New Sony MP3 Walkman to Take on iPod Nano   9/9/2005 - 2,698 views, 2 Comments

Appearing to be roughly the same size as the new iPod Nano, although slightly thicker, the MP3 Walkman comes in 6gig and 20gig versions. The 20gig version is available in silver and a gorgeous violet, and the 6gig versions is available in both, plus pink and blue. Docking stations, colour-coordinated headphones, and other accessories are still available.

According to Sony, the new MP3 Walkman “features two new shuffle functions. By selecting ‘My Favorite Shuffle’, the device automatically selects the most listened to 100 songs and plays them at random. The ‘Time Machine Shuffle’ function randomly selects a year and plays all of the songs from that particular year that are currently held on the device.

Sony WALKMAN is a true extension of the user’s personal taste and musical preferences. At the press of a button, the ‘Artist Link’ function will search every artist, album and song stored on the device and offer suggestions of artists and bands closely linked to the genre of music being played at the time.

Once switched on, a mobile phone style ‘Home’ menu appears offering nine different options that can be selected via the four-way directional button. These include ‘Music Library’, ‘Play Mode’, ‘Initial Search’, ‘Intelligent Shuffle’, ‘Favorite 100′, ‘Play History’, ‘Settings’, ‘Playlist’ and ‘Now Playing’.”

The one thing which the iPod Nano has over the new Sony MP3 Walkman, however, is that, again, it is the first such device to feature flash memory rather than a hard drive. And that may distinguish it not only for technical firsts, but in the marketplace.