Yet more healthy competition for Apple’s all-conquering iPod as Japanese consumer electronics behemoth Sony Corporation has this week shone the European spotlight on three new Walkman digital media players set to be released to retail across the region.
According to Sony, the three new Walkman digital media players (the NWZ-A810 and NWZ-S610/S510) will arrive supporting "an open platform" whilst also including "support for Windows Media technology" for the provision of more wide-ranging choice when downloading and managing various compatible media.
Citing the PC-to-player user convenience on offer through its new A and S series hardware, Sony further outlines that all three models support "security-enhanced" WMA as well as "non-secure" AAC and MP3 music formats, along with JPEG image files and AVC (H.246/AVC) Baseline Profile and MPEG-4 video codecs. With the new series of players, users can opt to download from a huge selection of media portals and "as long as the videos are compressed in the appropriate codec, resolution and size" they will work through Sony’s new portable devices.
"This announcement to support Windows Media technology is great news for consumers," enthused Jeffry van Ede, VP of Sony Audio Marketing Europe, regarding the unveiling of the new players. "By introducing an open standard Sony is increasing the consumer’s choice of content and enhancing the versatility of its products. Ultimately, consumers can now decide how they want to purchase and manage content and benefit from the superior sound and video technology on offer in their new Walkman devices."
All three new models in the A and S series arrive compatible with security-enhanced WMA while also supporting the vast majority of subscription-based download music portal services. Thanks to passing a series of compatibility tests, the new players are also Windows Vista certified and support PlaysForSure. The new trio of players also come loaded with Windows Media Player 11.
Other related features attributed to the A and S series Walkman players see users given a large QVGA LCD screen (320x240) that displays at 30fps (frames per second). The new players also arrive fully compatible for "instant connectivity" with a range of existing Sony devices including the PlayStation 3 videogames console and the GIGA Juke. Battery charge life on all three players grants users with access to a whopping 33 hours of music playback, while the A810 delivers up to eight hours of video playback and the S610 offers up to nine-and-a-half hours. Storage sizes across the two series offerings give the option of 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB of memory. Aesthetically, the A and S series player come in a choice of black, pink, red, silver, violet, and white.
The Sony A810 and S610/S510 Walkman digital media players will arrive at retail across the European region from October of 2007. No concrete prices have yet been divulged.
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