When Sony realizes they lost billions of dollars in sales to the iPod, they get mad. I mean, they must get really mad, so mad, they must have flown to Mars! Mars is the only “futuristic” place I know where they could design something, well, I take that back – Venus – She MUST have designed the new Sony Walkman. Look at it. OLED display that makes is nearly one with the device. It looks like one of the controls or displays you may have seen on sci-fi tv of the 80s or even before, devices which emanated their display as if it was not a separate unit within the device at all, but one.
The press release starts off like a sexy r&b song, “26 years after WALKMAN created a revolutionary music lifestyle, the new Sony WALKMAN will now redefine it.
Simply called Æ’_~WALKMANÆ’_T, the new digital music player from Sony features spectacular ergonomic design and an exciting range of intelligent features that allow the user to enjoy music in a totally new way.”
This is THE device for 2005, IF only, and they didn’t, include 40GB and larger capacity. Engadget, as always, sums it up best:
Sony is officially rebirthing the WALKMAN in this device, whichÆ’_Tll be rolling out in Q4 in sizes of 6GB (NW-A1000) and 20GB (NW-A3000). It features an organic EL display that makes the readout appear fairly seamless with the rest of the player.On the software side itÆ’_Ts got a bunch of bells and whistles to help automagically DJ for you: Æ’_~My Favorite ShuffleÆ’_T will randomly play the 100 most listened to songs, Æ’_~Time Machine ShuffleÆ’_T picks a year at random and plays all the songs from that timeframe, and other functions are available to search and play songs by a number of parameters such as rating, genre, artist, recently transferred, etc.
The 20GB version will be available in violet and silver, with the 6GB coming in pink and blue, and all with matching headphones. As far as codec support goes, donÆ’_Tt expect anything revolutionary Æ’_” just MP3 and of course, ever-lovinÆ’_T ATRAC3plus.
The Sony Representative in their press release:
Æ’_oWe are raising the bar with the new Sony WALKMANÆ’__, said Gregory Kukolj, General Manager at Sony Europe. Æ’_oThis stunning new device will be instantly appealing to both style followers and technology-minded individuals alike. One drawn by the spectacular design and the other by the outstanding ease of use and features that really deliver. The new Sony WALKMAN is an irresistible proposition for users who want the ultimate digital music player.Æ’__
