Photo: New Walkman to outside world: Shh!

With its latest music player, Sony wants you to be less distracted by the noises outside your earphones. The Walkman NW-706F, pictured here, incorporates noise-canceling technology that the company says can cut ambient sounds by 75 percent. It also allows recording directly from a CD or other audio player. A 3-minute USB charge through a PC offers 3 hours of playback; you can get up to 50 hours, the company says, but only in a very restricted format, including not using the noise reduction feature. The 4GB flash-based player is expected to be available later this year in Japan and abroad for approximately 29,000 yen ($240).