“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.
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 ?