So far as unusual designs go, Sony’s been having one productive week. First the tablet team showed off the funky S1 (and funkier S2) and today Walkman’s managed to seize our attention. The outfit just announced the NWZ-W260 series, a music player baked directly right into a pair of lightweight headphones. In case it wasn’t already obvious, Sony has its eyes set at the sweaty, gym-going type, and to sweeten the deal it’s coated the player in a water-resistant finish. It’s rated for as much as eight hours of battery life, and in addition packs a short charging technology that may can help you rebound to an hour’s capacity after just three minutes. The included software, meanwhile, enables you to drag and drop tracks from Windows Media Player and iTunes for Windows — as long as they are not DRM-protected, ‘o course. It’ll go on sale next month, with a 2GB version (the NWZ-W262) fetching $59.99 and a 4GB number (NWZ-W263) going for $79.99.
Meanwhile, it’s clear Sony’s got some more players coming on the higher end of its lineup. The corporate just pushed four A860 series Walkmans during the FCC, with capacities starting from 8GB to 64GB — a brand new high for Sony. CNET has also been chatting up sources who say the player could have a huge OLED screen, noise-canceling technology, and Bluetooth 2.0. Meanwhile, FCC documents also show Sony is prepping a couple of S760 series players with either 8GB or 16GB of storage, an LCD screen for video playback, and Bluetooth. As CNET notes, Amazon jumped the gun and listed them in Europe with converted prices of $225 to $494 for the a sequence and $182 to $211 for the S series. How much will they really cost after they arrive stateside? Seems like we’ll discover soon.
MEDIA ALERT:
Sony introduces new lighter and smaller one-piece, water-resistant W Series Walkman MP3 player for sports enthusiasts
W Series Walkman® Model NWZ-W260
Lightweight, rinsable, wearable, water-resistant design
The W260 series weighs about 24% less and is ready 2/3 smaller than previous models.
Quick charge function
Content transfer software
WHO: The hot Sony Walkman® – NWZ-W260 Series, includes a convenient lightweight,rinsable, wearable and water-resistant headphone-style design it is ideal for fitness enthusiasts.WHAT: The recent Sony Walkman W260 Series, the official music player of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series, is designed to conveniently and comfortably accompany its user to the gym, trail and treadmill. The water-resistant frame ensures it could possibly withstand sweat from intense workouts in any weather condition.
The W series Walkmanplayer comes with Content Transfer software that permits users to simply drag and drop music files from iTunes® for Windows®, Windows Media Player or Windows Explorer (DRM free content only). A 2 GB and a 4 GB option could be available. The two GB W Series Walkman® player can hold approximately 470 songs while the 4 GB option can hold about 990 songs.1
Endorsed by world-class marathon runner and US Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, the NWZ-W260 series Walkman playeralso offers a convenient quick-charge function. With only three minutes of charge time, the player can run for as much as 60 minutes and entire battery life is as much as 8 hours.2 The recent NWZ-W260 series Walkman player comes in two colors, black and white.
WHERE: Available August 2011 at www.sonystyle.com, Sony Style retail stores and other authorized retailers nationwide. For images and data, please visit www.sony.com/news.
NWZ-W262 2 GB (black or white): $59.99
NWZ-W263 4 GB (black): $79.99WALKMAN is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation.
iTunes is a registered trademark of Apple Inc.
All other trademarks are the valuables in their respective owners*1: In keeping with 4 minute length at 128 kbps. 1 GB equals 1 billion bytes, a component to that’s used for data management functions.
*2: Actual performance varies in response to settings, environmental conditions, and usage. Battery capacity decreases over the years and use.
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I have seen a version of this wire-free concept which appears a lot better here: http://www.fx-sportmp3.com
Fully waterproof [yes swimming] text to speech software allows playlist scrolling and then there are 2 versions. One with bluetooth also added and one with a built in personal trainer where you make your own messages. This seems leagues ahead.