Sony Network Walkman

Interesting Sony's Flex Concept

2009-01-14T02:24:00.001+05:30

Contrast - A Sony Flex OLED Walkman Concept from Sony Insider on Vimeo.

source :Sonyinsider

main

Sennheiser reckons its HD 800s are the best headphones in the world ever, at CES 2009

2009-01-09T03:14:00.000+05:30

Probably the most expensive things you'll ever wear on your head

Sennheiser has announced the new HD 800 headphones at this year's CES expo. At a staggering £999.99 per pair, you can probably tell that Sennheiser thinks that the sound quality is pretty special.

This benchmark setting set of cans features a specially built 56mm high definition RING driver for absurd levels of clarity and detail. They also offer a frequency response of 6 to 51,000 Hz, a figure that's likely to have other audiophiles shedding bright green tears of envy.

They're open back and designed with a futuristic black and silver finish. The cups are designed for both comfort and direct the sound waves to your ear in manner more similar to a loudspeaker than an ordinary pair of 'phones. It is rumoured that listening to these is makes even the Spice Girls sound like you are being serenaded by an angelic host sent from heaven itself – we'll be going to check the veracity at the show today.

Source T3

If you demand ultimate musical perfection from your headphones, Sennheiser's HD 800s will be out in February.

Sennheiser HD800 announced♦

2009-01-09T00:34:00.009+05:30

Sennheiser HD800

Features

Frequency response (headphones) 6 – 51,000 Hz (- 10 dB)
Frequency response (headphones) 14 – 44,100 Hz (- 3 dB)
Transducer principle Dynamic, open
Nominal impedance 300 Ω
Sound pressure level (SPL) 102 dB (1kHz/1Vrms)
THD, total harmonic distortion ≤0.02 % (1kHz/1Vrms)
Contact pressure 3.4 N (± 0.3 N) approx.
Ear coupling Circumaural
Weight w/o cable 260 g
Jack plug ¼” (6.3 mm) stereo jack
Cable length 3m

Impressions on head-fi

**News from Head-fi

Sennheiser Website link

Sennheiser Product

Price :MSRP $1400

Preorder :

Amazon:

Sony's New NWZ-1000 walkman with touch .

2009-01-07T22:42:00.003+05:30

So ,at last rumored Sony's touch walkman looks really nice in real .

Features ;

1.Capacity :16 and 32gb .

2.WILL SUPPORT noise cancellation and Wi-fi .

3.3inch OELD display ,that means it will be brighter than the LCD display .

Price :To be announced.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/07/s...screen-player/

2008-11-27T11:52:00.007+05:30

Sennheiser HD650

I present you all my Sennheiser HD650 ,These are the top of the line headphones from Sennheiser .

Drivers ,heart ,nervous system of HD650

Well,Sennheiser HD650 comes with a beautiful looking carton which makes it a really precious collection ,but Sound quality is what really matters when it comes to headphones like these .

Sennheiser HD650 is sold as audiophile headphones .They have an open dynamic headphone design.That means they will leak sound ,so not good for a noisy environment and keep in mind that others will be disturbed if volume is too high .

Specifications of these are :

[*]Technical Data
[*]Nominal impedance 300 Ohm
[*]Contact pressure ca. 2,5 N
[*]Weight w/o cable ca. 260g
[*]Jack plug 6,3/3,5 mm stereo
[*]Transducer principle (Headphones) open, dynamic
[*]Ear coupling circumaural
[*]Cable length 3 m
[*]Frequency response (headphones) 10-39500 Hz
[*]Sound pressure level (SPL) 103 dB (1 Vrms)
[*]THD, total harmonic distortion 0,05 %
In the box:
[list]
[*]ï�¶ Headphones
[*]ï�¶ Detachable cable,
[*]ï�¶ Adapter
[*]ï�¶ An instructions manual

Construction: Construction seems good, but its not made of metal only .half of it is made of Carbon fiber .According to Sennheiser that helps in lessening the vibrations and makes listening more pleasurable. Who knows? ..hhee

Sound quality

I have used them for around 400 hrs and just after 100 hr bass which was little muffled, got deep and articulate.

Well, These have laid back character with rolled off high, which makes them very pleasurable to listen music with them, as highs are not very harsh on ears.

Bass: I know many people are only concerned about bass and all and I must say they are not very bassy like my DT770 pro 80ohm ,but IMO HD650 are way ahead of DT770 pro 80ohm .Its mid bass is very deep and very well defined ,whereas bass of DT770 Pro 80ohm is very boomy and not defined at all .

Treble :Its treble is really good ,but its highs are little rolled of ,thats the reason they are very smooth sounding headphones and sometime people refer that these have laid back character .

Headphones tried with different Genre's like Classical (western eg Schubert ,Beethoven ) ,Indian Classical (eg Ravi shankar ),Rock linken Park ,Led zeppelin etc,POP,Trance (Ministry of Sounds ,Tiesto etc),Instrumental etc

Burn in
:120hrs

Used with ESI-juli@->MHC-V515 as amp or D NE900 (line out )->MHC-V515.

right now I'm looking for an amp and I might go for an tube amp .

>Price (MSRP)$599

Price paid $450 :(

I will add more when I'm not sleepy ..right now I
' feeling sleepy lol:P

Sonyinsider Launched and AtracLife blog Closed

2008-06-20T07:37:00.005+05:30

So,there is one bad news and one good news ,bad news is AtracLife blog is closed ,but Forums will still remain and good news is new site Sonyinsider is launched by Christopher MacManus (founder of AtracLife ).New site looks really cool and according to Christopher 75% is completed so ,we can expect new forum to be opened for public soon :).Stay tuned !

Sonyinsider

PCTB or PC tech Board -Computer forums

2008-05-11T16:44:00.006+05:30

Well,Yes I'm using my blog other than for Sony devices .Its a Computer forum which I'm advertising right now .

http://pctechboard.com/forum.php

Thanks for Visiting :)

I hope my readers of my doesn't mind this .

NW-A829,16 gb Limited Edtion Colour

2008-04-16T20:51:00.003+05:30

Antiipod of Atraclife has posted pictorial of NW-A829 ,a 16gb model few days ago

Atraclife

GenerationMp3 tests NW-A820

2008-03-09T21:59:00.005+05:30

http://labo.generationmp3.com/2008/02/27/test-avec-video-sony-walkman-nwz-a820/

Preorder NWZ-A820 series via Sonystyle US

2008-02-29T00:09:00.005+05:30

Sony has launched NWZ-A820 and NWZ-A720 (without Bluetooth) series in US .Right now they can be preordered via sonystyle site .

Prices of both the series are :
NWZ-A829-$319.99
NWZ-A828-$269.99

NWZ-A729-$299.99

NWZ-A728-$199.99

NWZ-A726-$149.99

At the same time they have also released NWZ-S71X series ,first time outside Japan,Which comes with noise cancellation earphones .starting at $179.95 and its available in 8gb and 4gb .

Sonystyle(US)

Must have Mp3 programs -Top 10

2008-02-25T00:22:00.002+05:30

According Killer Tech Tip :
read here

Prices for NWZ-A820 series (Pre ordering one )

2008-02-23T04:38:00.002+05:30

Pre-ordered prices for NW-A820 series as follows:
1.) 169€ (4GB)
2.) 219€ (4GB bundle)
3.) 219€ (8GB),
4.) 269€ (8GB bundle)
5.) 319€ (16GB bundle)

***all prices taken from Sony Style Germany

Source : anythingbuyipod

Sony's New E-series ,NW-E02xF

2008-02-22T02:13:00.006+05:30

Sony's new E-series(NW-E023F(1Gb), -025F(2GB )and -026F(4GB)) will be out in Japan from this March

Highlighted Features :
*The players are available in 5 styles with 2 jackets and 10 additional outer "Style-Up" panels also available.

*Panels will cost around $12 each (Pictures below)

Source :Gizmodo

and Special thanks to batphink of Audiostation :)

NWZ-A820 video (You tube one )

2008-02-21T13:06:00.000+05:30

WOW !NWS-A820 or NW-A820 series in a retro look

2008-02-21T08:33:00.003+05:30

Sony has given nice shape and design to NWZ-A820 and A820 series .see the pictures

UPDATE:Regarding Posting !

2008-02-20T10:33:00.002+05:30

From now on I will be regularly posting about different gadgets (other than Sony ),headphones etc .

thanks

Sony's NWZ-A820 Bluetooth Walkmans

2008-02-19T22:46:00.002+05:30

So ,Sony it is about to launch its upgraded version of A81x series .Comes in three flavours 4gb,8gb and 16gb .

According to Engadget

Sony's followup to its 2.0-inch A810 (pictured) media player boasts a 2.4-inch QVGA display, up to 16GB of flash, 13.5mm EX headphones, Bluetooth stereo audio, and up to 10-hours of video (H.264/ACV and MPEG-4 support) or 36-hours of music (MP3, AAC, DRM'd WMA, and linear PCM supported) playback off beefier battery. The A820-series will ship in black, silver, gold, and pink in NWZ-A826 (4GB), NWZ-A828 (8GB) and NWZ-A829 (16GB) models all hitting Europe starting this April for undisclosed prices. US too if that FCC filing is any indication.

Pictures looks the sames as previous series .

source:engadget

So which kind of headphones can go with our beloved Walkmans ?

2008-02-18T19:55:00.004+05:30

For the past two I have tring to find which type of earphones or headphones can go with our walkmans without using Amps (I know very little about these things ) and to my shock most of the headphones can't be used .Why ?Reason is simple 2.5mW for both (R+L) is too less to power most of the good headphones .

Rant over ............

Sony NWZ-A82X-series Walkmans with A2DP hit the FCC

2008-02-17T22:22:00.003+05:30

Looks like Sony might launch new walkman in few months from now on .here is a piece of news reported by Engaget

test reports for three new NWZ-A82X-series Walkmans with sketchy drawings of the backside product label. Apart from finding test results for a Bluetooth 2.0+EDR radio -- which points to A2DP support -- there's not much to go on here. Given the sizes in the diagram, we'd guess that these'll share the basic form factor of the NWZ-A81X units, but you never know how the NWW-A826, NWZ-A828, and NWZ-A829 will rock our world when they eventually hit -- or do you? We await your replies with anxious fervor.

from engaget ->
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/22/sony-nwz-a82x-series-walkmans-with-a2dp-hit-the-fcc/

Notice to Owners of Walkman NW-S603/S703F/S705F/S706F

2008-01-18T22:44:00.000+05:30

This what Sony says now :-

Notice to Owners of Walkman NW-S603/S703F/S705F/S706F

17-01-2008

Sony has recently discovered that certain units of Walkman models NW-S603/S703F/S705F/S706F may experience symptoms of having no sound or sound skipping, due to an internal wire breaking within the unit which is dependent on usage.

For Walkman units which have the above symptoms due to the internal wire breaking, Sony will repair the unit free of charge even it is out of warranty period.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and your kind understanding and cooperation would be much appreciated.

Certain units of Walkman models NW-S603/S703F/S705F/S706F may experience symptoms of having no sound or sound skipping, caused by an internal wire breaking within the unit which is dependent on usage.

- NW-S603/S703F/S705F/S706F

For customers who experience the above symptoms when using their Walkman, please consult your nearest Sony Service Centre. A list of the Sony service centres can be found in the Service Centres' page.

Sony Asia Pacific

Sony USA

Sony Canada

Sony Europe

Back again .

2008-01-16T00:17:00.000+05:30

Hi ,
Sorry,For not posting here .Anyway a lot has happened after the last post .Sony has launched quite a few Walkmans in the market and dropped Atrac from many Walkmans as well .

Also ,HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone or every Walkman lover :)

Freedom from SonicStage in New walkman ,NWD-B100 .

2007-07-28T22:36:00.000+05:30

So ,Sony finally woke from its long sleep .Sony have finally allowed drag and drop feature in its new walkman series NWD-B100.This is great news for those who find SonicStage, as the world's worst Software made on earth ,but the sad news is they have also dropped support for Atrac .

Features:
3-line color LCD
1GB (NWD-B103 / B103F) and 2GB sizes (NWD-B105 / 105F)
and features an FM tuner, mic / voice recorder,
12 hours battery life, and perhaps best of all,
MP3 and WMA (No Atrac)

Source :AtracLife and Engadget

New Forum for gadgets

2007-05-31T01:12:00.000+05:30

Somebody just started this forum -> Looks nice

http://pctechboard.com/forum.php?referrerid=24

ShoutBox

2007-05-29T17:38:00.000+05:30

Today ,I have added shoutbox as well .You can see it on the right side of your screen .If you have any query regarding my reviews or regarding walkmans ,SonicStage etc you can post your question their or search the Links below or E-mail me here ->

ilovewalkman@gmail.com :).

Firmware Update for NW-A805/A806/A808

2007-05-25T18:55:00.000+05:30

Resolved Symptoms:

* Noise may occur when user activates Equalizer or VPT (Surround), and playback.
* On rare occasion, user cannot operate the player when playing back a transferred MP3 file.

Target Firmware: The firmware version of the following products should be less than or equal to 1.01.

Target Model: NW-A805/A806/A808

Click here to see the instructions

Filename: NW-A800_V1_02.exe
Download size: 10,407 KB
Updated on: 2007/05/24

Sony Japan
South Asia Pacific Update

NW-A8xx series released in Japan

2007-03-09T23:18:00.000+05:30

Sony has released NW-8xx series in Japan and it can be ordered from Sony Style Japan.
Along with Blue,White,Black and Pink ,Silver colour can also be ordered from Sony Style (Which seems to be Sony style limited edition model) .

NW-A8xx series is much cheaper in Japan than in European countries .

Prices :

NW-A808-32,800 yen
NW-A806-26,800 yen
NW-A805-:20,801 YEN

Sony Lauches Two New walkman series (NW-A8xx and NW-E01xx)

2007-03-01T21:58:00.000+05:30

First Video Walkman by Sony ( direct competition with Nano) ,comes in 3 flavours NW-A805(2gb),NW-A806(4gb) and NW-A808(4gb).New walkman can be preordered now from Sonystyle europe (Will be shipped in April ).Walkman has Flash based type memory .

Features:

Plays approximately 30 hours of music or 8 hours of video
2.0 inch QVGA High Brightness Colour LCD (240 x 320 dots)
Multi codec support (many formats supported)
WM-PORT (22 pin connector that allows you to connect your WALKMAN to various kinds of optional accessories)
Hi-Speed USB compatible (USB 2.0)
Colour: violet
Dimensions: 43.8 x 88.0 x 9.1 mm (the thinnest section is 8.3mm)
Weight: approximately 53 g
Supplied accessories: headphones (MDR-EX082), headphone exention cable, USB cable, software (SonicStage CP 4.3, Image Coverter 3), quick start guide (full instruction manual is included on the CD-ROM)

Another Flash based type model(lipstick shaped) has been launched by Sony along with their first video Walkman is NW-01xx series . It is only available in 1gb and 2gb.

SonicStage 4.3 Now available ;)

2007-02-15T19:24:00.001+05:30

Sony has launched SonicStage 4.3 .
Only Improvement :Microsoft Windows Vista compatibility.

Sony Europe :Sonic Stage 4.3

Sony Video Walkman

2007-02-12T13:50:00.000+05:30

So again Sony is trying to rekindle their walkman brand with the release of Sony Video Walkman (Remember ,It is still a rumour).It will be interesting to see How quickly they announce the walkman & How quickly they release it .

Article Below taken from AtracLife :

According to previously credible sources, Sony is readying a 2, 4, and 8gb video Walkman which is smaller than the Apple iPod Nano. It will have the appearance of the NW-A3000/1000 units of old but in a more flat and rectangular form like its Apple counterpart. The big ticket with this device is that it will feature supposedly 8 to 10 hours of video playback, although we all know that those figures can be manipulated by low brightness, low volume, video/audio codec quality, etc. However, we must admit that Sony has been able to pull impressive battery life figures in the past with a variety of interesting technologies. The hardware interface should feature similar buttons to the A3000 series, but don’t expect to see an Artist Link button. A superslim profile ( 6.5mm thick ) and a gorgeous screen of a larger size than the Nano for optimal rotated viewing is expected.

The GUI is still the 3×3 menu layout similiar to the A3000, but with updated icons and better overall menu functionality. Four colors will be introduced: violet, black, blue, pink (various regions may only get certain colors). Pricing should be equivalent or slightly higher than the Nano. An early March announcement is expected.

This could be a huge release for Sony, or possibly just a shadow in the upcoming presence of the next generation iPod

2007-01-10T19:55:00.000+05:30

GOLDEN NW-S703F

Hi Everyone.

I got this player Two days back and all I can say I'm really enjoying :).

Before planning to buy this player, I had planned to buy an I-pod(yeah an I-pod{I'm not kidding } ,but somehow sound quality of NW-S7O3F(Bought the golden one )

Series saved Sony & I bought this player. I got this player for Rs 11990(About US$277).Since NW-S703F was quite costly(For me Atleast & I know It will for most of the Indians ) that’s why I dropped the idea of buying NW-S706/S706F. In US NW-S703F

It came in a shiny purple box (Like then one in Which NW-1000 or A-series was supplied)

Now I will discuss about this player:

Pros:Shiny,Looks Solid(except for the earphone plug ,Sturdy ,Noise Cancelling Feature ,Clear ,Crisp & Booming Bass ,Good earphone supplied(MDR-NC022),Charges Quickly(Takes about 115min to charge fully (When the is fully discharged), ,Jacket Feature (It is like Cover art of MZ-DH10P){Small album art looks very cute ,otherwise it is useless as one cannot read anything )

Cons: Now Case Provided, Very Costly, Recording Features need additional Cable, Play mode & Sound button

1. Body (Durability): Most of the body of the player is made of metal Back, sides (Except for Front screen & Button), but I couldn't make out from which material Jog Dial is made of. Front Screen, Which is made of plastic (They have used the same material for the front screen that they used in A3000/A1000) & Button are also made of plastic .Player Does look Stylish, Solid and Sturdy.

--Headphones plug moves little bit .IMO it should not be moving.

Marks: 4/5

2. User Friendly (Ease of Use).Player is quite easy to use once your get familiar with it .Lie the previous E4xx/5xx/A6xx series it also has a Bright 3 line somewhat Colored OELD display, but again it has a disadvantage it is not easy to view OELD display in Sunlight.

-Jog Dial make life easy, I’m mean with Jog dial it is very easy to access albums, Songs etc.

-Most of the buttons are positioned well (Except for the Play mode & Sound button).It is very difficult to press Play mode & Sound button (Which is on the backside ) when the player is playing & you want to change sound settings etc b`coz of the position on the back side .Most of the time I ended up Pressing Play or Cue/Rev button (Placed on the front side ).Play mode & Sound button should have been placed little lower on the backside (like E5xx series ).

Marks 3.5/5

3. Carrying outside or Portability: Player is very portable

Dimensions are: 87.2X27.4 X 14.9(w/H/D) & Mass: 47gm .I doesn’t think I need to say anything else.

Marks 4.5/5

4. Transfer Rate: Sony NW-S7xxseries manual says HI-Speed USB (USB 2 Complaint).

Transfer rate of transferring songs via sonic stage is Just Ok; it is neither too fast nor too slow.

Marks: 2.5/5

5. Media Files Supported: ATRAC3, ATRAC, MP3, WMA (*1), AAC (*1), ATRAC Advanced Lossless (*2) and linear PCM (*2).

*1 Except copyright-protected files

*2 During direct recording

Still it doesn't support many file formats (like FLAC), but many of use either use single file format so it doesn't matter .Like I most of the time use Atrac 3Plus 192kpbs.

Marks: 3.8/5

6. Sound Quality: Sound Quality of NW-S7xx series is of Top notch quality..It's great (I don't have words to express myself).Sound Quality of NW-7xx series (NW-S703F) beats the previous walkmans in every way, whether it is in bass or in the treble department.

-It is much fuller & richer when compared with NW-A1000.

-Clear Bass feature Produces clear & booming bass .It is improved version of Mega Bass.

-According to Sony "Clear Stereo" feature delivers crisp, clear stereo sound, but I didn't find any difference whether it is ON or OFF.

-VPT features produces surround sound of different environment Live ,Arena ,Club ,Which I find very useful .

-It also has 5 band Equalizer (Heavy,Pop,Jazz,Unique,& Two Custom Equalisers )

one can use all the features like Clear Bass ,VPT,5 band Equaliser at the same time .

Another New feature called Dynamic Normaliser has been added to this walkman .Basically I reduces the volume level b/w the songs. works well when it is used during shuffle mode

The Most Highlighted feature of this Walkman is NOISE CANCELLING FEATURE (Cost of this player is higher b`coz of this feature) which only works with the supplied earphones .Its. NOISE CANCELLING feature is quite useful during traveling, especially while traveling in the metro. This features reduce outside(Ambient ) noise by about 75%, but Not all noise is cancelled out .Earphones supplied with the NW-S703F have high sensitive microphone & its sensitivity can be controlled using Noise Cancel Control in the advanced menu of the main unit.

Earphones Used to Test the Sound Quality: It used Different Earphones to test the sound quality. The Earphones (MDR-NC022) that came with the box produced very good sound.

I was amazed that MDR-E931 also sounded good with this walkman. Other Earphones that I used are MDR-E808, MDR-E10LP, RP-HV288 .Remember If NC feature is used battery life is shortened.

Audio File Used: Atrac 3 Plus 192kpbs. Atrac Advance Lossless 128kpbs sounded good, but I was unable to find much Difference b/w AAL & Atrac 3 Plus 352kpbs...If we need to use AAL, then we need 80 GB space At least (IMO).

Marks: 4.5/5

7. FM-Tuner: Like NW-E4xx/E5xx/A6xx, NW-S703F also has FM tuner.FM Reception is just good.

FM Auto Preset (When Scan Sensitivity was on High) tuned 14 channels instead of 9(Delhi only has 9 FM channels).The other 5 channels tuned when selected using Jog Dial made background /awful noise only (I had to manually delete those unwanted Channels)

& When Scan Sensitivity low was selected it only tuned 4 channels .SO FM auto Preset functioned poorly.

Marks: 2.5/5

8. Headphones: They are the best ever supplied (Bundled earphones) that I have ever seen. IMO MDR-NC022 needs a separate review, but I will still describe it briefly here .Since Earphone jack of the supplied earphone is different from the normal one, so it cannot be used with other mp3 players.

NC022 produced good sound .Sony provided three Different Ear fit rings or tips.

(i)Small, (ii) Medium, (iii) Large.

-Lows & Highs are quite clear, but mids are not. Also they are good for listening POP/Rock/Dance music songs ;)

Marks: 4/5

9. Supplied accessories:

1. SonicStage CP Ver.4.1" application software (CD-ROM).(I’m using SonicStage 4.2,I didn’t had the courage of uninstalling SS 4.2 the previous one to check SS CP 4.1)

2. Headphones (MDR-NC022)

3. Headphone extension cord,

4. Quick start guide (In Different Languages .but I need the English one only :)

5. USB cable

6. Attachment (I can be used only when connecting the player to the optional cradle (BCR-NWU3).So it is useless otherwise.

NO Cover/Case for the player has been supplied by Sony.

Also Cover for NW-S703F is still not available in India.

Marks: 3.5/5(As they have not supplied cover)

10. Recording Capabilities: I couldn't test this feature b`coz I don't have the Recording cable (WMC-NWR1) which is required. This cable is needed to be attached to the WM-Port. According to manual Recorded Songs which are recorded on the player can be imported to PC using SonicStage (I think for that we will have install Sonic Stage CP 4.1 .It might have some additional utility for that ,but I cannot guarantee ).

11. Optional accessories :( One will have to buy these .At the same time they might not be available in your country .At least in my country they are not available.

1. Clear Case | CKH-NWS700

2 Genuine Leather Carrying Case | CKL-NWS700

3 Clear Case with Back Clip | CLP-NWS700

4 Leather Strap | STP-NWN3

5. Charging Cradle | BCR-NWU3

6.Recording Cable| WMC-NWR1

For more Information Pl read Atraclife Blog à http://www.atraclife.com/2006/10/12/new-walkman-accessories-for-the-nw-s700fs600-series/

Marks :3/5 (They are Imp ,but They are not available in all the countries & At the same time they are costly )

11, Battery Life: Sony Rates that one can get 50hr when media Format is Atrac 3 132kpbs & any the additional features are off (Like Clear Bass etc).

Since I have only used the player for only two day I’m not in a position to rate its battery life, but I will update it soon.

Mark: I will rate it soon

12.Software :I don’t want to comment much about SonicStage b’coz most of us know about it ,but one thing I have to say SonicStage CP4.2 did hang up for about 15 min(I have no CLUE WAY).

Marks: 3.5/5

Marks.36.8/55

Rating on one to Ten scale: 6.7/10

Body-wired headphones

2006-12-01T14:51:00.000+05:30

This not a Walkman related post ,but quite an Intersting one . Instead of using Wires Sony Research lab has found a way of using our body for earphones
Content of New Scientist:
Sony's Tokyo research lab has found a way to connect headphones to portable music and video players without the need for fiddly wiring. They simply feed an audio signal straight through the listener's body. Existing wireless headphones use Bluetooth radio, but this means pairing two devices beforehand and is prone to interference from other equipment. Another approach – infra-red – relies on line-of-sight, which is rarely practical. The new system uses the listener's body as a capacitor that carries a tiny electrostatic charge. A music or video player sends a fluctuating signal to a conductive cloth pad – such as a wrist band – and this slightly charges the wearer's body. A pair of conductive ear pads in the headphones pick-up the signal and rapidly convert it back into sound. Just a few millionths of an amp flow through the wearer's body, so there should be no nasty tingling effect. To convert the small charge into good quality audio, Sony uses a high frequency signal, which is digitally switched to carry data at 48 kilobytes per second. This is enough to deliver good quality, body-rocking stereo, the company says.

Sonic Stage 4.2

2006-11-12T23:14:00.000+05:30

As expected Sony has released new Software for its network walkmans ,Sonic Stage 4.2 .

New Features:

★ Importing and playing back in HE-AAC format is available.
- Format;*.3gp/
- It doesn’t support a copyrighted file.
★ Ripping Audio CD in HE-AAC format is available.
- Format;3gp
- Bit rate; 96kbps/80kbps/64kbps/48kbps/40kbps
★ DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) function is available. DSEE is a high-frequency completion technology developed by Sony that improves the quality of compressed audio and adds back in high frequencies that are often lost when audio is compressed. The resulting audio is closer to the original, more natural, and offers a wider sense of space.

DSEE:You will find very little difference in sound quality with DSEE on & at the same time there is no way we can utilize this features in our network walkmans .So all i can say it is useless
Sony Japan
Sony USA
Sony Asia Pacific
Sony Europe

Also Do read Atraclife

New Sports Walkman From Sony NW-S20* series

2006-08-14T13:15:00.000+05:30

Sony is Just ready to release it's Sports walkman in the US market (September 15).Release date's of other countries is still unknown .Sony is advertising new walkmans as "Sport Your Music"

NW-S20 series is available in 1gb(NW-S203) & 2gb(Nw-S205) flavors .
Price:Nw-S203(1Gb)->$119.9
NW-S205(2Gb)->$149.9

Features:
1GB/2GB Built-In Memory

Shuffle Shake
With the LCD face up, shake the MP3 player 3 times to easily switch the shuffle feature on. Shake it 3 more times to turn it off.

Sports Assist Functions

Calorie Counter: Allows you to see how many calories you've burned based on your weight and length of workout.

Target Settings: Allows you to set the amount of time you want to work out so the music will stop once the pre-determined length of time has passed. In addition, you can set targets for calories burned and distance traveled.

Stop Watch: Allows you to track your speed.

Music Pacer
Allows you to create both running and walking playlists which the Walkman® player will play based on whether you are running or walking.

Water Resistant
Seamless, water-resistant aluminum body.

Built-in FM Tuner
Provides accurate drift-free tuning of FM stereo radio stations. Presets allow the user to skip directly to the most listened to stations.

1-Line Organic Electroluminescence Display
Electroluminescence Display offers high quality and a unique look. View information about the music, settings and even time and date in any lighting condition.

Quick Battery Charge
A three minute charge will provide up to three hours of playback.

Up to 18 Hours of Playback Life with Rechargeable Embedded Battery
Internal battery provides up to 18 hours of continuous playback on each charge.

Plays Back MP3/ATRAC®/ATRAC3plus™ Audio Formats

5-Mode Equalizer
Offers 5 different modes including: Heavy, Pop, Jazz, Custom and Off for enhanced sound.

WMA(non-DRM) and AAC(non-DRM) Playback and Support
Supports playback of unsecured WMA and AAC audio files to the Walkman device. Perfect for a customer who has a large collection of audio on their PC which was ripped from personal CDs. This allows for tranfer of audio downloads, imports and self recorded tracks, but only works on files that are not protected by DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Skip Proof Design-No Moving Parts
For uninterrupted playback even while carrying the Walkman® player during many active uses.

Multi Language Display
Displays encoded text in English and foreign languages that can include the artist name, disc name, and/or track name.

SonicStage® Music Management Software Supplied or SonicStage CP4

USB 2.0 Compatible
USB (Universal Serial Bus) provides extremely fast and easy transfer of audio files from computer to hard drive and flash players.

Supports CD Text and ID3 Tagging
Allows you to easily view CD text and ID3 Tag information including song title, album title and artist name.

Source :
SonyStyle(US)
AtracLiFE

SonicStage CP (SonicStage Version 4.0) available for Download

2006-05-26T13:53:00.000+05:30

Much awaited Version of SonicStage is now being Released by Sony.
SonicStage CP (SonicStage Version 4.0) is now available for customers of Hi-MD Walkman, Net MD Walkman, Network Walkman, ATRAC CD Walkman, CD/Radio Cassette Player. .It is fully Compatible with A-series

Improvements of SonicStage CP (SonicStage Version 4.0) Program:

1. Compatible with Network Walkman A Series(Features Such as Artist Link are enabled in this version )

2. Importing and playing back in AAC format is available.

- Format: *.3gp/*.mp4/*.m4a
- It doesn't support a copyrighted file.

3. Ripping Audio CD in AAC format is available.

- Format: 3gp
- Bit rate: 320kbps/256kbps/192kbps/160kbps/128kbps/96kbps/80kbps

4. *Transferring AAC to the player is available.

- The player needs to support AAC.

*A-series Walkman(A1000/1200/3000) need s fimware version 3 & E005,E003,E002 needs Firmware version 2 .No other Walkman will support AAC ,MP4,M4P .

5. Artist link function is available.

6. Intelligent function of the Network Walkman A Series is available.

7. Adding of background image is available.

Download Links :
1.) Sony -Europe
2.) Sony Asia -Pacific
3.) Sony USA
4.) Sony Japan

NOTE :Please Update your Previous version from where you last installed the SonicStage otherwise it may ask you to initialize the device.

Sony E005/E003/002 to be released in Japan Soon

2006-05-25T22:10:00.000+05:30

So First time outside Europe E005/003/002 will be released .It will be released in Japan

E-series comes in three Flavours : E005(2Gb)/E003(1gb/E002(512mB)

Price :
1.E005/S= 16,800(Yen)
2.E005-17,800(Yen)
3E003=12800(Yen)
4.E002=9980(Yen)

Sony`s New BlueTooth Remote for Walkmans

2006-05-25T20:26:00.000+05:30

Few Day`s Back Sony Announced the Wireless Remote "VGA-BRM1D" For Hi-MD ,MD player ,HD series,A-Series (A1000/A1200/A1000{only}) ,CD players Etc .
Remote Works on the Principal of Blue Tooth ..

Specifications:

Bluetooth Version: BT 2.0
Frequency Band: 2.4GHz
Range: approx. 10m
Supported profiles: A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile), AVRCP (Audio Video Remote Control Profile), HFP (Hands-free Profile) and HSP (Headset Profile)
WALKMAN support via WALKMAN remote control terminal
Supported applications: SonicStage, Windows Media Player and WinDVD
Supported cellular phone: Cellular phone equipped with Bluetooth corresponding to A2DP, AVRCP, HSP or HFP profiles; Built-in Mic
Power: Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, 3.7V; 600mAh
Estimated battery life: Audio streaming: 15hrs | Handsfree talk time: 15hrs | Standby: 200 hrs
Size: 67.5mm × 32.2mm × 14.3mm (inclusive of the cradle)
Weight: approx. 27.2g (inclusive of the cradle)

For More Infomation See These Sites & Source of this Blog
Sony Japan:link
AtracLife :link
AVWatch:link

Fimware Update 3 for A1000/A1200/A3000

2006-05-24T16:56:00.000+05:30

oN 25TH May Sony announced the firmwares for A3000/A1200/A1000.This will also user to tranfer AAC/MP4(Non Encrypted ) files to these walkmans .
Features :
Playing back with AAC format* is available without any format change.
Therefore, AAC format files in SonicStage CP can be transferred without converting them to ATRAC format.

- The Artist Link Shuffle mode is added to t book. The plot is clever (though the whole popularity plan idea is a teen staple, the Indian twist works), and the narrator is extremely likeable. I would recommend this to teens.

5/24/06extremely likeable. I would recommend this to teens.

5/24/06

Sony Readies iPod Rival

2006-05-13T19:04:00.001+05:30

Ok,I will cover this article aslo b`coz it`s related to Network walkman :D.But Sony`s announcement of I-pod rival is rather a Dumb decision by Sony .You will know later after reading this article ..So lets read

Now According to Sony :

The company is developing a new music player that will go on sale in the U.S. and other markets over the next year, alongside a companion download service and software, said Takao Yuhara, senior vice president of Sony, at a briefing with reporters in Tokyo.

The player will be "typically Sony," he said, drawing on the company's strength in areas like design and long battery life.

Apple has a commanding lead in the music player market and is particularly strong in the U.S., where it's estimated to command more than 80 percent share. Sony has tried to unseat Apple in that market before with little success, and its recently launched A-series Walkman digital music players are on sale only in Japan and Europe.

Few Details Available
The new player will be launched within the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2007, Yuhara said. He wouldn't be more specific, but acknowledged that the holiday sales period between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays is an important time for consumer electronics products.

Sony sold 4.5 million digital music players in the year to March, and expects this to rise to 5.5 million in the current year, the company said Thursday when it announced its financial results. In contrast, Apple shipped 8.5 million iPods in the first three months of this year alone, it said earlier this month.

Sales of all audio products at Sony fell 6.2 percent in the last year.

Read the first para then you will understand why i said it was a dumb decision b`coz player will be released next year by that time Apple`s I-pod will be in front of Sony by many folds or many miles again ..So Sony should rather shut -up...

Source:
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125585,00.asp
http://www.atraclife.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1594

Sony`s First Coloured Walkman CE-P..At Last!

2006-04-17T12:53:00.001+05:30

At last ..Sony came with with a new Coloured Screen Walkman CE-P.But It only supports WMA/Mp3 format ..NO ATRAC.Right now it`s is only available in China & it comes in three flavors 256mb,512mb & 1gb..

Features of CE-P series:
1.)1.5″ 260K color OLED display.
2.)Built-in FM tune.
3.)FM recording .
4.)Voice recording .
5.)It also allows to view BMP/JPEG files.
Price:
-CE-P17: 1GB, black and gold colour(Only available from SonyStyle China ), RMB1199 (approx US$150)
-CE-P15: 512MB, black, silver and red colour, RMB999 (approx US$125)
-CE-P13: 256MB, black, silver and red colour, RMB799 (approx US$100)

New NW-A (002, 003, 005) Series to Debut Soon

2006-04-01T18:00:00.000+05:30

We’ve been keeping our lips zipped to avoid any issues, but as engadget has revealed the news we feel inclined to share what we have available. The 002, 003 and 005 will be 512mb, 1GB and 2GB respectively and replace the existing E100/E300 series (it will not replace the NW-A3000, nor NW-A1000). Pricing will be below the rival iPod Nano in the related sizes and should be very attractive to most consumers. The usual OLED is employed again and gives this thumbdrive an unique look amongst the competition. Apparently, there will be no ‘Artist Link’ (which was introduced with the NW-A3000, etc.) and this isn’t too terribly surprising as it doesn’t run too well with Connect Player anyways.

The units will NOT debut with Connect Player, but rather come with Sonicstage 3.4 (which was a very well made release by Sony). It is also noteworthy to state that this unit will not have FM/AM capability, which may have made it uber attractive in the end, but the jury is still out on that front.
source:http://www.atraclife.com

NICE LOOKING NETWORK WALKMAN EVER PRODUCED(NW-HD3)

2005-10-26T18:06:00.000+05:30

A month Ago I bought NW-HD3 a much awaited player for all the mp3 lovers.Player was priced at around Rs27000 app but after sometime it was reduced to Rs23000 But i actually got for Rs 15000 from Sony world b`coz they want to despose the item at any cost.I also own Nw-hd5 but right now i will discuss about Nw-HD3 .
Features:

1.Transfer and reproduction of MP3 files is now possible as well as ATRAC3plus (using "SonicStage Ver. 2.3", supplied application software).

2. Up to a maximum of approximately 13,000 high-quality music files can be stored in the built-in 20GB hard disk drive(*1).[A word of caution u will get only 18.6gb of storage only)

3.Up to a maximum of approximately 30 hours of continuous music reproductions are possible with the built-in lithium ion battery.

4.Up to a maximum of approximately 30 hours of continuous music reproductions are possible with the built-in lithium ion battery.(but i got 27 hours at 132kpbs)
5.The G-sensor (gravity acceleration sensor) and impact damper prevents damage to the hard disk drive in the case of accidental drops.(this is very important feature for any hard disk player)

6.The stylish aluminum body is available in three colors(Red ,Silver or Black)

7.Incorporating multilingual displays (Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese (Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese), French, German, Italian and Spanish).

note:*1 With four minutes per music conversion for the 48kbps mode with the ATRAC3plus format.
2* Reproduction in the 48kbps mode with the ATRAC3. Approximately 22 hours for a 128kbps reproduction with the MP3

About Dimensions:

Dimensions (W x H x D): 90.0 x 62.1 x 14.8 mm (excluding protruding portions)Mass: approx. 130g (including internal rechargeable battery).Operating instructions: English, Chinese (Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese), Korean, French, German, Italian, Spanish.

About Sound Quality :

ATRAC3 OR ATRACPLUS format of sony is much better than mp3
U can get more good of sound with atrac3 plus 64kpbs than mp3 64kpbs or wma 64kpbs(this has been proved by tests also by one of the worlds greatest sound laboratory)

2 A special feature which is given by sony IS V-SUR it create sounds of different atmosphere i.e arena,live,club etc...(THIS IS NICE FEATURE)
3.6 Band Equlizer which includes Jazz ,heavy,pop etc... & also two custom.
4. Digital Sound Preset Which Is far the best i think soo.(includes +3 TO -4 BASS & TREBLE).

About unit:
1Unit looks solid & sleek.
2Buttons on the unit r well placed.(i haven`t had any problem with that)
3good looking Lcd monchrome display(TFT colour display would have been better but it might 4have been battery consuming)
5Adapter forUSB port is quite delicate.
6 Ac adapter supplied( unit can be charged with ac ADAPTER as well as USB BUT CHARGING WITH A/C ADAPTER IS QUITE QUICK)

Headphones:
Supplied headphones r not good (b`coz it hurts ears) therefore i will recommed to buy one.

Case
There is black case given with the player which is very useful.

Bad points:
No games .FM OR FM RECORDING,VOICE RECORDING,DOES NOT PLAY WMA,WAV(they r need to be converted,)allthe songs which tranferred to the player r encrypted ,so u cannot use them back in ur computer

About sonic stage supplied
But i used sonic stage ver 3(which i got with nw-505)
It is very easy to use and far much better then previous versions

2005-10-13T03:55:00.000+05:30

Few Days back i bought a "Sony Network Walkman" NW-E505".Sound is great ,+3 to --4 settings for bass & for treble also(for up & down) .I had blue aone .Looks great.Metal body on the back side & plastic on the front,Cover for U.S.B port is quiet flimsy or delicate.
{ Headphones r crap ,u can use only in sitting position .
Belt cover is also delicate}.
About sonic stage 3.0 (supplied)very easy to use software .i can bet u it is far much better than previous version
Features:

Supports ATRAC3plus and MP3 formats. Incorporates 512MB of IC memory - enough to record the equivalent of 23 CDs (*1). Built-in wideband FM tuner The built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery delivers 50 hours of continuous playback (*2). Supports USB bus power for blazing-fast file transfer - 3 hours of music playback by just 3 minutes charging.
The organic EL display enables up to three lines of text display. Multilingual track-title display: English, Chinese (Simplified Chinese) and Korean The jog shuttle can be easily operated with one hand. SonicStage Ver. 3.0 (CD-ROM) makes ripping, editing and transferring of music files a snap.
*1 In ATRAC3plus 48kbps mode, assuming 1 CD = 60 minutes of play time.*2 In ATRAC3 105kbps mode.
Dimensions (W x H x D): 84.9 x 28.8 x 13.9 mm Mass: approx. 47 g (including rechargeable battery)Operating instructions: English, Chinese (Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese), Korean, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish.

NOTE: SONY CLAIMS 512MB BUT YOU WILL GET ONLY 487MB(UR COMPUTER EXPLORER & SONIC STAGE WILL SHOW.