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When you have an artist or album selected in itunes you can drag your selection onto your ums walkman. It doesn´t work with playlists, however.

what´s the format and container of that movie?

the fact that they are blowing these things out doesn´t bode well for a firmware upgrade.

pcmag claims that the new F device also does wma lossless. If it does lossless it might also do wma pro.

I don´t "want" them. Some people do. It´s a feature that doesn´t hurt me while it remains dormant, hidden underneath an icon. Casual gaming is on the rise and Samsung is being intelligent to offer an option.

Have a look at this: http://av.samsung.de/article.asp?artid=387...&show=specs It´s from the German site but you get the drift. Check out ultra broad codec support entailing FLAC,AAC, WMA, MP3, WMV, Mpeg4 and so forth. Output and SQ will be great -of that I am sure- If Sony doesn´t come through with new Firmware for A808 I will be placing an order for Samsung YP P2 asap. This is the successor to the T9 (had very decent sales here in Germany) http://av.samsung.de/article.asp?artid=546...&show=specs Also note, BT2.0 comes standard, new QVGA Screen, AAC and Ogg Support along with preloaded games and on device playlisting (missing in its predecessor) Both units max out at 8gig for the time being. With Nand Production in house at least the video prone P2 should receive 16 gig. Ah well. Okay, here is the good stuff in ENGLISH http://www.samsungexhibition.com/ifa2007/p...03&select=3

I just checked out the special on sony.co.uk The way it sounds drag and drop will be also available for music files. A reference to this is being made in the smalll q&a section. Use Windows Explorer to get itunes content on the device.... Also WMP11 is portrayed as being one option of getting music on the player - not the sole option. I will contact Sony UK and inquire about a firmware upgrade for current A8 Players. In case of negative response I will sell my unit on ebay and cut losses. The new series is being released in October (in Europe) which will leave ample time to unload my 808. One more thing: dragging and dropping iTunes Plus content requires PROPER handling of AAC Tags. If this all truly materializes the walkman will be the most open platform in the market along with niche manufacturers such as cowon and so forth. This is a massive (irreversible) turnaround.

i´d say get the a808 or whatever it will be called in the us because this unit comes with very decent earbuds that usually retail around 50-60 usd. if they have both units on display i suggest you try them both.

I know what you are saying. WMP11 starts up really quick and I like the way you have a single library for pix, movies (nice previews) and music. Also easy playlisting and logical context menus and user interface.

@idakoshi I´m sure it will be the same wm port. Okay, let´s sum it up in the flash department. Hardwarewise nothing exciting or new. I need to see the F series in person to adequately judge it but obviously Sony has done better in the past. The S7 is missing but not for long I would venture to say. The new A8 is probably 100% identical to the model released 4 months ago. With excellent ui, sq, stock buds and buildquality it will remain competitive until xmas especially so when considering that street price will drop to $199 soon. Apparently there is room for a 16 gig device as multiple competitors are readying such offer. I am confident Sony will release new hardware just in time for christmas. There is enough headroom for improvements. 16 Gig, Noise Cancelling , Design and so forth. However, it´s pretty clear that Sony will be in striking distance to have the best system for holiday season. There is only so much you can do with a small flash device and gimmicks like touchscreen or wifi don´t help. What matters most is mobility, weight, battery and such. The only thing that seems to be worthwhile to add is bluetooth and fm. Now that the main impediment is dealt with (sonic) I am sure we will slowly start to see a more competitive market which is good for us consumers. Softwarewise it´s definitely a turn for the better as there is a lot of choice now with wmp, winamp, media monkey etc. and possibly linux. Down the line there will be media manager integration and ultimately a very close tie in (for what it´s worth) with Sony Consumer Electronics gear in general. Well, it seems like Sony finally listened to the countless voices out there which is a good sign for the future. I wonder how long the new strategy has been in the making. Can´t wait on a fw upgrade for my "old" A8

Here is the deal: http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/30/live-fr...es-ifa-keynote/

They always lied about the superiority in the sq department. That has been evident for a few yrs now. As far as battery life in concerned Sony might have had a valid argument as it is rumored that the decoding of atrac material is less cpu intensive. But that, of course, depends on the cpu and software. Today AAC has strong cpu support. In the past Atrac might have been more efficient, especially at low bitrates. The past is the past, though.

cnet usa didn´t have access to those players as big S didn´t release them in US of A. Cnet did however review the 703 and liked it a lot. Truth be told Sony HD5 won the best sound award back then on cnet. Cnet asia reviewed A808 and liked it a lot. However, I don´t understand why cnet usa is that important. Usually, they blunder in every conceivable way when reviewing complex technology. They also fail -on a regular basis- to properly inform the reader of important interrelations when assessing products strengths and weaknesses. For instance, I find it strange that vital labwork isn´t done on expensive hdtv sets, computers and so forth. Instead personal, highly subjective opionions are published that contrast with reality (lab). Oh wait: http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9768410-1...l?tag=cnetfd.mt

no brainer, do not accept it. nobody knows if a firmware update will be made available to allow for wmp11 syncing with current A808. Apple will release something on Sep 5th and Sony will have to drop prices in response.

All going towards drm free music is somewhat jumping the gun. Parts of the catalog are being made available in an attempt to evaluate market response. Personally, I think it´s the right idea epecially with 256 kbits AAC files. If Microsoft´s plans with zune ever come to fruition remains to be seen. As for the "new" Walkman it´s an improvement in the right department and that´s what should count for the time being. There will not be an uber device any time soon. For now its seems we get rid of sonic and retain very good hardware with best ui and build quality around. Connect and Atrac are gone and that won´t hurt anybody. We swap Connect wiith Napster, Atrac 132kbits for WMA 192kbits (rated just as high on recent soundexpert listening tests on par with nero aac and ogg and superior to mp3lame. certainly MUCH better than 132 kbits atrac) We get a subscription plan for unlimited dls. That´s moving in the right direction. It may be another blip on the giant radar but I don´t care about being the mothership on the radar. We leave that to Steve on the 5th where he will undoubtedly have a 16gig player for 249 or such. He can keep the clickwheel or touchscreen. I just want the 16 gig

the retail box as shown on engadget gives it away. @zizone I don´t think it´s a replacement. From what I can gather the new product features the same feature set as the a8 so there stil needs to be another product to fit in the s7 niche. maybe it´s that rolly thing.

try to reinitialise the player by pressing the little reset button with a pin or such. if that won´t do the trick install the latest firmware.

I hope we current a8 users won´t be left in the sonic rain. Sony better not tell me that a mere software update doesn´t suffice to add wmp syncing. One more thing: wmp 11 has no built in aac support so you cannot add aac files to the powerful library. Will MS rectify this situation? Too much politics involved if you ask me.

I agree. The 615 looks like a SE Cellphone I once owned. The now defunct 850. Not much of a screamer. The new 815 Z isn´t much of a screamer either, only a stop gap and a more viable option for US. Moving to WMP Play for sure is a half-baked move. WMP is much better than most people believe but still no podcast support (argh). MS has more or less abandonded Plays for Sure so why is Sony travelling down this route? I can see Napster on the packaging of the new device but what of rhapsody and the likes? Aren´t they deploying a totally different drm scheme? That would leave us with: Connect now officially deaditunes storeZune Marketplace incompatibleRhapsody likely incompatibleNapster now official replacement for ConnectIf I cared for music downloads I wouldn´t be particularly excited with the new products. Oh, I am sure a mere firmware upgrade won´t do for existing A 800s. BC of technical feasibility? Don´t think so.

wow, truly the best deal ever. It seems Sony wants to get rid of stock right now.

4mths would be typical in the cell phone business and I don´t think a8 was selling bad. a) sony is revving up big time and ready to release new walkman products twice per year or has some other strategy up the sleeve at ifa sony is getting out of the market which i cannot believe as they have put very much effort in the dap business the past 12 months and are spending major $$$ on marketing (uefa champions league etc.) of course, corporate bigwigs might decide to pull the plug just bc they will not win world dominance.

yes.

I am on ultimate 64 and it works without added problems. However, it´s just as slow as on 32 bit vista.

w960i has top notch audio quality as does apple phone. apple phone sq is actually better than 5.5 g sq according to german chip magazine labworks.

personally, I dont care about any nano. Itunes is going in the wrong direction as well. however, samsung´s new devices that will be shown at ifa look like a logigcal improvement. today an employee at germany´s equivalent of best buy told me that sony will have a successor to the s706. The price of the 706 was slashed by 70%. we´ll find out soon