Sony NW-A840 Walkman - the thinnest ever
Now that Sony’s latest portable media player, the NW-A840 Walkman Series has been launched in Japan to wide acclaim, we can’t wait to get our hands on it. Unfortunately, we have to wait a bit longer – when we spoke to Sony in November, we were told that as yet no date has been announced for the launch in the UK or US – but never fear - we’ll keep you posted.
That doesn’t stop us from telling you what delights you have in store once the OLED Walkman is eventually released. Sony has brought the portable media player bang up to date – albeit with retro styling. Available in mahogany brown, reminiscent of wartime radios or in sleek black, the NW-A840 is the thinnest Walkman on the market at 7.2mm. Its slim build doesn’t mean a compromise on display however as it comes with a 2.8 inch OLED and up to 64GB of flash storage.
It ships in three models – the 16GB NW-A845, the 32GB NW-A846 and the 64GB NW-A847. With a 720×480 resolution option to playback video through your TV, the battery lasts for 29 continuous hours of music or nine hours of video. The Walkman incorporates an S-Master digital amplifier and FM radio for crystal clear sound quality but Sony’s digital noise cancellation MDR-EX300SL ear-buds mean that you won’t be annoying anyone next to you on the tube. Note that support Wi-Fi networks are not provided.
With dimensions of 104.9 x 7.2 x 46.8mm, the Walkman weighs approximately 62g and is available in Japan at prices ranging from £160 to £266 – a rival to Apple’s iPod Shuffle if ever there was one.
Sony Ericsson W995
Sony Ericsson’s new Walkman phone leads the way in market technology. Small and slim, its slider mechanism makes it easy to use and in a stylish, brushed black metal casing, it looks good too.
It more than satisfies all your media requirements but also has an 8.1 megapixel camera which delivers crisp, top quality photos with image LED flash, stabiliser, auto focus and face and smile detection. Other functions include geo-tagging which allows you to tag your photos with descriptions of where they were taken and live photo blogging so you can upload your pictures or videos straight onto social network sites or update your status any time you want.
With built in HSDPA and Wi-Fi, speeds are pretty impressive and other features include Bluetooth and an M2 memory card slot that’ll let you store up to 16 GB of stuff. Instant access to YouTube can be gained with up to 69 films available from PlayNow™ arena movies, with a 256K TFT colour screen, the quality of viewing is excellent and three free film downloads are available per month. There’s even a stand available that lets you watch the movie at a 45 degree angle.
Also incorporating latest version of the Walkman® 4.0 player, you can save and play hundreds of tracks with the musical quality for which Sony Ericcson is renowned. It’s possible to create playlists according to genre, tempo and mood. Don’t know what a song is? Simply ask TrickID and you can find out. As you can turn the radio function off, it’s also possible to use it on flights and in hospital and there’s also a docking station for the attachment of a speaker.
Where to get it >>