The company has announced that it will launch in short time a new member of the Network Walkman audio players family and that this time the model will be more than just an update of a preceding one.

The main difference between the new model, NW-HD5, and the previous ones is the brand new design. Until now, the functioning and viewing position was horizontal, but Sony decided that the players should stand up and changed the perspective with 90 degrees. The display is positioned above the control buttons, the circular controller has been replaced with 9 buttons and the display was upgraded to a LED version (light emitting diode) of 1.5 inches.

Like the previous players, NW-HD5 is fitted with a 20 GB hard disk and has support for a wide variety of formats: ATRAC3, ATRAC3plus, Windows Media Audio, WAV, and the popular MP3. The first Sony players that offered MP3 support were the ones from the NW-HD3 series which was launched in December. Among the characteristics of the player we mention: the dimensions 90 x 13,8 x 14,8 x 62,1mm, the five available colors, and the weight of under 130 grams. The player has a functioning time of 30 hours for the ATRAC3 format and 22 hours for the MP3 format.

The NW-HD5 model takes even further the functioning time which is now 40 hours for ATRAC medium compressed files and 30 hours for the MP3 playback. Other novelties are: a USB port and a jack for power supplying, the previous models requiring an adaptor.

Compared to the previous models, both the dimensions and the price are decreasing. The NW-HD5 will be available at 327 USD. The device will be available in Japan starting with April 21 and will be released in a short time world wide.