Sony Walkman Takes On iPod Shuffle
Following last week's unveiling of MiniDisc players with MP3 support, Sony on Tuesday announced that three new Flash-based Walkman music players will hit the market sometime in April of this year. The new Walkman models sport up to 70 hours of playback time using Sony's proprietary Stamina technology.
"Users want to get straight to the music, so an uncluttered, fuss-free design with easy navigation was a key consideration when planning the new Network Walkman range," Gregory Kukolj, General Manager for Personal Audio Europe said.
The entry-level series, or NW-E100, sports a round design and will come in six colors and have capacities of 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB. Running on 1 AA battery, it will give up to 70 hours of continuous playback.
The NW-E400 mid-range series will come in the same capacities as the E100, but is shaped like a small bottle and comes in 4 colors. The E400 series also sports an organic electroluminescent (OLED) display and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery with 50 hours of playback time.
According to Sony, the quick charge function of the E400 allows for only 3 minutes of charging to give 3 hours of playback time.
The top of the line E500 models are almost identical to the E400 series, except with the addition of an FM tuner, and more metallic colors.
Sony has yet to announce specific pricing for its new Walkman lineup, but the low-end 256MB model is expected to retail for under $130 USD. The 1GB Walkman will run approximately $320 USD. Apple's Flash-based iPod Shuffle, meanwhile, starts at $99 USD for 512MB.
Nate Mook contributed to this report.