By Sarah Falson

SYDNEY: Samsung’s latest addition to its mp3 player range, the ultra-thin and sleek K3, was announced today and is poised to take on Apple’s iPod Mini in retail stores.

The K3 will join the K5, and boasts a 6.65mm thin body and a 1.8-inch OLED screen with either two or four gigabytes of memory.

Samsung is marketing the mp3 player using its sleek looks, which include a smooth, glass-like chassis framed in chrome, along with its sound quality. The company anticipates the unit will also sell well due to its “sex appeal”.

“I am personally very excited to bring the K3 to market as it is the most exciting product to hit Australian shores this year,” Samsung Electronics Australia digital AV product manager, Sagar Dave, told Current.com.au

“The K3 is a refreshingly new mp3 player which the consumers will be amazed with. Simply speaking, it has a look that will attract you, a sound that will engage you and the sleek glossy surface of the K3 is an attention grabber. Its sex appeal is matched by superb sound fidelity that your ears will fall in love with,” he said.

Both K3 models (RRP $199 and RRP $269) include an intuitive touch-screen navigation menu, FM radio and JPEG image and text viewer software that also allows users to view their images as screensavers.

The 4GB model can hold up to 1000 songs, and both units include Digital Natural Sound engines (DNSe) for top-quality stereo sound, despite the mp3 player’s thin profiles.

Users will also be able to purchase a docking speaker from July, in the form of a slip case which protects the K3 and charges its battery while docked.

“The Samsung K3 emphasises Samsung’s efforts to deliver innovative and cutting-edge technology with highly-sophisticated aesthetics to the modern tech-savvy consumer. The K3 mp3 player is as much about music as it is style.”