Ben Reid
12 Oct 2006 14:19
As Sony Corp. today announced that it will roll out five new flash-memory-based digital music players under its Walkman brand, it also added that it is developing a video-capable Walkman which it hopes will provide decent competition to Apple's ever-dominant iPod device - which currently holds more than half the global digital media player market.
"We are developing a product that handles images, but I cannot make any comment on specific plans," said Sony Senior Vice President Hiroshi Yoshioka.
Five new Walkman models will be released by the close of the year, offering capacities of up to 4GB. The players have a unique perfume-bottle design, and the high-end model will be priced at 29,000 yen ($240) in Japan.
Even though it hopes to challenge Apple at the summit of the digital audio player market, Sony acknowledges it has a long way to go to get there. "Sony has a lot of strengths that Apple doesn't have," said Yoshioka, speaking at a press conference. "This is a device that takes advantage of them." He also added that Sony aims to double Walkman's share in the global portable digital music player market from the current 20%.
The new Walkman lineup includes the ability to transfer tunes directly from a CD player, as well as an integrated noise-cancellation feature. It is also expected that the devices will allow users to listen to about three hours of music on a three minute charge, and up to 50 hours on a two hour charge.
Sources:
-Betanews
-CDRinfo