Both the Samsung R0 (pictured below) & Samsung R1 (pictured above) have hit the U.K. and quite frankly the rest of the world, but North America has been kept waiting – until now. Just when we had all given up hope, Samsung has announced a Stateside release coupled width information relating to availability and pricing.

Both models will be available come April shipping in 8GB and 16GB capacities. Expect the Samsung R0 to be priced at $99.99 and $129.99 and the Samsung R1 to be in the region of $149.99 and $179.99 for the 8GB and 16GB models respectively.

[via SlashGear]

The company that brought you the MP3 format, Thompson, has announced a proprietary alternative to the FLAC format dubbed MP3HD.

MP3HD is a lossless format with music bitrates averaging from 500 to 900 kbps (depending on the genre). The big bonus about the new format is that it is backwards compatible with your standard MP3 format. Furthermore, MP3HD will utilize the same .mp3 extension (which brings with it some advantages and disadvantages). Thomson state that an average Rock track will encode at around 876 kbit/s giving an overall size of 26MB.

All we have to go on is provided figures because it does not appear that an encoder is available for us to perform any sort of side-by-side comparisons.

“Find me an MP3 player that supports MP3HD!”, I hear you say. Well, All4MP3.com have announced that the yet-to-be-released Samsung IceTouch or YP-H1 will be the first MP3 player to include an MP3HD decoder for playback.

APE, FLAC and MP3HD – this could get interesting…

[Source]

To coincide with the official announcement of the Samsung MyFit, IceTouch, and TicToc, the company has released 3 separate promotional videos for each device recently unveiled.

Not anything particular that we didn’t already know here, but it’s a great opportunity to catch all three devices in action.  Get a round-up of each player’s features including an insight into their interactivity.

Videos after the jump…
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If the neither the IceTouch nor the MyFit satiate your appetite, Samsung have unveiled another tune pumping gadget called the Samsung TicToc YP-S1.

Available in either 2GB or 4GB flavors, the TicToc holds a unique one-button tactile control that carries out different functions depending on how the player is held.

If you hold the player:

• vertically, a press of the button controls volume.
• horizontally, the button controls track skip.
• and give it a shake, and your songs are shuffled.

File support is like what we come to expect from Samsung with support for MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, and FLAC file formats. And keep your tunes pumping for 12 continuous hours on a single charge.

Each player comes with three different decorative shells, a pair of matching in-ear headphones, and a charging cradle. In a choice of either blue, pink, and silver, the TicToc is yet to be given a formal release date or an announcement on availability.

For a better [visual] explanation of the one-button control, check out the video after the jump…

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The recently announced Samsung IceTouch has received its first public hands-on-test by the Engadget crew. We get to see the rather mysterious two-inch transparent AMOLED screen in action. Engadget informs us that this player was merely a prototype and was not loaded with any video capabilities.

Regardless, the touchscreen/user-interface appears to be rather responsive and receptive to the human touch. Let’s wait and see on the players’s video responsiveness. Video after the break…

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Media player manufacturers are lining up to announce their products only days before the start of the CES 2010 exhibition. Yesterday, we saw the Viliv HD5, and today it’s the turn of Samsung’s new MyFit and IceTouch (YP-H1).

The Myfit has been designed with the energetic sportsman in mind. If running or jogging is the name of your game, the Myfit is going to be your fit. The device is packed with a host of sensors to measure things like the number of calories lost.

Available in either a choice of 8GB or 16GB, the MyFit’s file support is limited to MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC, and MP4 files.

The 16GB IceTouch will strike a chord with the traditional MP3 player fan-boy. The player with its unorthodox exterior design packs a 2-inch “transparent” AMOLED display with Samsung’s trademark TouchWiz Sweep (touchscreen) technology.

The device supports MP4V, WMV, H.264, Xvid, Divx video types and MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, AAC, M4A, WAV audio files. Let’s not forget that the player supports Dolby 5.1-channel technology. Available in a choice of either pink, silver, purple or gray, the player includes a photo viewer and FM radio.

Both players are expected to see a release date of early next year.

[via gmp3 and imp3]

The Samsung R1 has received its fair share of attention ever since its announcement.  Originally announced in June of this year, there has been no sight of the player by geeks-alike in the English speaking nations – the video promos have only kept us wanting more.  Of course, the Koreans have been fortunate to see the player released months ago.

For some of us, the wait is finally over.  The R1 has been spotted on Amazon.co.uk; although, the rest of us in North America are kept waiting for sight of the player.

Amazon has the 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB players retailing for £117.49, £182.09, and £198.19 respectively.

Specifications:

• 2.7-inch display touchscreen
• supports AAC, FLAC, MP3, WMA and OGG audio files
• supports Xvid, DivX, H.264, MPEG-4, WMV and Real Media Video video files
• includes mixing deck functionality and boasts DNSe 3.0 audio technology
• additional features include Bluetooth support, FM tuner, and a host of games
• weighs in at a mere 50grams
• lithium polymer battery lasts for 30 hours in musicmode, or 5 hours in video mode

There is still no sign of the Samsung R0 stateside. Although the player has been released to the likes of the Russian public, we weren’t ever sure we were ever going to experience Samsung’s newest player.

Unfortunately, the awesome promo videos that are being released don’t help us swallow the neglect we are receiving. The worst news is that we are about to make things a bit more difficult – an unboxing of the player has been posted showcasing the player in action.

As depicted in the video, the player features an intuitive, clean user interface that is user-friendly. This small, nifty player doesn’t hold back on features neither. From FM-tuner to text reader to picture viewer, the player has it all – we like what we see.

With that said, the player falls rather short of the P3, but those are big steps to follow. Tell us what you think…