For those of you who are looking to purchase a new Sony Walkman MP3 player this year, you’re in luck. Sony has just recently refreshed the A, S, and E series Walkman lineups, which are due out in September. After just having announced the killing of the Qriocity brand with the simpler title of Music Unlimited, Sony is looking to bring the service to the Walkman line in a big way. All three lineups are already compatible to stream music from Qriocity Music Unlimited, but Sony is looking to add on a free 180-day trial period for owners of the NWZ-A860, S760BT and E460. After that, owners can choose to either cancel their subscription or sign up for either the $3.99 or $9.99 monthly plan.
Discuss:
Do you already own a Sony Walkman player? If not, would such an offer sweeten the deal for you and make you want to jump aboard?
During their IFA announcement, Sony unveiled an Android Gingerbread based 4-3-inchWalkman. The device is currently called the Sony Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player, though that will change once the product is ready for shipment. Much like the iPod Touch, which has access to the thousands of applications available in the Apple App Store, this Walkman will also have access to the Android Market, making it a device that does much more than just play music. Unlike the iPod Touch, an HDMI will also assist users, letting them play videos and games stored on the device on any HDMI-equipped TV. Like the AirPlay technology found in the iPod Touch, which allows you to stream your movies and music to any compatible AirPlay device, Sony has also incorporated a similar feature called Throw. The Throw feature allows the Walkman to find any local Bravia television and other compatible devices and stream directly to them with little to no setup required. No additional information like specs, pricing, or availability was announced as Sony made it clear that the product was still in the testing phase and not ready for a final build.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.