New Sony digital walkmans

today announced two hard-drive digital walkmans that it hopes will dethrone the iPod as the market-leading MP3 player. The new Network Walkman NW-HD1 digital music player will store up to 13,000 songs using a 20GB 1.8-inch drive and is expected to be available on July 10 in Japan and in mid-August in the US. The 3.8 ounce device, slightly larger than an iPod mini (but smaller than the standard iPod) claims to have up to 30 hours of playback on a single charge of its battery. It will play songs in its proprietary ATRAC format only, and thus wil not be compatible with any other online stores. It is expected to cost under $400 in the US.

Sony also said the device holds more songs in a smaller storage space by using a more advanced compression technology. It uses a G-Sensor shock protection that safeguards the player's internal mechanisms to protect against impact and also utilizes Sony's skip-free G-Protection technology. The player offers a USB 2.0 connection and ships with iTunes-like SonicStage 2.1 software to import, manage and transfer music collections as well as convert files from MP3, WMA and WAV formats.



The digital walkman uses Sony's Jog Dial navigation to quickly retrieve tracks and playlists on the seven-line backlit LCD display. It features four different display modes to navigate track numbers, bit rates, song titles, artist names and more. It will ship in mid-August with a USB charging cradle and carrying pouch.



Sony VAIO-branded portable digital music player with color LCD



Sony's new VAIO Pocket music player features a 2.2-inch color LCD display for displaying a full-color photo slideshow or album art while listening to music. Using a 40GB hard drive, it stores up to 26,000 songs. USB streaming also allows users to offload photos from a Sony Cybershot digital still camera. It ships with a USB 2.0 cradle for easy PC connection, high-speed transfer of files and convenient and rapid charging. It also sports a unique user interface dubbed Grid Sense, a grid of raised dots which work together like a PC touchpad that allows for smooth and precise song selection and navigation. It also includes a three-line backlit LCD remote control to select songs when the player is on a belt loop or in a bag.



Sony says that a single charge of the built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery offers up to 20 hours of continuous music playback. It also uses SonicStage software to manage and convert songs to Sony's ATRAC format. It will ship in September for $500 (with an ear bud headphones, a USB cradle, a USB cable, and AC power adaptor and an LCD remote control).

by MacNN Staff