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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's 13-inch Vaio S Series aims up the middle

The high-end Z-series of Sony Vaio laptops has its fans, but with prices starting at $1,899 and going to over $3,000, it's out of the price range of most laptop shoppers. The Vaio S series aims to offer a stylish 13-inch Vaio at much more competitive prices.

Sony says the S series offers, "easy portability and long battery life, perfect for the tech-savvy student or mobile professional," and it's certainly a bit lighter than some other 13-inch systems in the same general price range, at 4.4 pounds and only 1 inch thick.

While the standard SSD hard drives and high-end gloss of the Z Series may be missing, the S Series includes Sony's G-Sensor Shock Protection technology, which is basically an accelerometer for protecting the hard drive in case of falls or bumps, as well as Bluetooth and Sony's Vaio Care button, which lets users access a suite of tech support tools right from a quick launch button above the keyboard. … Read more

What a letdown: Sweet new Walkmans not for U.S.

It was a sad day when I reviewed the second-gen Sony S-Series Walkman. We expected a worthy successor to this fantastic MP3 player and instead were met with a mere shadow of the device and its former glory. True, you still get top-notch sound quality, impressive battery life, and even the added bonus of external speakers, but what happened to my podcast support, upgraded headphones, expanded sound enhancement options, interface personalization, SensMe Channels, and Rhapsody DNA?

Well, most of those things got funneled into the "expanded" S-Series, the S640 and S740 lines, which--naturally--Sony has no intention of offering … Read more

New S-Series Walkman: It wasn't broke, but Sony 'fixed' it anyway

Sony had a major success with the launch of the S-Series Walkman in the fall of 2008. The company stepped up with a sleek and compact device that offered a bounty of useful features along with stellar sound quality and a fantastic battery life. As might be expected, when it came time for a second-gen model, we waited with bated breath, expecting something equally impressive or perhaps even somewhat improved.

Unfortunately, the exhalation of said breath has emerged as a disappointed sigh. Although the second-generation S-Series Walkman still offers top-notch audio and excellent rated battery life, Sony has hobbled the … Read more

New E- and S-Series Walkmans pop up at CNET

Yes, it's true: I've managed to get my grubby little mitts on Sony's new E- and S-Series Walkman MP3 players. How, you ask? I will never share my secrets...NEVER! OK, dramatics aside, it has been an exciting end of the week here at CNET, and one of many reasons for that will become apparent to you next week, so make sure you keep an eye on MP3 Insider.

In the meantime, I have a little something to titillate you: hands-on photos of the new Walkmans (Walkmen?). Also, a bit of information for you. You've probably … Read more

Sony debuts S-Series Walkman with onboard speakers

The new 8GB Sony NWZ-S544 and 16GB Sony NWZ-S545 we saw earlier are now official. Sony's first speaker-endowed MP3 Walkmans feature 2.4-inch 320x240-pixel (QVGA) LCD screens capable of 262k colors. The latest S-Series Walkman also boasts Sony's Clear Stereo and Clear Bass audio enhancement technologies, along with a dynamic normalizer and five-band equalizer.

Battery life is listed at 42 hours for audio playback and 6.5 hours with video on headphones, 17 hours for audio, and 5 hours with video while listening via the speakers.

Both players claim drag-and-drop file transfer, which is nothing new, and also … Read more

New S-Series Walkman gets pricing in France

It's official: the new S-Series Walkman will indeed invoke Mickey Mouse in its control pad. Two weeks ago, we reported on a SonyInsider story that claimed to have images of the upcoming S-Series refresh, and it turns out that it was right on the money. The new device has been spotted on a French Web site with specs and pricing.

My French is a little rusty these days, so it's a good thing Google has a built-in translator. The new S-Series (NWZ-S545) is a 16GB player selling for 149 Euros, which means it will likely go for around $… Read more

New S-Series Walkman or Hannah Montana cast-off?

OK, maybe I'm being too harsh on what appears to be the next-generation S-Series Walkman, but come on! Could Sony possibly evoke Mickey Mouse any more? Admittedly, the current S-Series has a special place in my heart, and I've been eagerly awaiting a follow-up to the line, which I had on good authority would be in my hands by this fall. As such, I don't doubt SonyInsider's breaking story has at least a hint of accuracy.

But I have to say I'm none-too-taken with the Disney-esque design of the purported player, though maybe it's … Read more

Sony S-Series Walkman wins Editors' Choice

Sony has come a long way since the release of the NW-MS11 Network Walkman. One of the company's first flash-based MP3 players, the NW-MS11 didn't even play MP3s and was crippled by copy-protection woes and painfully slow transcoding, but even back then, Walkmans were a model of sleek design and excellent sound quality. The S-Series Walkman is a prime example of the reason Sony was the original king of portable music devices. The flash player, which comes in 4GB ($149.99) and 8GB ($179.99) models, is sleek, compact, easy to use, and packed with features. Plus, it … Read more