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Samsung IceTouch YP-H1: Transparent MP3 player unveiled

Samsung has produced an MP3 player with a see-through, colour AMOLED screen -- the IceTouch. We don't know why it's called that. Maybe it's coated in liquid nitrogen or something

Nate Lanxon Special to CNET News
2 min read

The main advantage of a see-through MP3 player is that you'll be able to avoid falling down gaping manholes in the street as you browse your music. That'll prevent a whole bunch of future lawsuits in the US.

Samsung is the first manufacturer we know of to have produced an MP3 player with a see-through, colour AMOLED screen -- the IceTouch. We don't know why it's called that. Maybe it's coated in liquid nitrogen or something. You can also call it the YP-H1, though, which itself sounds like some sort of technical name for a hideously contagious, mutated, animal-borne disease.

But we digress. The YP-H1 comes in 16GB and 8GB capacities, and has a 51mm (2-inch), transparent AMOLED screen. File-format support is way above average, with love shown for MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, AAC, WAV and mp3HD audio files, including DRM-free iTunes downloads. Supported video formats include MPEG-4, WMV, H.264, Xvid and DivX, and, hopefully, BBC iPlayer downloads (previous Samsung players supported the latter, but we haven't been able to confirm that the YP-H1 will continue this trend).

In its press release, Samsung claims "the player also continually analyses and adjusts audio levels to reflect the producer's intended sound". That sounds like a bunch of tosh to us, so we'll judge the player's sound quality when we get one to test in-house. But previous Samsung players have sounded great, so we have every faith this new model will too.

The YP-H1 will be on sale in the first half of 2010, but UK prices are anyone's guess at this point. We'll keep you posted.