Samsung P2

Information appliance| title = Samsung YP-P2
logo =


manufacturer = Samsung Electronics
type = Digital audio player

Portable media player
connectivity = USB 2.0
lifespan = 2007-present
storage = Available in 2, 4, 8 and 16 GB flash memory
operatingsystem =
input = Touchscreen, Power/Play/Pause, Hold, Vol. up, and Vol. down
display = Backlit TFT LCD ScreenThe Samsung YP-P2 is a flash memory based Yepp portable media player produced and developed by Samsung Electronics.

Features

The P2 comes in three colors (black, white and red) and comes in 2, 4, 8, and 16 GB variants; it sports a touchscreen, Bluetooth 2.0 as well as DNSe 2.0, an FM radio, an eBook reader, a Datacasts feature, and a photo and video viewer.

Bluetooth features on the P2 include stereo headphone compatibility (A2DP) with support for multiple headphones and remote control (AVRCP), Bluetooth phone connectivity (HFP) with the ability to speak into the built-in microphone, and FTP capability allowing users to transfer files between devices supporting this protocol.

You can also customize your P2 by going to the main screen and clicking on Settings. You can configure the main menu design, fonts, background images, beep sounds, brightness, language, time, hold option, sleep time, auto power-off, set a password, as well as reverting all changes back to the default and formatting the whole device.

The P2 has great sound quality especially with the fully customizable equalizer. It is one of the best sounding mp3 players.

Compatible formats

The P2 supports MP3, WMA, MP2, OGG (only supported in the UMS version), and AAC (M4A and AAC) audio formats. The text viewer only supports plain TXT files. The photo viewer supports only JPEG photos. WMV and SVI videos are supported at resolutions of 480x272 and 320x240 at up to 30 fps.

Blue Wave updates

Samsung has released firmware updates in a series called Blue Wave updates. These are created in order to add value to the player even after it has been released. Samsung claims that the updates are created based on customer feedback, and that they are the company's way of expressing their care for their customers.

The first Blue Wave was released in December 2007, and included support for Bluetooth phone connectivity and Bluetooth file transfer.

A second Blue Wave update was released in late January 2008 which included FM radio recording/playback, improved touch sensitivity, as well as three games as an additional download. This firmware update, however, was recalled from Samsung's download website soon after its release, due to numerous bug reports. A bug-fix update was released two weeks after.

A beta of the third Blue Wave (v3.15) was released on March 31st, 2008. Improvements over the previous version included a calculator, more UCIs, a full-screen album art view, and the ability to play games while listening to music. Fans were disappointed of the little amount of new features this "Beyond Imagination" firmware update contained.

The final version of the third Blue Wave (v4.13) was released on April 22nd, 2008. This version was only for bug fixes and did not offer new features.

On May 29th, 2008, the first 4th Blue wave beta (v5.05) was release in Korea along with a new program (EmoDio) to replace Samsung Media Studio. This firmware update has been the biggest update for the P2 so far, containing password protection, subway maps of major cities, two new games, a touch-screen-only hold option, text viewing of TTS files using Emodio, voice recording, and 3 customizable user DNSes.

A second beta (v5.08) of the 4th Blue Wave was released on June 30, 2008. It only fixed bugs and did not add any new noticable features. After a few days, on July 7th, 2008, it was quietly renamed a final release. Fans were truly disappointed and many discussion rose up about further Blue Waves for the P2.

The final 4th Blue Wave (V5.10) was released on September 10, 2008. It also fixed bug problems such as noise problems, page scroll error, track playback error on specific conditions, and playback noise.

Regional differences

The Korean version of the YP-P2 (UMS) includes support for lyrics, a subway map and also a dictionary. However, in most Western regions, MTP is used as the file transfer protocol. Still, other European countries offer RDS as the default. It is also possible to change from MTP to UMS and vice versa, and it is also possible to change the firmware's region.

Go-along software

Samsung Media Studio is available on the included CD-ROM, which also contains drivers and a user manual. The software is also available for download from Samsung. This software, however, is not required to use the device as it supports the Media Transfer Protocol. Now Samsung has a new program called EmoDio, which you can find at http://emodio.com/ . You can use EmoDio to create your own custom menu themes (UCIs), your own DNSes, and have fun with TTS, among many things. The program is still in beta form, despite the rumor the stable version would be launched at the same time as the stable release of the fourth Blue Wave.

Related products

The P2 clearly being its flagship product, Samsung has released a new version of the P2 with an additional port at the top to connect to an antenna and watch TV. It is called the P2 DMB, is slightly heavier, has a longer-lasting battery than the normal P2. Incorporating a DNle chip, the P2 DMB supports a higher quality screen with richer colors and crisper screens than the original. The P2 DMB comes in only black and white colors and 4 and 8 GB capacities as of yet.

vs. iPod Touch

Comparing to the iPod Touch, P2 offers better sound quality, smaller size, and some essential features such as Bluetooth phone connectivity and Bluetooth file transfer, FM radio, Games, Custom Menu Designs, etc.

ee also

*Comparison of portable media players
*Yepp

External links

* [http://www.samsung.com/us/index_main.html Samsung US Website]
* [http://www.yjzone.net/forumdisplay.php?f=45 Samsung YP-P2 Zone at YJzone.NET forums]
* [http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=117 Samsung P2 at abi forums]