With the amazing and still growing popularity of MP3 and MP3 players, manufacturers work hard to develop new technology to make their MP3 player more desirable than another . Enter the Samsung NeXus, in late 2005. This MP3 player doesn’t just play MP3s, but also plays satellite radio. It’s not the first on the market that does both. Dell had a satellite radio and MP3 player out first. But it’s the first satellite radio DAP (digital audio player) released by Samsung.
One of the chief drawbacks of satellite radio digital audio players is that while they’re still portable MP3 players, they offer no portability when it comes to listening to satellite radio. Just like the Dell DJ and the Sirius DAP, the Samsung NeXus must be plugged into a special docking station to allow you to listen to satellite radio. When other satellite radio players like the Delphi MyFi don’t require this, the limitation is clear.
The Samsung Nexus s available with either 512 MB of 1 G of storage, suitable for MP3 or WMA formats. That allow for 25 to 50 hours of music on one device. The Samsung NeXus has a slim profile at only seven-tenths of inch, and is only about three-and-a-half inches high and just shy of 2 inches wide. When you purchase a Samsung NeXus you get a battery, earbuds, a remote control and the docking cradle that allow you to hook up the NeXus to your home stereo system or PC, with RCA connectors or a USB port respectively. And they push Napster XM as a service a bit, with a handy installation CD.
One you put the Samsung NeXus into the docking station so you can listen to satellite radio, you can store the digital content on the device. Or you can hear a song you like, and then save it for purchase later through Napster if you use their online service. If you want to do all this in your car, however, you need to purchase a separate kit.
While the Samsung NeXus doesn’t really offer anything new in the way of MP3 players—the iPod certainly doesn’t need to look over its shoulder for the NeXus, at least, it also doesn’t really enhance its appeal as a satellite radio receiver either. If it were a portable satellite radio receiver, then it would have an advantage over other satellite radio DAPs at least, or a minimum it would be able to better compete in that marketplace.
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