In the never-ending series of attempts by various companies to create an iPod killer, Samsung has this time obtained its ammunition directly from the enemy. The South Korean company has hired the original developer of the iPod interface and software, Paul Mercer, for Samsung’s latest MP3 player. According to Samsung’s Vice President of Digital Audio & Image, Phillip Chung, Mercer has been involved in the development of the YP-Z5 from start to finish. Mercer himself sees his involvement in the Z5 project as the culmination of two decades focusing on extending computing technology to wearable devices. According to the 38-year-old software developer, his goal has been to implement Macintosh-grade technology in a new environment.
The Z5 is said to have remarkable visual capabilities, such as transparency effects normally only found in video games and regular PCs. This would give the Z5 software a more refined and streamlined appearance. In addition, the Z5 will use Microsoft’s PlayForSure technology to communicate seamlessly with online music stores that can handle it. Samsung’s sound player will be positioned opposite the Nano and will hit store shelves on March 5. The introductory price ranges between $199 and $249, for which the buyer gets two and four gigabytes of storage space, respectively. Others Specifications of the device include a display with a diagonal of 4.5 centimeters, a battery life of 35 hours and support for MP3, WMA and Ogg. The YP-Z5 measures 4.2 by 1.1 by 9 centimeters.