Samsung’s iPod Killer

David Pogue’s column in today’s New York Times heralds the Samsung Z5 as a “thoughtful” new iPod killer that improves on some key features of the world’s most popular .mp3 player. Behind the creation of this new toy was Paul Mercer (subscription required) whose software toolkit was used to build the iPod.

The Z5 has quite a few nifty features that give the iPod a run for its money. The battery runs longer, the menu button takes you all the way to the main menu when you click and hold, the screen prompts you with album art and reminds you when you’ve locked the keypad.

But there are also downsides. Because of the huge battery, the Z5 is “no Nanoesque wafer.” But the biggest problem is that the Z5 can’t play songs downloaded from the iTunes store.

And as Pogue points out, “at least six factors make the iPod such a hit: cool-looking hardware; a fun-to-use, variable-speed scroll wheel; an ultrasimple software menu; effortless song synchronization with Mac or Windows; seamless, rock-solid integration with an online music store (iTunes); and a universe of accessories. Mess up any aspect of the formula, and your iPod killer is doomed to market-share crumbs.”

Ultimately it’s that seamless integration that keeps me coming back to the iPod again and again. Seamless integration that the Samsung Z5, for all its cool features and long-running battery, simply doesn’t have.

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