While it may not grab the headlines of the iPhone or iPad, Apple's iPod Touch has been a very successful "kid brother" of sorts to their touchscreen smartphone and tablet. I often wondered if we would ever see an Android-powered equivalent to the Wi-Fi-only media device. Today Samsung announced that they will be giving customers just that with their upcoming Galaxy Player 5. A smaller (by 1") version, the Galaxy Player 4, will be released simultaneously

The media player runs Android 2.2 'Froyo' with Samsung's Touchwiz UI, and 1GHz Hummingbird processor. The larger Galaxy Player 5 will have a 5" WVGA display, and the smaller Galaxy Player 4 will feature a 4" screen. You can see the full specs for both models below:

Galaxy Player 5:

  • Android 2.2 Froyo (device capable of 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade, but not promised)
  • 5″ WVGA TFT LCD screen
  • 8 GB of internal storage, 32 GB of external storage supported
  • VGA Front-facing camera, 3.2 megapixel rear camera with auto-focus and Flash
  • SoundAlive Sound Engine and stereo speaker present
  • Qik VoIP calls and videochat available on Wi-Fi
  • Video codecs: DivX, Xvid, WMV, MPEG4, H.264
  • Audio codecs: MP3, AAC, WMA, Ogg, FLAC
  • Samsung AllShare DLNA supported
  • Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, Accelerometer, and WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Android Market and Google Mobile apps available

Galaxy Player 4:

  • Android 2.2 Froyo (device capable of 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade, but not promised)
  • 4″ SuperClear LCD screen
  • 8 GB of internal storage, 32 GB of external storage supported
  • VGA front-facing camera, 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus
  • SoundAlive Sound Engine and stereo speaker present
  • Skype pre-loaded for Wi-Fi audio calls, Qik pre-loaded for Wi-fi videochat
  • Video codecs: DivX, Xvid, WMV, MPEG4, H.264
  • Audio codecs: MP3, AAC, WMA, Ogg, FLAC
  • Samsung AllShare DLNA supported
  • Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, Accelerometer, and WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Android Market and Google Mobile apps available

 

The device was shown by Samsung at Mobile World Congress, but was kept somewhat under the radar as they apparently were gauging what kinds of reactions it got before deciding to proceed. Whether they have chosen wisely by moving ahead is certainly up for debate. I hardly see a need for someone who already has an Android phone to also have a Galaxy Player. When you add tablets into the mix, the thought of adding another Android device becomes even more absurd. Nonetheless, there could certainly be a market for this, and we like to see customers offered Android choices where they previously only had iOS options. No price or release date have been announced.

We know most of our readers sport Android phones - do you have any interest in the Galaxy Player? Do you see anyone having much of an interest in it? Let us know below.

Source: Androidinica, Slashgear and BGR