inventory, but production will cease. A new model is scheduled to be released sometime in the second half of 2008, but no other details were revealed. Meanwhile, the company will continue to support the BD-UP5000 with firmware updates.

Speaking of which, Samsung also announced that a firmware update for the UP5000 is now available to fix playback issues with Blu-ray titles such as Ratatouille, Live Free or Die Hard, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Pixar Shorts Collection, among others. The update can be accomplished in one of three ways: by downloading a file from Samsung's download page to your computer and burning a CD that you then insert in the player, connecting the player directly to the Internet (by far the easiest way to do it), or requesting an update CD from the company by calling (800) 726-7864.

Could Samsung's discontinuation of the BD-UP5000 be a result of the recent setbacks suffered by the HD DVD camp? Will the new model even support HD DVD? Only time will tell. Even if HD DVD is on its way out, there are still hundreds of high-def titles available only on that format, so it behooves Samsung—and benefits consumers—to continue offering a player that can handle it along with Blu-ray.

Soon after this news story was posted, I learned that Samsung's announcement was intended to inform reviewers that the BD-UP5000's life cycle is expected to be relatively short, and if anyone was intending to review that product, they should keep this in mind when scheduling it for publication. The company did not intend to imply that the product was being discontinued prematurely, but that it would be replaced in the normal course of product development by the BD-UP5500, which was unveiled at CES in January and will have full dual-format capabilities. I regret any confusion my original story might have caused, but I maintain that it's important for consumers to know about such short product cycles when making a purchase decision.—SW

Samsung YP-S5, MP3 Player Product Review

Reviewed by Sean - "http://goitworld.blogspot.com"

The history of portable MP3 players has already been 10 years since the world’s first portable MP3 player was introduced to the world. MP3 players have evolved a lot since then. Now, MP3 players are no longer a music player. Their features have changed intelligently and conveniently as new technologies are developed. We can’t even imagine how far they will evolve.

I am sure that YP-S5, Samsung’s new mp3 player, would be one of them. I would like to introduce a product review of the Samsung’s YP-S5 model. As I am a normal MP3 player user, I hope this product review is fair, not biased and helpful for you to understand features of the YP-S5 product.

Major changes for YP-S5 from previous MP3 players around the world are the state-of-the-art gift package, practical earphone, simple design, built-in slide-out speakers, Bluetooth support, video support, Datacast support, enhanced sound quality, and easy-to-use user interface and graphics.

State-of-the-art Gift Package
The gift package is made of transparent plastic। Just looking at the package, you can say that the product inside is valuable. Unlike other product packages that are made of cardboard are easy to be thrown away, the plastic carton box of YP-S5 would be one that will be put on a shelf with your accessories in it.

The package includes all the necessary components. Specially, the line-in audio cable enables us to listen to the external audio player through the built-in speakers of YP-S5. The installation CD includes Samsung’s Media Studio, a software application that manages various types of contents such as music, video, lyric, internet contents through DataCast feature in order to be used in YP-S5. The 24-pin USB cable is used both to transfer data between PC and YP-S5, and to charge the built-in battery of YP-S5. However, I am not sure whether a normal 24-pin battery charger used for cellular phones will also work to charge the YP-S5. The manual does not explain about this in detail.

Practical Earphones
Earphones of YP-S5 are designed to be fit in the human ears. I have had so many earphones as other people do. But none of the earphones has satisfied me yet because they do not fit in my ears at all and easily fall off. However, I was surprised that Samsung released an earphone with its products that fits in my ears perfectly. The earbuds looked different from others. It seems that a small protrusion of the earbud keeps the earbud stay firmly in human ears, and keep the sound quality.

The splitter between two earphone lines is also a useful component and prevents the lines from being entangled।

Simple Design and Slide-Out-Built-In Speakers
YP-S5 looks so simple। Other than the 24-pin port and earphone port, there is only one physical button used for power on/off and hold. All other buttons are hidden but operated only by touching the appropriate location on the touch pad below the LCD. The location of the touch buttons and the graphics on the LCD also changes accordingly when the built-in speaker slides out. The speaker unit slides out and in very smoothly. You would feel just like sliding a cell phone.

Although YP-S5 consists of a stereo speaker unit, the thickness of YP-S5 is only 9.6mm. If the speaker unit was not built-in, the thickness would have been only half of the actual size.

Considering the Power button, I wish the button was placed on the right side instead of being placed on the top side. Operating the Power button was not convenient.

Bluetooth Support

I recently bought a Bluetooth stereo headset to utilize the advantage of Bluetooth feature provided by YP-S5। Anyway, I needed a Bluetooth headset। AS instructed in the manual, it was easy to pair the Bluetooth headset with YP-S5। I could wirelessly listen to music and FM stereo radio through the Bluetooth stereo headset. But the video sound did not work wirelessly. I think that the CPU of YP-S5 does not have enough power to decode the video format and Bluetooth function at the same time. The Bluetooth feature is one of the convenient technologies for portable music players since it works wirelessly.

One thing I could not test was to pair YP-S5 with a Bluetooth mobile phone. My mobile phone supports Bluetooth but I could not pair it with YP-S5. I think I need to do more exercise on this, and find out what is wrong. BTW, my mobile phone was not listed on the Bluetooth compliant mobile phone list in the user’s guide.

Video Support
Samsung Media Studio automatically converts a video file to SVI format, the Samsung’s video file format for YP-S5 during download process। As the conversion takes time, you would need more patience if you want to download video files to the player in real time। In order to save time, I would strongly suggest you convert video files before you go to bed or when you have time. The Samsung Media Studio has a feature to do so and turns off PC after conversion. This helps me to watch Heroes, Smallville, and Prison Break series on YP-S5. The LCD is not big enough, but it is still OK to watch videos. I will let this off this time.

Datacast Support
I was not familiar with the term, Datacast. However, I found it a very useful feature. Using Samsung Media Studio, the Datacast feature allows you to automatically receive your interested and updated information from the web, Blog, news, and UCC sites without having you to visit the sites. I could enjoy reading the updated information through YP-S5 instead of reading newspapers in subways when I go to work or when I am not in front of PC.


Enhanced Sound Quality
DNSe is a 3D sound effect that Samsung developed for MP3 players. I could distinguish various sound effects provided by YP-S5 including DNSe. The provided earphones with 20mW and 16Ω also helped enjoying the sound quality.

Easy-to-Use User Interface and Graphics
There are only 7 touch buttons on the touch pad. The seven buttons were enough to browse and navigate all the functions easily. Base on the LCD layout whether displayed horizontally or vertically, the buttons layout on the touch pad also changes horizontally or vertically. Thus, I could recognize which button was the next, left, up, or down button. The button is lit for a while when I touched on the touch pad. This is a good feature. However, I found it needs to be improved. When the light of all the buttons is turned off from the touch pad, sometimes I had to miss-operate buttons since I could not see where the buttons are located.

In conclusion, since MP3 players evolve as new technologies are introduced and support not only playing MP3 music files, but also playing video files, viewing lyric for MP3 contents, viewing text files, playing games, reading Datacast contents (internet contents), communicating with Bluetooth mobile phone and headset (wireless), viewing pictures, listening to FM radio, voice recording, we should name such an MP3 player an omnipotent player in near future.

BTW, in overall, I was quite satisfied with Samsung’s YP-S5 product.
-Reviewed by Sean - http://goitworld.blogspot.com/