thefanboy

Stuge, nice photos... I enjoyed my short trip to HP, 10 years ago....to Kulu,Manali and Rohtang Pass (4000 m above sea level)...

My expectations are simple, Improve the GUI. Though interface is simple and clean, it needs some cosmetic changes....(currently icons and text are not on par with current generation models from competitors) A80X looks better than current models...pls break this habit of going back...needless to say, looks sell stuff. only three models shd be there: plain vanilla, with bluetooth, with noise cancel and make universal fm part of all models.

Zizi-san, thanks, but year end seems to be too far, as I am not impressed with this a82x thing.....a80x was a better looking device, though a82 has bigger display and reportedly better sound though. In my opinion current line-up does not have the zing to last till year end. Stuge, Even when a82x comes to India, it may be expensive. IMHO, when they release it there, they shd put NC earphones.

Anyone know about any new walkman coming ? spy pictures ? rumors ? spotted in the wild? word-of-mouth???.....etc etc ?

I am little confused here, the nw-a829 comes with noise cancel built-in and bluetooth built-in, there is no bluetooth headphones supplied. In us nwz-A82x, 8 gb version comes with ear-in phone and bluetooth headset, but 16 gb version comes only with ear-in, no bluetooth headset supplied(but device has bluetooth though).

cauldron, Good references, I guess the reason could be Connect Team which develops walkman has no clue on it, To cut down on RAM(mylo has out-of-memory issues), or simply they did not review their old stance, i.e they decided against os when RAM was expensive and continued with it..... Mylo has a good chance if they can put hdd in it.....youth will like it. Everybody can carry their entire mail inbox in his pocket, type your replies on journey even when there is no wifi....and send it once you are in hotspot..... nice right ?

there is a new e series on jp sonystyle. http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Walkman/Product/index.html may be your question is why it us not available outside jap ?

media player market is slowly moving towards mobile computing. It is possible to combine good media experience with internet capabilities (wifi), mails, doc readers and much more with current technology. iPod touch is squarely aimed at that. Apple has enough software prowess to address this market. Where is sony placed in this market ? Since their software ability is nothing great, they probably can embrace Android. The Android is an os for future mobile device from google. Though it is aimed at mobile phones, it shd be possible to use on media players or mobile computing device, say walkman touch. http://code.google.com/android/ If sony can do that, #1 that will relieve sony from investing in custom software for each device which will eventually save resources and money. #2 quality third party application. This will become deal breaker as iphone/ipod touch will have lot of third party applications soon. It need not be Android, they can use symbian/uiq much like SonyEricsson for that purpose. Sony hardware like built-in noise cancel, cool sound quality on a smooth os will be a treat, wat say ?

looks cool. As you said, it should not be shiny, shd have brushed metal feel. I don't want xmb though,looks boring. seriously it is time to combine mylo and walkman.....walkman quality audio with skype and 32/48 GB options.....dragAndDrop. oh god ! I am 100% sure grandpa designers of sony wont listen!

But with touch screen all (icons of)applications can be put on front screen.....if we do the same with non-touch, one have to do lot of clicks before I reach the application I want. This is a serious pain considering you will spend lot of time on your gadget. For eg, on my so903i mobile I have to do 13 clicks before I reach 'alarm' function, with my ipod touch it is just one click away. which is easy ? finger touch is more intuitive and I feel that is the future.

I have already switched to iPod touch and I am fine with its music quality. Though I still prefer my s70x as first choice, may change once I get nice headphones for iPod. But iPod touch is a monster machine for its price. It can do lot more things with ease. I am at awe with its gui and applications. With sdk release I am more eagerly waiting for apps. And finally I have peace of mind that I dont have to deal with sony support and its regionalism(each region has different player, and support will not be available universally).

If cybershot /mylo and sony-ericsson can have touch screen why not walkman ? Will there ever be a touch screen based walkman with 3" or bigger display ? what you ppl think about it ? btw, what is topping your wish list for future walkman ?

Had a chance to see a82x dummy model, it looks pretty average.....A80x was more beautiful. I dont know from where sony perfected this art of getting uglier and uglier day by day.

there are 2 diff s706 available in japan, japanese model and 'overseas model'. overseas-model shd have proper fm reception in us(88-108 MHz). if yours is japanese then fm range is 76-90 MHz. The japanese model will be able to tune only 88-90 in US. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_broadcast_band In this digital age, Sony still is unable to make universal FM. My case is reverse, I have overseas model in japan. Interestingly I can also receive only 88-90 MHz in japan, I dont use FM though. I paid extra money for overseas model, still I dont get anything universal. How money thirsty sony is ? off-topic Sony walkman is selling fine, the sales target for this year is revised from 5 million units to 5.5 million units http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/07q3_eleki.pdf

hey zizone, are you japanese ? do you know a919, 16gb stuff is selling for 34000 yens with 20% point back in bic camera, any idea why? something big is coming ?