First it was a host of no-name MP3 players, and a few standouts that made it into the bigtime like the Rio. Then there was the iPod, which was enough of a success to get Microsoft's attention, and now Microsoft's bringing out its own player -- and competing service -- which it calls Zune. Now Samsung is entering the game, with its own YP-K5 player, which has a built-in speaker system (and which is a pretty sharp-looking unit), and its own service, which will debut in Europe.
Gartner analyst Michael McGuire said Microsoft has provided little clarity for its PlaysForSure partners as to how much support they will see going forward or how Zune will work with their players and services. As a result, he said he expects to see others follow Samsung's lead.
Samsung also claims to have cracked 4G wireless networking; it will be demonstrating its 4G technology at Jeju island, South Korea. Samsung's claim is 100 megabits to a moving device, with seamless cell handoffs for mobiles travelling up to 60 kilometers per hour, while stationary units should be able to get 1Gbps, 50 times more bandwidth than 802.16. Samsung intends to demonstrate this by running a videophone and a regular Net browser over a 4G connection while downloading 32 simultaneous HDTV streams over the same connection.
The tiger is flexing its muscles.
