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Sony's Walkman models of today don't look a thing like the cassette-based ones we grew up with, and we're just fine with that. Instead, Sony's newest Walkman NWZ-E350 series sport modern amenities like MP3 playback and a fancy UI.
According to Sony, the new E350 series supports up to 50 hours of audio playback (MP3 files at 128Kbps) and 10 hours of supported video playback (WMV at 384Kbps).
Sony's also touting its SenseMe technology, which the company says can automatically categorize music tracks in a connected library into a variety of music channels and playlists. This comes wrapped in a new user interfaces with features like "Album Scroll" and "Scene Scroll", Sony says.
Other features include a "Bookmark Function" for creating playlists on the fly, Content Transfer Software for shuttling songs and videos from a PC or iTunes library, and audio support for MP3, WMA (DRM), AAC (non-DRM), and linear PCM, and WMV videos (DRM).
Look for the E Series to ship next month with three different color options, including red, blue, and black. The 4GB version will run $70, or just $10 more for the 8GB version.
Comments are closed on this article
ShadowDragoonFTW
August 16, 2010 at 5:55am
I actually have an NWZ-E345 myself. They're a darn good MP3 player, but I'm kinda upset that that version didn't have the SenseMe, which would have rocked. That, and I still haven't figured out how to add tracks to a playlist on it... but still, it was the only one in 16GB size I'd rather sync my whole MP3 collection than have to pick and choose every few days. Sony, if you're reading this, read my lips... err, keyboard... MORE STORAGE CAPACITY = MORE SALES!
Keith E. Whisman
August 13, 2010 at 4:19pm
I also used to have a personal 8Track player that had a plunger on top of it to change the tracks. The whole thing was shaped like an old fashioned dynamite detonator plunger and was made of red plastic. It had two whole speakers on it I think and it didn't have a radio but it did have an ear bud for mono personal enjoyment. I can't remember who made it but it was awesome. I eventually broke it and took it apart to see how it worked and that was the end of it.
I found a picture of one on a google search. Evidently it was made by Panasonic and it had one large speaker.
Here's the URL so you kids can see what we played with back in the '70's
http://www.etsy.com/listing/17070385/panasonic-dynamite-plunger-style-8-track
Keith E. Whisman
August 13, 2010 at 4:09pm
Back around 1980 or so, I sold a couple hundred Chocolate candy bars (OK I ate those 200 Candy Bars and Dad had to pay $200 Bucks to the School) by going door to door in my neighborhood to help raise money for the school and win cool prizes. Well because I sold so many of them I got a Sony Walkman, one of the first Sony Walkman hand held radios. It was really cool as it played AM/FM and it played the new Cassette tapes and it could rewind, and fast forward the tapes, how cool is that!
sniggler
August 13, 2010 at 8:47am
Reminds me of the time I bought a Sony mp3 player... 512 MB, 200 bucks way back in the day before 1 GB was available. It had the most amazing sound of any mp3 player I have used to this day, even with crappy earbud headphones it was crisp and accurate. Looked cool too, real shame that it turned out they advertised mp3 on the box but the damn thing only supported AAC. Turns out, Sony could get away with an advertising loophole by slapping a big MP3 on the packaing because 'it supports mp3 thru the CONVERSION software we provided to convert mp3 to aac'. And let me tell you that software was CRAP. It locked up my athlon 2600 w/ 1 GB RAM like you wouldn't believe. I left it on the roof of a car one day, and never really missed it after that...
Those were the days, alright :)
violian
August 13, 2010 at 11:04am
Isn't their conversion software called Sonic Soundstage or something like that? I still have a Sony MiniDisc player that touted it could play MP3 - it was the reason I bought it. But nope. Converting MP3 to AAC or whatever it was was tiredsome, taking 12-15 minutes to convert a dozen tracks.
Michael Ellis
August 13, 2010 at 7:44am
When someone produces an mp3 player with 300 GB of storage, a touchscreen OLED display, optical audio out (in addition to a headphone jack), USB 3.0 and support for WMA, MP3, FLAC, and Audacity project files (with up to 8 tracks and 32-bit float at 96000 Hz). That will be the day I buy another MP3 player.
Yes, I have been spoiled by my computer.
