Sony Introduces S Series And E Series Walkman MP3 Players

We haven't a clue why Sony would choose today to introduce its S Series Walkman--after all, the company's Reader Daily Edition was also just announced, and it's undoubtedly the show stopper of the two. At any rate, those more interested in portable music than portable words just might find this tidbit more interesting.

As rumored, the S Series Walkman Video MP3 player is real, and while it's definitely no iPod killer, it's unique in its own way. For example, it features built-in stereo speakers, a 2.4" QVGA display, a frame that's under a half-inch thick, video playback of 30fps and a battery life that's downright staggering. The unit can spin tracks for up to 42 hours or videos for 6.5 hours without needing to be recharged; if you're using the internal speakers, those numbers are slashed to 17 and 5 hours, respectively.



The device also features voice recording, an FM recorder/tuner and support for drag-and-drop or iTunes 8.1. As for format support? It'll handle MP3, WMA, AAC, LPCM, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, JPEG and MPEG-4. In somewhat less interesting news, Sony also officially revealed the E Series Walkman, which ditches the internal speakers and steps down to a 2" QVGA display. The battery also isn't as impressive, with life ratings of just 30 hours for audio and 4 hours for video.

The Sony S Series Walkman video MP3 player will be come in several colors including black, red, violet and pink with capacities includes 8GB ($110) and 16GB ($130). The new Sony E Series Walkman Video MP3 player will be available in red and black for $80 (8GB) and $100 (16GB).