14 DAY TRIAL // If you remember, Sony was the first to introduce on the market the Walkman concept, which was then adopted by all manufacturers. But Sony still has the rights over the Walkman term, which is a pretty profitable logo to put on the players.
The company resurrected its Walkman branded devices last year when it has rolled out the first, rather big, blue player.
And if we are to remember the capabilities and the sizes of the 2005 Walkman player and then compare it to the brand new Flash-based, digital music players from the NW-E Series we would see how the concept has evolved.
The new little players come with 'a summer dedicated design' featuring colorful nuances such as pink, lime green, blue, violet, silver and black. The features are not so new, however, except for the Walkman player's one-line OEL (organic electroluminescence) display that can be maneuvered by both left-handed and right-handed users alike. The information such as track title, time and date can be viewed from several angles, as the OEL has the ability to rotate its orientation viewpoint.
"The new Walkman player is a great choice for people getting introduced to digital music," said Mitch Li, digital audio product manager at Sony Electronics. "By offering the player in an assortment of bright, vibrant colors, you can personalize your music experience."
As all the six miniature players are made using NAND Flash memory, they can store up to 1,350 songs on the 2GB model, 685 songs on the 1GB model and 340 songs on the 512MB model at 48kbps, according to the manufacturer's statements.
But the latest Walkman makeover also features an integrated FM receiver that retains information regarding the most visited radio stations, meaning the ones that you especially like, and makes them easier to access.
Regarding the format compatibility ? nothing new, 'the summer Walkmans' support AAC (non-DRM), MP3, WMA (non-DRM), and ATRAC music files and offer you the possibility of downloading tracks from the Sony CONNECT online music service and include SonicStage CP software to import, manage and transfer music collections.
But not only the storage capacity is advanced, but also the battery life that can play up to 28 hours of non-stop music. The NW-E Series feature the same quick-charge function introduced by Sony earlier this year, a capability that enables the user to benefit from three hours of playback for only three minutes of charging.