walkman

Sony prepping for Walkman refresh

Sony is preparing to launch an update for several of its high-end Walkman devices, according to FCC certification documents filed last week by the company.

The unannounced music players include models in the Walkman A and S series, which have had advanced features in the past such as an OLED screen, long battery life, and noise-cancelling technology. The Japanese company often refreshes its line of portable music players around this time each year.

What is most surprising could be the introduction of the Walkman A series in the U.S., as it sold in other major territories around the world for several years but has been missing stateside for several product cycles.

What we know is that Sony will offer four models of the luxury audio/video player: NWZ-A864 (8GB), NWZ-A865 (16GB), NWZ-A866 (32GB), and NWZ-A867 (64GB). The A867 would be the highest-capacity PMP Sony has ever offered in North America.

CNET has also learned that the refreshed A860 series Walkman will feature a large OLED touch screen, noise-cancelling technology, and integrated Bluetooth 2.0. There is no indication that Wi-Fi will be integrated. … Read more

Sony Ericsson adds two new feature phones

Sony Ericsson took to Facebook today to announce two new feature phones, the Mix Walkman and Txt pro.

Features phones, if you remember, have become a new class of handsets that aren't quite smartphones, but aren't basic models, either. Indeed, the Mix Walkman and Txt Pro fit right into this category. They do much more than make calls even if they lack the fanciest features available on a mobile device. The handsets also run Sony Ericsson's OS (so no Android here, folks), but they offer elements of the Xperia Mini's interface including the touch controls resting … Read more

Sony Ericsson announces W8 Walkman phone

Using just a post on its Web site, Sony Ericsson unceremoniously unveiled its next Android-powered phone today, the W8 Walkman. Looking nearly identical to last summer's Xperia X8, the smartphone features a 3-inch touch screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and a 600MHz processor.

The W8 Walkman runs Android 2.1 with Sony Ericsson's custom Timescape UI so it should be able to run most games and applications. Virtually indistinguishable from the Xperia X8, both offer Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth support as well. I might expect apps centered around music and media playback, but the Sony Ericsson blog mentions … Read more

Poll: When will Apple ship the last iPod?

The iPod may be the most successful portable music player of all time, but will it stick around for the long haul?

An iPod is just a player, and the market is opting for smartphones that can do so much more than just play music or video. Audiophiles are more likely to covet music-only players, at least ones that offer high-resolution sound, and that's never been part of Apple's game plan. They're all about numbers, and iPod's numbers are going down.

I'm talking about plain vanilla music/video players; the iPod Touch won't be … Read more

How to embarrass someone with an iPad

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Barnes and Noble announces the new touch-screen Nook Color

T-Mobile customers will be able to use their phones to tether the Net to other devices starting November 3

The white iPhone 4 is delayed until the spring

You can get free laser engraving on the iPad

MySpace gets a much-needed makeover

Yahoo Mail also gets a makeover--with social networking to Facebook and Twitter

LimeWire is ordered to shut down all sharing features, leaving only the music store up and running

The Sony Walkman apparently is not dead in the U.S. The cassette … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1336: Introducing the Nook hook (podcast)

On today's show, we're predicting what Barnes and Noble will announce tomorrow for the Nook--early mockups seem to indicate a mystery hook on the bottom that could maybe, uh, attach to your belt-loop? Also, Google admits that the 600GB of data "fragments" it collected from its Street View cars might kind of, funnily enough, include email addresses, passwords, and complete email text. Oh, and phone numbers. Great. --Molly

The 404 694: Where all kids in the future wear their pants inside out (podcast)

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the original "Back to the Future" release, so today we're running down the top 21 BTTF2 innovations everyone is still waiting to see. The list includes classic BTTF gadgets like Marty's self-drying jacket, the Mr. Fusion home energy reactor, and of course flying cars in the Skyway, but there are a few inventions on here that actually do exist in some form or another.

For example, cops in the 21st century may not have scrolling LED hats, but walk into any mall and you'll see a dude walking around in an LED message belt buckle. Same goes for bar code license plates and modern vehicle identification numbers.

Be sure to check to see if your local movie theater is screening the movie tonight at 7 p.m., exactly 25 years from when Marty first went back in time!

Halloween is coming up fast, and the holiday wouldn't be complete without the annual American tradition of forcing your dog to wear uncomfortable costumes for the enjoyment of others. On Saturday I attended the yearly Halloween dog parade in Tompkins Square Park, so check out that link to see some of the funnier costumes, like the "Tron" console, a couple of bedbugs, and my favorite: Antoine Dogson.

In other nerdly news, 23-year-old Brittney Schnecks just finished rebuilding her 1994 Dodge Caravan to look exactly like the Ninja Turtles van from the comic book/cartoon series!

A dedicated fan of the original TV series, Brittney has been building the van since last July using money she saved at her cashier's job. She used a Dodge Caravan instead of a VW due to availability of parts, but the final outcome looks great and even includes fake gun turrets, a spoiler, and hand-painted decals!

Finally, thanks to the two Zachs and Jennifer in the U.K. for sending the following video voicemails. We love watching these, so keep them coming by sending your YouTube link to the404(at)cnet.com!

Jenny from the U.K. has a message for the dudes.

Zach thinks The 404 is the best...we agree!

Episode 694 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

3D cell phone

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Barnes & Noble gets set to launch Nook Kids aimed at ages 3 to 8

Microsoft gives some indication that Windows 8 will be along in about two years

A 3D cell phone launches in India

Amazon.com is going to allow book lending on the Kindle

Google admits to gathering e-mail addresses, passwords, and URLs when collecting Street View images

Google adds new languages to Voice Search for Android

And Google adds World War II imagery to Google Earth

Ustream is going to allow pay-per-view broadcasting

The Sony Walkman cassette player is no more… Read more

Goodbye Walkman, thanks for the iPod

Sony has announced it has finally retired the Walkman cassette tape player, marking the end of one of the most successful consumer gadgets of all time.

At least it outlived disco.

By today's standards, the Walkman was clunky. The plastic tape player required frequent replacing of two AA batteries. There was no shuffle. There was no storage to speak of. It could play only the number of songs on the tape. Jumping to a new song tasked an owner with fast-forwarding, an inexact process that meant repeated stops to find the start of the desired tune.

But until July … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Ep. 1301: Apple waves the phishing flag (podcast)

Turns out, when you announce to the world that you've got 160 million users, all of whom are tied to a credit card, you kind of call the phishers your way like a horde of hungry zombies. Hence: Ping comment spam. Also, HP is going to actually produce memristors, 4chan is throwing birthday parties for sweet old men, and Boxee CEO Avner Ronen joins us to talk about why Apple TV doesn't scare him one bit. --Molly

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