[E's Lil Theorem]

Consumer electronics giant Sony has unveiled a range of MP3 players which use flash memory to store songs.

The devices are pitched into a competitive market recently swelled by the addition of Apple's iPod shuffle.

Unlike hard disk-based players, flash devices hold fewer songs, using solid state memory rather than a disk.

The Sony line-up includes MP3 players which hold a similar number of songs to the iPod shuffle - about 250 - but the players have much longer battery life.

The new players have up to one gigabyte of storage and depending on which version, cost between $150 and $180.

Sony said the new devices would have 50 hours of battery life - compared to the Shuffle's 12 - and they also come with a small display screen.

Apple has made much of the fact its Shuffle does not have a display, and has marketed the random playback of its device as a selling point.

Sony admitted it had to recover ground in the digital music player market.

"We know we've been behind a bit," said Kelly Davis, a Sony product manager for digital players.

"But we definitely want to be a strong contender in 2005."

Industry analysts have welcomed the new models and predict Sony will make an impact.

"It's like the empire strikes back," said Richard Doherty of The Envisioneering Group.

Linkage



"The empire strikes back?" Pfft. I doubt it. As someone on /. noted, most of the iPod competitors tend to forget that a big part of the iPod success has to do with iTunes and its ease of use (in syncing, etc.).

EDIT: spelling, grammar

[misc]

Originally posted by E's Lil Theorem:
Linkage



"The empire strikes back?" Pfft. I doubt it. As someone on /. noted, most of the iPod competitors tend to forget is that a big part of the iPod success has to do with iTunes and it's easy of use (in syncing, etc.).

Plus it looks like poo.

[Wiskedjak]

Originally posted by misc:
Plus it looks like poo.

I don't think it looks much worse than the Shuffle

[TheBadgerHunter]

Looks like a vibrator.

[mitchell_pgh]

iPod Killer v243,492

[Krypton]

Better pic:



Although I'm not all that keen on the twist grip controls Sony always uses on their flash players, the aesthetics are a marked improvement over existing players (including the shuffle IMO).

As always, Sony gets great battery life out of a AAA.

[AB^2=BCxAC]

But the Empire is evil, right?

more like:

ATRAC3 of the Clones.

[MilkmanDan]

Go Sony... just do your best to save your home market from the iPod invasion.

[Spliff]

Originally posted by TheBadgerHunter:
Looks like a vibrator.

I also think they look like a woman's cosmetic case or bottle of perfume.

[sworthy]

I thought they were going with MP3 now? Why would they stay with ATRAC on the flash players? They really need to get over quoting song capacities with poor encoding rates.

[mikithecrackhead]

It's gotta be bigger and heavier than the shuffle. It operates on AAA batteries exclusively? The shuffle has the option of adding AAA batteries. Is it itunes compatible? The Shuffle is still only $99. US

[Superchicken]

Those are some weird looking players... I don't think it'll take on the shuffle very well. Not to mention Sony needs to figure out marketing with names... not to mention they should seriously look at finding some player that can compete with iTunes.

[Anilan]

Originally posted by TheBadgerHunter:
Looks like a vibrator.

Nah, it's a Tampax. It has to be.

[ManOfSteal]

Horrible<XXXXXXX----------------------XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX>Ugly

[- - e r i k - -]

In other news on this announcement Apple Stock went down 5.2%, Sony up 4.3%

[lavar78]

It's almost like they tried to make the screen as hard to read as possible.

[vmpaul]

Actually, that's not a bad effort for Sony. Especially considering how awful a job they've been doing lately.

50 hours of battery life, a display and MP3. That's pretty cool. At a reasonable price point as well. The big question is how do you transfer songs to it? Sony did a lousy job with their NetMD minidisc software. They'll need to show something better than that. Would be cool if it worked with iTunes.

Hey, competition is a good thing.

[mitchell_pgh]

I would almost consider it if Sony didn't have a horrific reputation for their sub par software. 1/2 of the appeal of the iPod shuffle is the music store and iTunes compatibility.

[Xeo]

I think that display is pretty neat.

[The Wolf]

I think you guys might be on crack. That is a nice device. The display looks cool, but it does seem a little hard to read in the pictures here (I actually thought that the "writing" was just some random printing on the back of the device at first).

Can this be used with iTunes? I mean, not with songs that I buy from the music store but just plain old songs that I rip from CDs and have in my iTunes library.


Update: Apparently there are 2 versions: 1 with a AAA and one with a rechargeable battery.

http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/5685

[Daveecee]

From the looks of that, I think I'd get in trouble for taking that to school

[lavar78]

Originally posted by The Wolf:
The display looks cool, but it does seem a little hard to read in the pictures here (I actually thought that the "writing" was just some random printing on the back of the device at first).

Exactly. I don't know about y'all, but "cool" isn't an adequate substitute for "legible" in my book.

[Cubeoid]

It's nice.

[Busemann]

It'd be cool if Apple made a display like that. It would be perfect for the Shuffle to just see what's playing.

[Eriamjh]

Not an iPod.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

in this instance i wll say apple introduced a flash mp3 player when all the other companies already did so with them doing all the real innovation

however, i will call Sony on them not introducing this thing years earlier when they could have blew diamond rio, creative and everybody else out of the flash mp3 player market

[paul w]

I borrowed my gf's mpio to work out, jog and so on.

A display is more or less useless as I'd have to stop and look at it closely. I know what song I'm listening about 2 seconds in, and so I NEVER look at the display.

The display, cool as hell, is not what's important. What's important is size, ease of use, quality of sound and integration with the os, and software on the computer.

This is why most flash mp3 players suck- they're designed to look cool in the store.

I want a Shuffle. Pity they're impossible to come upon in my neck of the woods. Ah well, doesn't really help much when swimming laps anyway.

[andi*pandi]

not to taunt you, but don't they make a waterproof pouch for the shuffles?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...nMore=M9758G/A

[Lancer409]

i like the design and the screen, and assuming it's backlit, it'd look really nice. sure it's no ipod, but i'd pick up one of these if/when they drop in price. i already have a full sizer and my mom has a shuffle. if it doesnt work out, i could always use her's. then again, the ipod is fine so far.

[willed]

Originally posted by paul w:
I borrowed my gf's mpio to work out, jog and so on.

A display is more or less useless as I'd have to stop and look at it closely. I know what song I'm listening about 2 seconds in, and so I NEVER look at the display.

The display, cool as hell, is not what's important. What's important is size, ease of use, quality of sound and integration with the os, and software on the computer.

Nice to have the option though, isn't it? And the Sony iteration is particularly cool.

[sugar_coated]

The more they try the more they will fail and in the end they will make themselves weaker and their rival stronger.

[paul w]

Originally posted by andi*pandi:
not to taunt you, but don't they make a waterproof pouch for the shuffles?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...nMore=M9758G/A

It's to protect against the "elements", I doubt it's meant to be submerged in water for 45 minutes, not to mention the earbuds...

I'm fine with the splish splash sounds for the time being.

And for thosee who need a display, am/fm radio, ogg vorbis support, voice recorder, can opener, that's fine and cool and whatnot.

I want a thing that uploads and plays my music, like um, easily. That's it. Play, pause, forward, back, shuffle. I swear the Shuffle was made for me.

And I can't even get one...

[Sealobo]

looks good and all that. the display is pretty cool.

but it can goto h3ll if it only runs off triple A.

[The Wolf]

k, I thought about this for a while. It's not a matter of if other players will be able to access iTunes, it's a matter of when. Apple is enjoying a very good business market that is permitting them to keep all other players out. This won't always be the case. I still feel the iPod (not the shuffle) is the best player currently available (and maybe it will always be the best), but I'm convinced that other players will be able to access iTunes soon.

[vmpaul]

Originally posted by willed:
Nice to have the option though, isn't it? And the Sony iteration is particularly cool.

I agree. It also shoots down the whole 'a display will kill the battery' whine we heard when the Shuffle was introduced. 50 hours of battery life is more than enough. Geez, 25hrs would be enough.

The primary usage for my Shuffle is for the gym where I don't need to look at a display but I often find myself sitting around listening to it as well (it's so easy to carry around). A display would come in handy so having the option would be useful.

[chris v]

I think it's telling that the shuffle has been out for 2 months, and it's already the gold standard against which all other flash players are measured.