Personal Audio

Sony Announces New Water-Resistant Walkman NWZ-W260

by Sohrab Osati | Jul 22, 2011 | 30 comments

If running, biking, and hardcore, sweaty gym workouts are your thing, you might want to pay particular attention to this post. Sony is releasing a new water-resistant Walkman NWZ-W260 this August, which is designed to withstand sweat from intense workouts in any weather condition. The Walkman NWZ-W260 also takes into consideration the value of beings hands-free and cable-free, with a unique design which allows you to comfortably place the unit around your ears and onwards to the back of your head. With eight hours of battery life and quick charge technology, which allows you to gain an hour of playback for only 3 minutes of your time, the Walkman NWZ-W260 MP3 player is designed with users in mind from hardware to software. Sony’s Content Transfer software allows you to simply drag and drop songs from either Windows Media Player or iTunes, as long as they are DRM-free. The 2GB version (the NWZ-W262) will cost you $59.99 while the 4GB version (NWZ-W263) comes in at $79.99.

As always, hit the jump for the official press release.

Sony to End MiniDisc Walkman Production

by Sohrab Osati | Jul 21, 2011 | 48 comments

The MiniDisc, like many other formats that Sony has released in the past (Betamax, Atrac) was ahead of its time when it was released in September of 1992. MiniDisc promised to be more portable than cassette tape, while delivering better audio quality and durability. Sure enough, like Betamax vs. VHS and Atrac vs. MP3, the format was superior in every which way that Sony promised. Even once the CD player and CD format began to rise over cassettes, MiniDisc as a format was able to hold its own and offered users an impressive 30 hours of playback on two AA batteries and allowed you to record live sessions directly on them, with instant playback. However, due to higher costs and lack of support from record companies, the format would never come to attract much attention from consumers, instead staying as a product for the pro-consumers of the market.

Now, after 20 years this September, Sony is to end MiniDisc Walkman productions for Japan, where the device is still being actively sold, though in very low volumes. As of March 2011, the MiniDisc Walkman has sold 22 million units. With the rise of the iPod in the last 8 years and growth of smartphones in the last 4 years, Sony sees no reason to invest resources into an already small market. This seems like a highly appropriate move for the company which is currently involved in stiff competitions in many different product segments. The MiniDisc Walkman will be available in stores until current inventories are depleted. Sony is said to continue making the MiniDiscs themselves, as well as stereos that can play back the audio discs. Sony will also keep producing CD Walkmans, though one hopes that, depending on the profit margins and sale volumes, Sony might be tempted to kill off that production as well.

[via Nikkei]

Sony CMT-L7D 9″ Touch Screen, CD/DVD Playing, Radio Playing Dock!

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 6, 2011 | 1 comment

Holy sweet mother. When Sony released this dock for Japan (Yes, boo, nothing for America yet) they went forward with one simple philosophy: conquer them all! The Sony CMT-L7D is a Walkman dock (We’re not sure if this means no iPod interface or if there were to be a US release, they would change that) that that can play CD/DVD on its 9-inch screen, as well as pick up AM/FM radio with its 50W＋50W speakers. From there on, you also have the capability to plug in SD (Again, no MMS support here? What?) and USB drives to play music off of them as well. If that was not enough, that 9-inch screen isn’t wasted for just movie playback. Instead, it moonlights as a touchscreen as well that holds all of the device controls and settings. The dock also has the capability of displaying your Walkman’s album artwork, as well as acting as a digital frame. Look for it in Japan with a $585 price tag.

Sony’s New Over the Air Digital Radio (ICZ-R50)

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 4, 2011 | 1 comment

Did you think that digital radios were going out of style thanks to the Walkman, CD Player, iPod and now your smartphone? Think again. They just needed a digital reboot, from the looks of the ICZ-R50. Sony has just released this new radio for Japan and packed it with features like AM/FM radio and recorder with 4GB of internal memory which is upgradable up to 32GB with SD/SDHC or Memory Stick Duo cards. This means recording your favorite BBC show will be easier than ever, unless of course you subscribe to their podcast or visit their website. Still! this unit can also play MP3/WMA off those memory cards and record audio as well, the perfect spy tool. Look for a February 21 release date in Japan with a $218 price tag. And no, you can’t get one for Christmas as this will more than likely stay a Japan-only device.

Hulu Plus Comes to the Sony Dash

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 28, 2010 | 1 comment

Hulu and Sony have announced that all Sony Dash owners will now have the ability to access Hulu Plus content via the Hulu app. This marks an ever growing expansion and partnership between Hulu and Sony. As of last week, all Playstation 3 members were treated to a downloadable Hulu Plus app as well while Hulu will continue to expand to other Sony platforms like their Blu-ray players in the near future. If you haven’t picked up a Sony Dash yet, Amazon has a great deal going on them for the holidays.

[Via Sony]

Sony Walkman S755 Review

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 18, 2010 | 26 comments

Although we don’t have the unit ourselves, Akihabara News recently tested the Sony Walkman S755 and came up with this:

If you like your music unpolluted by outside noise, if you’re not a big fan of iTunes or proprietary syncing software, if you want superlative battery life and terrific sound quality, you’ll love the Walkman S755.

Hit the jump to read the full review which gave the unit a 9/10 on design, 8/10 on features and 9/10 on performance.

[Via AkhihabaraNews]

New CD Walkman with MP3 Player from Sony

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 28, 2010 | 9 comments

Sony of Japan is releasing a new CD Walkman, the D-NE241, which can not only play your normal CD, but can also read CDs with MP3 files on them. I’m honestly not sure what else is new here because I used to have a white Sony Walkman unit with Anti Skip G+ protection that could play MP3s as well and that was in 2002. But there you go Japan, a new Walkman for you.

[Via Akihabara]

Sony Introduces New Digital Frames with HD Video Playback

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 17, 2010 | 7 comments

Being the current owner of two Sony digital frames, I’m extremely excited for this new set of digital frames from Sony. Dubbed the S-Frames, Sony is bringing out 3 new models for the holiday season. The DPF-XR100 and DPF-VR100 models are the new 10.2-inch LED frames that can not only display your photos, but also play back full AVCHD video. This is a fantastic new feature as many people tend to take videos with their camera to only have them put on the computer and never be seen again. Now with the DPF-XR100 and DPF-VR100, not only will your photos transition through, but your videos will as well. For those like me who also have a Sony camera that can do panorama shots, both S-Frames are capable of Panorama playback as well. Both units will launch in November, with the DPF-XR100 priced at $250 while the DPF-VR100 carries a $200 price. The difference?

Sony’s exclusive TruBlack™ technology improves how your content looks on the S-Frame XR100 by reducing reflection and enhancing contrast to ensure more natural tones.

Now, the 3rd of these new S-Frames is the DPF-D830, a 8-inch unit with a $150 price tag. Although it does not do the HD video like the above units, the frame comes with a built-in rechargeable battery that is capable of displaying pictures for 100 minutes. The idea goes that if friends and family come over, you can easily unplug the frame and pass it around while they view the photos on the frame. Pretty freaking awesome. Expect this unit to launch in November as well. All three units will also come with 2GB of internal memory and of course expandable via Memory Stick.

There are two things you can bet on. One, that I will be getting the DPF-XR100 this November to display some of my upcoming Hawaii videos and two, if you hit the ‘More’ button, you will get a full press release from Sony in regards of these new frames.

Editors Note: Sony Dash

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 27, 2010 | 1 comment

I know a lot of people are excited about the Sony Dash, including me. Trust me, at first, I didnt really get it. I have a Sony dock next to my bed for my iPhone 3GS. I have a Sony 7″ frame and a 9″ frame. So why do I need the Dash? I felt this way until I checked it out the site. Now I love it. I’m trying my hardest to get a review of this fantastic looking unit because I understand the product from what I’ve seen so far. By the way, look for this to hit your local Best Buy or Sony Style store on Firday, April 30th.

Sony Offers Up WiFi-enabled VGF-CP1 Digital Photo Frame

by Sohrab Osati | May 13, 2008 | 7 comments

Over in Japan, Sony has launched a nice specked and priced Digital Frame that seems extremely worthy of the price. The VGF-CP1 measures at 7 inches with a 800 x 480 resolution panel, multicard reader / USB port, 100MB of free internal memory (85MB for pictures, 15MB for music), support for still images / MP3s / WAV files and built-in 802.11b/g WiFi. So one might think that with such specs, is a good buy right? Well Sony went further to sweeten the deal. The CP1 can also display the current time, check in and display your RSS feeds and give you the local weather. Anybody else want this at maybe 20″ inches and start calling themselves a Stark? Let’s hope that this puppy comes state side as it penned for release on May 17th in Tokyo for ¥30,000 ($258).