Sony Walkman X-series: OLED touchscreen to compete with iPod touch?
Summary: Sony Japan announced a new series of Walkmen today that may trump the iPod touch. The NW-X1000 series, or X-series, was introduced in January at CES, but will actually be released on April 25 in Japan.
Sony Japan announced a new series of Walkmen today that may trump the iPod touch. The NW-X1000 series, or X-series, was introduced in January at CES, but will actually be released on April 25 in Japan. The NW-X1050 with 16 GB internal memory, and the 32 GB NW-X1060, have a 3-inch OLED touchscreen, Wi-Fi, YouTube support, and a noise cancellation feature.
Although it's in Japanese, CrunchGear has a cool video posted which gives you a good idea of the X-series' features. The Walkman lets you play your files in various formats. Audio files can be played in MP3/HE-AAC/AAC/WMA/linear PCM/ATRAC/ATRAC Advanced Lossless, and video in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and MPEG-4/WMV formats.
It is much smaller than the iPod touch, measuring 97.4×52.5×10.5mm. The OLED touchscreen has a 240×432 resolution, while the iPod touch has a 480×320-pixel resolution.
Akihabaranews.com said the X-series doesn't offer an app store, which is one downside to the player.
Available in black or red, the 16 GB model will cost $400, and the 32 GB version will be running for $500. Sony has yet to announce a release date for the U.S. and Europe.
Check out CNET's hands-on review.
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Talkback
Resolution doesn't matter
Oh, shoot, I forgot the rule! It isn't that resolution isn't important, it is that 480*320 is the perfect resolution... until Apple comes out with a 640*480 resolution iPod Touch at which point anything that is 480*320 will instantly become inferior.
The other thing wrong with this walkman is that it only has a 3" screen. Anything smaller than 3.5" is too small. Anything bigger isn't portable. Well, until the iPod Touch Nano and the iPod Netbook at which point 3" screen is perfect for small portable devices and 7" screens is perfect for large portable devices.
Finally, the #1 most important thing wrong with this walkman is that it doesn't have an Apple logo on it. :)
You sure are obsessed with Apple!
Oh, and on topic... As long as the device has at least 100 ppi, I'm sure the display is fine. I would think it's at least 150 ppi with that size screen.
+ 1
400 bucks?
I'm *still* going with the Creative Zen Vision
Not even a contender....
RE: Sony Walkman X-series: OLED touchscreen to compete with iPod touch?
about the technology that drives the
screen. What they want is clarity size
and convenience..and the iTunes
Store. Would I thus consider this also
ran? Not a chance...The package IS
ITunes Store and whatever runs with
it..that is only Apple..sorry, Sony...You
are too late out of the starting gate.
Move on to some other product as this
market it done.
How Much......?
forgot, it is Sony after all!!
Ever since their debacle with their DRM'd stuff, I chose to boycott their
products.
I've upgraded from my 5G iPod to the 32GB iPod Touch and the whole
package is amazing. It never ceases to amaze me. My wife was reluctant
to use it, but now I can't get it off her. I'll wait until the next generation
comes out sometime after June, which is supposed to be substantially
better, and get her one then.
So you're OK with Apple's "DRM'd stuff?"
No, not DRM'd iTunes
into iTunes, and share with friends. For me I could care less about
iTunes, Amazon et al's downloaded music.
You know as well as I do that Steve Jobs tried to persuade the record
labels to drop DRM, but because iTunes was so successful, they tried
to stymie Apple by offering DRM-free music to Amazon (and I think
others).
You already know this, it's been discussed here enough times.
As far as iTunes itself is concerned, I think it has become extremely
bloated, and with most new updates comes with several irritating
bugs, so I wait quite a while before updating. This is good practice for
most software updates anyway, for all platforms.
That being said, the app store for the iPod Touch and iPhone works
tremendously well, spoilt to a certain extent by the number of free
useless apps. it seems Apple are aware of this and have stated they
are planning to revise it. I won't hold my breath as it has become so
huge and is growing at an ever increasing rate.
I hope that answers your questions - Apple are far from perfect, as are
any other platform, I use a PC as well as OS X. I am happy to criticise
Apple where it's deserved, but as far as the iPod Touch is concerned,
the more you use it, the more amazing it seems. You obviously have
not, or don't have any desire to try one, or probably don't even use an
mp3 player. Each to his own.
Um... I sure as hell hate iTunes
It's fantastic that you like iTunes so much. But I, along with millions of others, don't find Apple's solution to be the best.
iTunes competition
On the other cost end, the current price for a iPod Touch 16GB in this area is around $300 Cdn which is a heck of a lot less than the $400 US (~$480 Cdn) for the Sony 16GB model. What do you think is going to get people to spend that much extra to get a smaller screen with lower resolution, fewer applications and (IMNSHO) without the dynamic ecosystem that's sprung up around the iPhone/iPod Touch devices.
As usual, YMMV.
Moronic Statement?
language. If you can't be objective or be polite, don't bother posting
on these forum. You only do yourself a disservice and your comments
count for nothing on here when you behave like this.
If you see my earlier reply to your previous post you will see I also
criticise Apple. You on the other hand obviously have tunnel vision
and can only post to criticise Apple. Get a life.
I already agreed iTunes is bloated, just like Windows is, and whilst I
have considered looking at alternatives to iTunes, I have also read
many bad reports on alternatives, so I have chosen to stay with
iTunes, but especially as it works remarkably well with the iPhone and
iPod Touch.
If you can't be polite, stay away from these forums, you bring nothing
to the table.
Way too expensive, no FLAC support, NO THANKS !