Sony Announces Video Walkman

Sony has finally brought its MP3 playing Walkman series to the video game in order to challenge Apple’s iPod, announcing the NW-A800 series Walkman, which will initially go on sale in Europe in April before making its way to the US and other markets later in the year.

The super-slim player comes in at a mere 1cm (9mm) thick, with a 2", 240x320 pixel, color LCD screen and support for the MPEG-4 video format, as well as the usual audio suspects. The video Walkman does differ from Apple’s video iPod in many ways ; the screen is smaller, and the display portrait rather than landscape as with the iPod.

Sony is promising up to 30 hours of audio playback on the battery, and four hours with the video.

The player will be available in three flavors, with pricing starting at €180 ($237) and ranging up to €300. In comparison the iPod starts at €289, but given the differences in size and suchlike a direct comparison is difficult. This could be a smart move for Sony, who have thus far failed to excite the market with their iPod "beater". It might be better for Sony to think laterally and offer an alternative setup, rather than a direct alternative player.