Sony has announced a new oval shaped MP3 player dubbed the Walkman HD. The tiny gizmo comes in two flavors: Silver and Cobalt (which is a rather nice Violet color). With storage space for up to 13,000 songs. There are two versions of the device, the first the “lite” model at 190 grams with a 20GB HD (NW-A3000) and an even lighter model weighing in at 110 grams and packing 6 GB (NW-A1000). Read more…
Sony has announced a new oval shaped MP3 player Walkman HD. The tiny gizmo comes in two flavors: Silver and Cobalt (which is a rather nice Violet color). With storage space for up to 13,000 songs. There are two versions of the device, the first the “lite” model at 190 grams with a 20GB HD (NW-A3000) and an even lighter model weighing in at 110 grams and packing 6 GB (NW-A1000)…
This device is visually quite unique in the way the readout on the LCD seems to float, thanks to the fact that the color of the shell is shown through the LCD. Check out some of the features implemented in software on the device:
– A time-machine shuffle, letting the shuffle have the ability to pick songs by the year released.
– Auto select and play music most listened to (100 most played songs).
– Ability to link tunes of similar genre, great for when your in the mood for one style of music and too lazy to create a playlist.
In conclusion: “Sony did it first” back in 1979. But because Apple was able to get the chemistry right the iPod is now synonymous with “portable music”, the moniker once held by Sony. To get the title back Sony will have to price their products aggressively and stop resting on their laurels of yesteryear.
It’s a tough market, and winning won’t come easy with just slick marketing and heritage alone.