Sony officially updates Walkman line
After some speculation and leaks, three new Sony portable media players have arrived, touting a slew of features. Will they put a dent in iPod sales?
Sony launched several Walkman devices today, including the high-end A series.
(Credit: Sony)Sony officially launched three new portable media players today: the NWZ-A860, NWZ-S760BT, and NWZ-E460 series.
The A series isn't much of a surprise as we already exposed a lot of the details from FCC listings and leaked placeholder specs and images from a major U.K. retailer.
The Walkman made for audiophiles features a 2.8-inch LCD touch screen (not OLED as previously reported). As we said before, A series will have Bluetooth to stream audio to other devices. Sony's press release confirmed the mysterious file transfer capability--now officially known as "Photo Transfer"-- allowing users to share photos via Bluetooth between compatible devices.
Battery life is said to clock in at 25 hours for music, and 5 hours for video playback.
FM radio and built-in voice recording in the A series are a nice touch. Sony also included an S-Master MX digital amplifier, promising to "reduce noise level and distortion." Two capacities will be available in the U.S.: an 8GB model for $179 and a 16GB version for $219. Sadly, we're not seeing any mentions of the 32GB or 64GB versions, which are most likely destined for other regions.
The new Walkman S- and E-series are somewhat similar to the A series. They cost less, have smaller screens, and feature a familiar button arrangement with some trickle-down features. Most notably, Sony says both will have 50 hours of battery life for music playback and 10 hours for video. Learn more about the Walkman E series and S series at the Sony Store.
Sony also revealed an updated S series Walkman, which also has built-in Bluetooth.
(Credit: Sony Europe)
