Korean Nano twin shoots to kill

The iPod Nano assassins have been queuing up to slay the immortal one ever since its launch last year, but Samsung’s new Z5 has some of the most deadly bullets yet – a huge battery life, and support for subscription services.

The similarities with Apple’s slab of tech joy are obvious. It comes in 2GB and 4GB flavours, is available in black and silver and has almost identical waif-like dimensions. There’s also a touch-screen interface that, while appearing finger-friendly, is unlikely to better Apple’s perfect wheel.

The Z5 is far from a pathetic shadow of its foe, though. Firstly, it’s Plays For Sure subscription enabled, meaning you’ll be able to stuff it with tracks from services such as Napster to Go – it can handle MP3s, WMAs and JPEGs – for a monthly fee.

There’s also a 1.8in screen that’s bigger than the Nano’s 1.5in effort and – make sure you’re sitting down – a 24 hour battery life, which completely destroys the Nano’s paltry 12 hours. It even has a pop at the Nano’s much-publicised durability issues, remarking that its aluminium body ‘prevents scratches and smudges’.

As we all know, it takes more than a few good shots to kill an iPod. The Nano’s coolness rating remains unmatched, and iTunes remains our music software of choice.

Still, if you’ve reached Apple saturation point, the YP-Z5 will be about in March or early April, and will cost around £140 for 2GB and £180 for 4GB.

Update (6/1/06): Samsung has just told us that the Z5’s battery life is actually 38 hours, rather than the 24 it previously told us. Blimey, that’s some juice…