Samsung is hitting all markets in an effort to counter Apple's dominance in the mobile market. The Korean company has competitive smartphones and tablets, in many different sizes and specs, lined up against Apple's iPhone, iPad, and iPod. The company recently revealed that the latest addition to their lineup will be the Samsung Galaxy Player 5.8, a massive 5.8-inch media player.
The Galaxy Player 5.8 looks remarkably like the Galaxy S3 smartphone, only its screen is 1 inch bigger. It runs the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, and will come in 16GB or 32GB models. The device will have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a huge 2,500 mAh battery, meaning it should keep the music and videos going for quite some time. It will also feature front-facing speakers. There is no word on the price or processor just yet.
The Galaxy Player 5.8 is part of Samsung's big plan against Apple's dominance in the mobile market. While Apple offers the immensely popular iPhone, iPad, and iPod, most of their devices come only in one size. Samsung, on the other hand, has a ridiculous number of screen sizes available to its consumers - 26 according to blog PhoneScoop.
The Galaxy Player series itself has grown from 3 inches to the massive 5.8-inches ever since it was introduced in 2010. The reason for this is simple: customers want a device specific to them.
"There will be as many size tablets as there are paper tablets in the stationery store," Gartner Researchwireless analyst Ken Dulaney told Sci-TechToday. "Everyone wants something that works for them, and who are we to say that is wrong?"
A similar strategy could be adopted by Amazon this fall, which might release a Kindle Fire successor in a variety of sizes and options to battle the iPads and Nexus 7 currently on the market.
The Galaxy Player 5.8 is meant to be a competitor in the mobile media player market, going up against the iPod Touch. But don't expect it to be a direct heads-on battle. The Galaxy Player 5.8 is a far larger device, won't have a rear-facing camera like the iPod Touch, and its 960X540 resolution means it will have a lower pixel density than the iPod Touch. Either way, if a bigger media player device appeals to you, the Galaxy Player 5.8 could be the right fit for you.