“Sony has launched a new line-up of flash based MP3 players to tackle Apple’s iPod Shuffle. The new models will start at 256Mb of memory and cost under £70… Sony’s new flash memory players are equipped with chips capable of storing 256 MB, 512 MB or 1 GB of data. Sony also said that the new devices would have 50 [makes that a claimed 70 hours, see below] hours of battery life with the ability to play for 3 hours will a charge of just 3 minutes,” Pocket-lint reports.
The 1Gb model will still cost £200 compared to Apple’s iPod Shuffle at £99. The new models will feature a LCD display though. The new models will be on show at CeBit the technology show in Germany,” Pocket-lint reports. Full article here.
Sony’s webpage states:
Meet the family. The NW-E100 series: funky colours, cool design. If it’s sharp looks and sporty design you’re after in an MP3 player, say hello to the NW-E100 series. Comprising the NW-E103 (256 MB), NW-E105 (512 MB) and NW-E107 (1GB), these are the youngest and funkiest additions to the Network WALKMAN family. Based around a cool circular design, these players come in a whole range of funky colours meaning you can get just the look you’re after. There’s silver, blue, white, red, orange and pink to choose from, meaning the NW-E100 series look too good to hide in your pocket!
But that’s not to say they’re not powerful too: all three players offer a massive 70 hours of battery life. That’s a lot more than the average players out there on the market. So you get to enjoy your favourite tracks for much, much longer.
What’s more, the series’ MP3 and ATRAC3plus compatibility means more convenience for you. And the crystal-clear one-line LCD display makes it simple to find and play whatever you’re after. Weighing in at a tiny 26 grams, with a surprisingly low price tag, the sporty NW-E100 series won’t make a dent in your pocket either.
More info and pictures here. Larger image here.
MacDailyNews Take: Good luck, Sony. Competition is a wonderful thing, it tends to make everybody better. It’s too bad these things don’t work with the iTunes Music Store, but we’re glad to see “ATRAC3plus compatibility,” since that’s our favorite disposable razor (we love those lubricating strips). “NW-E100 family” – very catchy. Is capitalizing the “WALKMAN” part of “Network WALKMAN” supposed to remind us of something beside the fact you’re very, very late to the party, perhaps too late, or that you should’ve quite easily owned this new market, but don’t? With the preceding “Network” or not, the word “Walkman” never fails to remind us of the 1980’s.
hmm, well good for competition but their pictures on the sony web site are small. I can’t tell what those things are. I’ll bet they are photoshop concepts….c’mon, if you are going to release an item, gimme pics! I need eye candy.
1 gig for $300? Who in their right mind would get that over an iPod mini? One line navigation, maybe if you have 50 songs. At least Sony is trying, but they’ve got a long way to go
Gee whiz, they announce a product and it’ll be months before I can get one. Looks like they screwed up the production capacity again, can’t even keep up with demand…wait a minute, I have an iPod 60GB
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…I don’t need one of these. Silly me.
they think an added a radio is worth that much more?
I disagree. Especially since I got an iPod because radio has become so bad.
Oh well.
the battery life is impressive though.
I gotta admit that.
killerwhale: found these pics. (can’t read anything though)
http://www.itime.cn/Article_Show.asp?ArticleID=4285
they look pretty nifty to me!
God…that sony webpage text is horrible..it seems like the engineering team not only designs the products..but the marketing as well.
I have to admit, they do look pretty cool. Too bad they don’t work with Itunes. I like the radio concept as well. It’s nice to catch the news or a game and not be locked into the playlist all of the time. Sony might have something here.
Hmmm, OLED displays in the NW-E400 and NW-E500 series. That’s enough to tear me away from my shuffle right there!</sarcasm>
Poor Sony. They’re reduced to slinging mud to see if anything is going to stick.
One thing they could do is stop letting their Eggheads name the products. Oh, and the copy sucks (really, is this the best they can do?):
“Meet the family. The NW-E100 series: funky colours, cool design. If it’s sharp looks and sporty design you’re after in an MP3 player, say hello to the NW-E100 series.”
Puh-leeze.
Hmmm… Butt ugly, over-priced, incompatible, and serial numbers for names. Yep, that’s Sony. Good to see they haven’t changed a bit.
It’s probably not going to be much competition for Apple, but I do like the idea of variety. Different shapes and different colors to create a very personalized feel. If you get the shuffle, you’re getting the same white pack of gum that everyone else has. You have to buy accessories if you want to stand out or be different. Like the mini, the shuffle should be available in different colors and maybe even different shapes. In fact, I personally think the shuffle looks a little too plain, maybe even boring. The other Apple products are either very hip looking or very elegant. The shuffle is neither, just very simple looking. Hopefully the next version will have a little more variety to it.
fandango: I was thinking the same thing about the copy! “Funky colours”? I don’t remember the last time I heard a company use the word “funky” to describe something. To quote the great Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Lets refer to the Sherlock dictionary to refresh our memory, shall we?
funky
adj 1: offensively malodorous; “a putrid smell” [syn: fetid, foetid, foul, foul-smelling, noisome, smelly, putrid, stinking] 2: (of jazz) having the soulful feeling of early blues [syn: low-down] 3: in a state of cowardly fright
Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University
funky
adj. Said of something that functions, but in a slightly strange, klugey way. It does the job and would be difficult to change, so its obvious non-optimality is left alone. Often used to describe interfaces. The more bugs something has that nobody has bothered to fix because workarounds are easier, the funkier it is. TECO and UUCP are funky. The Intel i860’s exception handling isextraordinarily funky. Most standards acquire funkiness as theyage. “The new mailer is installed, but is still somewhat funky; ifit bounces your mail for no reason, try resubmitting it.” “ThisUART is pretty funky. The data ready line is active-high ininterrupt mode and active-low in DMA mode.”
Source: Jargon File 4.2.0
Now, of all those definitions, which do you think best fits these new Sony Network WALKMANs?
Well, the photo of Sony’s flash model looks much better than the iPod Shuffle, but the price is higher. For their flash price, you can get an iPod mini.
I do think the iPod Shuffle’s design is weak. No style, just a white rectangle. No curves, no color. Kinda blah.
I like the look of them, they are cute and bright. Only the silver and blue appeal to me though.
£200 for 1GB is insane. An iPod mini is better because it has a bigger screen and larger drive and it has way more functionality. If the screen is not a big deal then you would still buy a shuffle. Even if you are an avid anti-iPod consumer with tons of protected WMA files you would still buy a Muvo or iRiver or one of the other billions of small, cheap digital music players out there. Really, what are Sony doing?
Make a new player with all the style and battery ability of these new units. Slash the price by half, add in support for AAC (just like the PSP can handle), WMA, MP3 and throw in (horrible) ATRAC3 and why not Audible support too. The player would sell like hot cakes and yet the lack of protected AAC support would mean that iTMS fans would still want an iPod.
Does a mega-corp such as Sony really not see how lame their products are?
They look like contaceptive caps.
Oh yeah, I want to chunk my mini and get a NW-E107 (has a nice ring to it). BTW- Get me one of those DSCT33W “designer” cameras because I want to get rid of my Leica.
Nice try- no dice
Magic word “without” as in without merit.
Hmm, I didn’t think they were butt ugly. I would never ever buy one but they look OK I guess. The pricing is really stupid though…. And the fact that it won’t work with ITMS sucks bad…. Wannabe aura that just sucks the cool right off of it…. Nope, don’t think I will be buying one. Pretty good try though.
Finally!! the economy of scale is on Apple’s side AND (as usual) they have the best product. It will be very hard for a very long time to knock the king of the hill off. Apple would have to screw up as much as…. as much as….. as much as…. Oh I think you know who I mean. Anyway they would have to screw up at least that bad to be in danger of losing dominance.
Finally got in my new 1gb shuffle – and it has totally replaced radio in the car for me. Who needs five minutes of commercials to hear five minutes of music during the rush hour? (Yes Toronto Q107 FM – YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!).
Now, I’ll work on getting the pod-casting schedule set up so I can enjoy MY RADIO PROGRAMMING when and where I want to.
Thank you Apple.
I wonder if these are behind why AAPL’s big drop today. It’s getting spanked. Magic words: “buying opportunity”?
What is it with press releases, if i had a pound (sterling) for ever new mp3 player which has been called “an ipod killer” i would have a huge bank balance and would never need to work again.
There seems to be some belief that the ipod is always on the verge of colapse. People don’t seem to realise that ipod ownership is than more than a mechanical issues.
It is about brand, desgin, usability, Itunes, status and the huge amount of after market products which increase the usability of the product.
None of these “ipod killers” offer such a complete package, and as such none of them will be pod killers until they realise that the actual player is only part of the deal.
Hugh
Being able to play and record WAV directly from a mike means that you can get awesome audio quality.( to tape concerts) I wish I could record that quality with my ipod. All we can is the very limited griffin sh$t.
Q107 has been crap for ages, same with 102.1 although their decline has been more despicable.
To all those ridiculing the radio feature, many gyms have moved away from the audio set-up where you plug your headphones into a receiver on the machine in favour of specific FM frequencies for the channels being shown. This means that if i want to listen to the audio while i work out i have to bring an FM radio along in addition to my iPod. Nuisance.
I would like a tuner in my iPod or an add-on
do they vibrate too?
I think the prices quoted above (and referrred to in some comments) is wrong. From an AP article at USATODAY.com:
“A 512-megabyte model costs $130 and a 1-gigabyte model costs $180. Models with an FM tuner each cost $20 more. By comparison, Apple’s shuffle is priced at $99 for 512 MB and $149 for 1 GB. The models will be available in May.
A second set of players, set to ship later this month, are roundish, with a diameter slightly larger than a poker chip. They run on AAA batteries, which Sony says will give the user 70 hours of playback time on a single battery. The prices range from $90 for 256 MB of memory to $150 for 1 GB of memory.”
At the lower price points they might sell. The problem Sony has is their jukebox is horrible – people are going to need something much better.
Sony’s Connect service is pretty awful, but most users will be looking for mp3 rather than atrac compatibility.
The line with the clear plastic is a ripoff from Apple’s mouse
“There’s silver, blue, white, red, orange and pink to choose from, meaning the NW-E100 series look too good to hide in your pocket!”
Yeah, and I had a Cadillac at one time with fins. Sure looked good though.
comparing this POS to the shuffle — I have to admit that the screen is so itsy bitsy..that it hurts my eyes..
I’ll take a shuffle with a iTunes and keep my eyesight, thank you very much.
Sony´s offerings look pretty cool.
All it takes is them to get Beyonce to dangle one in her video and va-voom….!!!!
Fashion and styles and tastes change…soon the hot style of the minimalist iPods & chewing gum shuttles will be out. Nothing against the Apple design- its nice for now, but tastes change, people want something new.
I hope for the sake of the people that purchase these things that Sony has improved their terrible software for loading songs to them. I bought a NetMD device a couple years ago… The software is so obtrusive (and slow) that it was faster for me to burn audio CDs from my MP3s, then copy those CDs back to the NetMD… It also let me circumvent their song “check out” process. People like me don’t like being told how, where, and when I can listen to my music.
The one thing that always gets me about the FM tuner – one of the MAIN reasons I have my iPods (40 gig, a silver Mini, and a 1b Shuffle) is so that I don’t EVER have to listen to the radio again!!!! Why on Earth would I even want a fucking FM tuner? If I want FM – I’ll buy a radio!!!
You know what cracks me up – the Shuffle has only been out for less than 2 months and already it has to be “killed”. Guess that dipshit from Creative was right on the mark when he said that the Shuffle was weak and wouldn’t be that popular.
One last thing. I use my Shuffle mainly for what it is – a 1 gig Flash drive. But it is the coolest damn flash drive I have ever seen
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Ted-O.. totally, I mean.. what’s the point of having a 1oz screenless music player in your pocket if no one can… gawk.. at.. it.. er..
Yes it’s sarcasm.
you have to understand the japanese market as well… the shuffle isn’t that customizable… a HUGE thing in Japan.
Ted-O: “I do think the iPod Shuffle’s design is weak. No style, just a white rectangle. No curves, no color. Kinda blah.”
Ted, you’re missing the point. Apple’s designs like the iPod shuffle work precisely because they tend to be stark and, often, white. This enables both the end user AND the after-market developers to customize and personalize the things to their hearts content. In other words, let the customer have some room to be creative with your product, and it’ll have a much better chance of truly becoming “personalized” and entrenched in the popular culture.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Apple’s designs work so damn well.
ottomabulb —
You’re echoing Ted-O’s comments, but (as I wrote above) I completely disagree. The iPod shuffle is eminently customizable.
That’s why it’ll be HUGE in Japan.
Look nice and you can see what’s playing! Lack of a screen initially put me off the Shuffle and so far I haven’t changed my mind.
For Andy C.
“Definitions of FUNKY on the Web:
1970’s jargon word. Defies precise definition. Used by some Canadian tasters when reviewing provincial Liquor Control Board offerings.
zebra.biol.sc.edu/smell/wine_glossary.html
Defies precise definition. Appears to be a 1970’s cannabis culture derived word sometimes used by N. American west coast winetasting reviewers when describing vegetal/ yeasty/yeastlike aromas so complex that individual identification is difficult. Can have positive or negative connotations depending on context.
http://www.stoneymesa.com/winetastedict.html
good; pertaining to music which has a certain type of beat, also things can be “funky” which means they are “unusual”
http://www.planetpals.com/coolkidz.html
fetid: offensively malodorous; “a putrid smell”
http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn
(of jazz) having the soulful feeling of early blues
http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn
in a state of cowardly fright
http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn“
Hows that for definitions?
Strange that nobody mentioned that the new Sony’s have a proprietary USB connector. They can’t be plugged into a regular USB port. They require a special cable.
Actually I beleive there is a company that makes a inline iPod remote with a built in FM reciever for those who can’t live without moronic chatter in the mornings.
I really don’t understand the obsession with a view screen – I didn’t let that stop me from buying a cd player.
misanthrope,
the difference being that a CD player will likely only play 12 – 18 songs in one setting. more than likely, you’ll be able to scan through your playlist and know what songs are coming up.
with an iPod shuffle and no screen, you won’t know what song is coming up or find a particular song you want to play.
not that that’s a huge issue. i personally have a regular ipod and probably look at the screen 2 – 3 times during usage in a day. most times, i just let it play…
I like the display. The way it seems to appear on the outer casing without an actual greay LCD box around it. That looks cool. Like some sort of head up display. Unless it’s a Photochop job.
misanthrope – “I really don’t understand the obsession with a view screen – I didn’t let that stop me from buying a cd player.”
Please let me suggest a possible explanation for the “obsession” with a screen for compressed music files then..
A conventional portable CD player plays one CD at a time with about 10 to 20 tracks, lets say average 15, often by the same artist. That CD also comes with album art, track listings, notes etc if you wan tto “follow along” with an unfamiliar album. But when you have “up to 240 songs” on your 1GB shuffle (by possibly different 240 artists?) cut free of the restraints of CD media, I for one, would like at least some basic track information to help with some very basic navigation and not have to rely on my memory of what I loaded.
So far, I like the images I see of the sony implementation for a small basic screen. It’s all I’d ask for – 3 lines – nice. I hope it looks like that for real.
Sorry, but I’ve just gotta say it – the 400 and 505 look like plastic suppositories. No thanks.
A “crystal-clear one-line LCD display”
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Wow, I didn’t know Sony developed a special crystal-clear LCD display!
Kind of makes my watch seem– old school. No wonder they are calling it an iPod killer.
Magic word, “federal” as in . . . oh, who cares!
The real question is, now that this thing has hit the market, at a reasonable price point, AND with drag n drop MP3, inherently better atrac coding if you choose, AND a better software package, are you all still feeling so smug ?