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SI: Sony Confirms S-Series Walkman Update With Built-In Speakers

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Christopher

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Sony has confirmed the 8 and 16GB S540 series (Black, Pink, Violet and Red) Walkman, confirming our initial leaked pictures and discovery of its listing on a French retailer. Sony is billing it as the perfect choice for anyone who loves sharing their music, as it’s the first ever Walkman video MP3 player that includes two high-quality integrated stereo speakers. The player’s front panel is dominated by a big, bright 2.4” LCD screen (30fps QVGA). The usual codec support is there, including MP3, WMA, AAC, and WAV. Video codec support includes WMV, AVC, and MPEG-4. There’s also a FM tuner with 30 presets that you can record from.

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At just 10.2mm thin, the compact new Walkman S-Series still manages to find room for two high-quality stereo speakers guarded by a tough, stylish aluminum speaker grille. Whatever your listening preference, the slimline Digital Linear Phase Speaker System delivers satisfying, sound with solid bass and crystal clear highs. Listening on speakers is enhanced by Digital Linear Phase Speaker System technologies unique to Sony.

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If you want to keep your music private, listening on supplied mediocre headphones is enhanced with unique Clear Audio technologies from Sony for a dynamic, detail-packed soundstage. Clear Stereo reduces leakage between left and right channels, while Clear Bass delivers powerful, controlled low-end frequencies without distortion. There’s a 5-band equalizer to color your audio to your preference. In addition, a Dynamic Normalizer balances volume levels between songs.

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The updated Walkman S-Series lets you keep listening for longer, with up to an incredible 42 hours listening time on headphones from a single charge. You can even listen for up to 17 hours through the built-in speakers. Battery life with video playback is a similarly impressive 6.5 hours: plenty to keep you entertained on that holiday flight or the daily commute to work (5 hours video when using built-in speakers).

The new S-Series Walkman will be priced very competitively, most likely found cheaper than its main rival, the iPod Nano.

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If anyone is wondering the speakers are good on this device better than the ones in creative players and better than the upcoming zii, thats the only thing i found out about this player. (from reviews not personally)

I am still waiting on one with an fm transmitter

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The screen on the Zii EGG compares very favorably with the Sony's OLED (shown above), though the blacks certainly aren't as intense. It's shockingly bright, and colors are very vibrant and 'alive'. The built-in speakers are about on par with those on my Zen X-Fi, though not quite as good as the one's on my Sony NWZ-S545 (also pictured)

From DAPReview, its a preview of the Zii Egg but sneaks in a bit about the new S series

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From DAPReview, its a preview of the Zii Egg but sneaks in a bit about the new S series

Yup, seems that DaHarder has the new S Series player in his picture. Sweet:

zii_eggdh2.jpg

"The screen on the Zii EGG compares very favorably with the Sony's OLED(shown above), though the blacks certainly aren't as intense. It's shockingly bright, and colors are very vibrant and 'alive'. The built-in speakers are about on par with those on my Zen X-Fi, though not quite as good as the one's on my Sony NWZ-S545 (also pictured) -IMO."
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I've seen other reviews state the speakers are fine but only lacking bass but then this is no surprise.

senseme sucked bad, noise cancellation would be nice but then this would boost the price by at least 50-75 bucks.

it's simple the new S is a basic player with great sound and large screen, nothing more nothing less, and of course at a good price.

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No Mac support , or Linux ..........

The 40,000,000 plus mac owners and another few million Linux users , translate into another 40,000,000 or so Dollars that sony doesnt see.

The same with the Digital Book Readers , I want one , but no Mac support .

Hey Sony , Mac isnt just Mac OSX , it is UNIX based , and stable as a rock for those who know how to use it . And coding your Readers and Audio DAP's to work in a Binary environment would make them a lot more functional . and Compatible with all systems .

Even if it would just allow direct import , Drag and drop as a External HDD , that would be cool , That alone would make the Book Reader viable for me , and make the DAP somewhat attractive as well

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When will this S-Series Walkman be released? What is ClearBass? Is it like legacy Digital Megabass?

the new S is already on sale in canada and the US sony style sites and for canda, best buy stores.

Clear Bass – by using automatic level control this aims to produce deep, rich and distortion free bass

Clear Stereo – Prevents ‘stereo leaking’ (audio signals leaking between left and right channels) and thus delivers a more balanced stereo effect.

Even thought that is true and the walkmans will work on any OS, sony does have this on their sonystyle page for the S

We do not guarantee operation for all computers even if they meet the above System Requirements.

Not supported by the following environments:

Personally constructed computers or operating systems

An environment that is an upgrade of the original manufacturer-installed operating system

Multi-boot environment

Multi-monitor environment

Macintosh

not sure why sony denies it not working, but then again probably just being safe. :unsure:

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This Walkman is fully drag and drop compatible and appears as a mass storage device to Windows and Mac computers. So, to load music on the player all you have to do is drag and drop. It's nice.

REALLY ??? where is that in the review , I didnt see that in the specs when I was browsing , Maybe I missed it . Could you post that info ?

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TC all walkmans outside of japan have been drag and drop since the NWZ-A81x days.

http://presscentre.sony.eu/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=4740

A range of major music and video formats are supported including rights-managed WMA and WMV. Importing music, video and photos is quick and fuss-free, with simple drag-and-drop from your PC

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Guess I will have to take my Macbook down and try it out at the store , I would hate to buy it on assurances only to get it home and see that it doesnt work .

I tried this with a Creative Nomad , Muvo that is supposed to be seen as a USB drive , and it recognized , and I transfered files , and ejected it , but it wouldnt reboot properly afterwards and said it had been Improperly disconnected , and would not start up . So I had to go into a recovery mode on it , and reformat before it would start .

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TC the new walkmans will work on a mac, K-bench reviewed the new E44x series and the device even worked on windows 7 which is technically still not supported by sony walkmans.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44610

people have used walkmans with macs, since it shows up as a removeable drive. reviews from cnet have stated the device goes into UMS move on non-windows base OSes.

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Yup, all the new Walkman players are drag & drop outside of Japan. As stated, it shows up as a removable drive on Macs & a removable drive in Linux environments. I used my old S618 a few times in the past w/UBUNTU on my old laptop. It worked fantastically. Remember, any Sony DAP that doesn't use Sonic Stage works well w/any OS.

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Although it will appear on Macs, i believe Sony still states Macs as a unsupported OS in their user manuals.

Yeah that is why I never tried it , but if we have Guy's here saying it works , based on usage no guesses , then I will think about this one , I dont really want an iPod , even though i am on a Mac . ( I removed iTunes from my system )

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Got my S639. I really hope Sony decides to release a player, w/tactile controls, in a 32gb capacity. Damn, this is so sweet sounding. It's equal to my Cowon S9, and w/less adjustments in the EQ.

Hi, Sony already HAS a 32GB player with tactile controls: The Sony NWZ-X1060

32GB Touchscreen with tactile controls for play/pause/fwd/rev/vol+/vol-

plus all the good things like OLED display, noise cancelling etc.

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Hi, Sony already HAS a 32GB player with tactile controls: The Sony NWZ-X1060

32GB Touchscreen with tactile controls for play/pause/fwd/rev/vol+/vol-

plus all the good things like OLED display, noise cancelling etc.

I already know about the X1000 Series, and it's considered a touchscreen player w/tactile controls. I want a player without a touchscreen, as many of us here are waiting for. And 32GB is the sweet spot. The X1000 Series is also overpriced, considering how lackluster the extras are.

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I'm sure prices will drop as Apple is releasing new iPods for less money.

well amazon has not changed the price by much 32 gb is at 379.99, 16gb model is 291 US, the X is cheapest in the UK if you import it.

perhaps amazon is waiting for the new ipods to start shipping before any price drops but I would be shocked to see sonystyle dropping the price to match the new touch. one can hope.

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well amazon has not changed the price by much 32 gb is at 379.99, 16gb model is 291 US, the X is cheapest in the UK if you import it.

perhaps amazon is waiting for the new ipods to start shipping before any price drops but I would be shocked to see sonystyle dropping the price to match the new touch. one can hope.

Considering Sony's reputation on marketing their own products, I too would be surprised if they started competiting on price.

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The S and E series are now listed on Sony.com.au

https://www.sony.com.../pa-mp3-walkman

I noticed. Just waiting for the leather cases to come out.

There is subtle difference too. Australian version has the crappy WM-PORT while US version has the Mini-USB port!

Typical of us Aussies to get screwed over.

I got my 16gb (E-Series) anyway from the States including postage for $166AUD anyways....

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