Topic: New Sony HD walkman....

[tooldvn]

http://money.cnn.com/2004/07/01/technology/sony_apple.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

It doesn't say much about its features, and I've not been able to track down any more specs on it, but if its the size of  credit card with 20gb...  damnnnnn at the stealth possibilities... lets hope it has optical in and can record to wav.

-dvn

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

I'm under the impression that it only does ATRAC3.

Sony is one of the dumbest companies out there. If you have MP3's it will convert them to ATRAC. So you take a file that sounds mediocre to begin with and then convert it again, to make it sound even worse. Brilliant.

When the hell is someone coming out with a FLAC player. Better yet a 24bit FLAC player!! (Yep I know, the HD would fill up pretty quick).

MIKE B

[greenone]

Love the PR spinning on this...it can store 13,000 songs, whee. But by compressing the shit out of them even more. 20GB is 20GB is 20GB. That's like saying they can fit 20 clowns into a Beetle instead of 15. It's still a Beetle. Here's the playback/storage info though:

As with Sony's other players, the NW-HD1 plays songs in the company's proprietary ATRAC format only, meaning it is not compatible with other online stores and cannot play tunes in the popular MP3 format.

<cartman voice> Screw you guys, I'm going home. </cartman voice>

[JasonSobel]

When the hell is someone coming out with a FLAC player. Better yet a 24bit FLAC player!! (Yep I know, the HD would fill up pretty quick).

Rio Karma plays FLAC files.  but I don't think it handles 24-bit FLAC.

[Nick's Picks]

As posted on OTF by Doug...

he NW-HD1 is a credit card-sized unit @ 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.4cm and fitted with a 20GB 1.8in hard drive. There's enough RAM on board to provide 25 minutes of skip-free playback. They provide a seven-line LCD for track information and player status data.

The device uses USB 2.0 to hook up to a PC running Sony's own SonicStage software, from which consumers will soon be able to download songs from the Sony Connect online store.

The NW-HD1's primary format is Sony's own ATRAC 3 Plus - other formats are converted to that mode when they're transferred over to the player.



In addition to the NW-HD1, Sony will also release the Vaio Pocket Music Player VGF-AP1, which recently debuted in Japan, though Europe will get two models - 20GB and 40GB - rather that just one.

The player sports a 2.2in, 320 x 256 26,000-color LCD - that Sony says is designed to be viewed in daylight without difficulty. This Sony unit can download photography from a digital camera. Slated for release on October 2004 just in time for the Christmas season. It will ship with earphones and a USB 2.0 connection cradle that doubles as its battery recharge unit. Sony states it's Lithium Ion battery will provide 20 hours' playback time.

The device sports Sony's G-Sense interface which maps sectors of the display onto a series of 25 buttons. The handheld unit measures 11.5 x 6.3 x 1.7cm, but the right-hand side rear bulges out to 2.7cm thanks to the battery. The VGF-AP1 weighs in at 195g.




The NW-HD1 is scheduled to ship in Europe in August. Before then, early this month, Sony will ship a pair of Flash-based players, the NW-E55 and NWE75. Just over 2.5cm in length and 40g in weight, they offer up to 256MB of storage capacity and are each powered by a AAA battery - enough for 70 hours' playback. Both have a backlit LCD and are offered in silver (NW-E75), or blue, red or pearl (NW-E55).

Prices to be announced.
Still waiting for confirmation it will do uncompressed recording....
peace...Doug