Sony has announced the new Walkman to its range that is nice and compact with quick battery recharging. A really clever feature of the device is that it has an integrated USB connector under a cap, which basically makes the device like a flash drive. According to reports this allows it to be directly connected to your PC or H-Fi without the need of any wires.

The unit comes with a special bass button that will deepen the low-end bass of your music, which for all you bass fans out there will be a welcome addition. If you are caught short and run out of power a quick three minute charge will provide ninety minutes of playback. Fully charged the new Walkman will give you eighteen hours to listen to your music, time enough for anyone.

There is a neat little clip on the back of the unit, and there will be a choice of a variety of different colors, and each unit has a color matched LED that will flash in time with the music. Music is easily added to the B170 by simply dragging files over to it once connected to a PC. It also features a voice recorder as well, and by using the Zappin search technology you can easily search thorough your music library.

It is expected to be available later this month and Sony has yet to reveal pricing for the unit. Do you like the look of the new Sony Walkman?

The Telegraph is reporting that a T3 survey amongst its readers asked what they think is the best technology invention in the last fifty years. The original cassette tape Sony Walkman finished second overall, with the Apple iPhone finishing top in the poll. Making up the top three was the Apple iPod, but it is the Walkman that will be fondly remembered by many.

It was first introduced to the world in 1979, and really became big business during the 1980s as music lovers could finally enjoy their music while on the go. It did have its problems though as many would have experienced a tangled tape at some time or another.

Compared to modern MP3 players users could probably only store between 25 and 30 songs on a typical ninety minute tape. Surprisingly the device only ceased production last year in late October, and still had some features even iPod owners would be jealous of. There were some models that had twin headphone sockets, and batteries could easily be replaced once they were spent.

The unit spawned many copies from various other companies and there will undoubtedly be many examples still being used today. What would be your choice of the best technology invention over the last fifty years?

The combination of the A, E and S Walkman media players all come with the same standard software. Karaoke mode, language learning functions, voice recording and Sony’s station-creating SensMe feature. If you are not sure what SensMe actually is then we will give you a general overview of the feature.

SensMe, in short, is a music mood and tempo detection system that works by analysing the mood and tempo of tracks played by you on the Sony Walkman of choice. Playlists then can be created and generated by moving a dual axis map of all songs played and looked at by SensMe to match your prefered style or mood. You can find out more about SensMe via Wikipedia.

Here is an excerpt from the Sony Press Release: -

All three new models also feature Sony’s exclusive Clear Audio Technologies for superior sound quality and include a Karaoke Mode, bookmarking with multiple playlists and a language learning function. Users can also create channels with the SensMe™ feature, which keeps your music in tune with your mood by automatically categorizing your music tracks into different channels. The synchronized lyric feature allows users to load .lrc files for songs and set the lyrics to scroll by in sync to the music. Built-in voice recording uses the integrated microphone and adjustable bit rate to make the voice recording function easy to use. Multiple high-quality audio and video formats are supported by all three new models, giving users more freedom to download the files they want.

Going back to the different Walkman models, at the high end we have the A, or the stereo enabled A860 which comes with Bluetooth, and a 2.8-inch touchscreen.

The E (or E460), which is the on the low-end scale has a 2-inch screen, no Bluetooth, but instead comes in 5 different colors to choose from.

Wrapping up the collection, the S (or S760BT) also has a 2-inch screen and the addition of Bluetooth. It also claims to have a longer battery life compared to the A, with up to 50 hours of audio playback and up to ten hours for videos.

All three models are expected to go on sale in September and the top of the range model, the A series, will cost $179 or $219 depending on if you go for the 8GB or 16GB model. The 8GB S will cost $149, and finally the E will range from $79 to $109, also depending if you want the 8GB or 16GB model.

You can read more on the Walkman series via Engadget, where they also have the full press release for you to check out.

Will you be purchasing a Sony A, E or S Walkman, or do you prefer the much more popular Apple iPod range?

According to a recent pocket-lint.com article by Paul Lamkin, the Sony Walkman Mini Clip NWZ-B160 takes its name from the detachable clip, which enables users to stick the MP3 player onto their bag, belt or pocket. The device is under 10cm in length, and sports and 2-tone design.

The NWZ-B160 comes with a bass-boosting button, a track display and Sony’s Zappin song search tech, which makes it easier to find the tunes you want. The MP3 player boasts a total of 18 hours playback on a single charge, although you’ll also get 90 minutes from a 3-minute charge.

Although a specific release date and price is yet to be confirmed, we do know that the Sony Walkman Mini Clip NWZ-B160 will be available to purchase this month. The Mini Clip will also come in both 2GB and 4GB models. Are you looking for a new MP3 player?

If you were, would you buy the Sony Walkman Mini Clip NWZ-B160?

We haven’t got much information regarding any specifications or anything flashy like that, but what we do have is a poster embedded at the end of this post (via Concept Phones) that confirms that we are going to get a better, “smarter” Walkman phone very soon.

We not sure what exactly this phone entails, but expect to see a large touchscreen, exceptional sound quality, free-headphones, and plenty of space to put our media on. We may even get some new gaming features that take a leaf out of the Sony NGP. Well, we can hope can’t we?

It will be interesting to see how the Walkman phone will differ from recent Sony Ericsson smartphones, it will probably feature dedicated media buttons but everything else is a mystery, let’s face it their Xperia smartphones have pretty good music playback capabilities and things have changed a lot since the days of the W880i etc.

What are you expecting from the new Sony Ericsson Walkman?

The cassette device is mostly available in Japan, and will not be missed – but we should not forget the device that paved the way for the current range of MP3 and Portable Media Players. June 1979 was when Sony introduced us to the Walkman, and I can still remember my first one – seems strange how it did not feel bulky at the time.

Who would have thought that 31 years ago the device would have went on to sell more than 220 million units, Daisuke Wakabayashi from WSJ believes that it was the Walkman that helped to put Sony on the map – and we would have to agree with that. However, it is a shame that they no longer lead the way in portable music and video devices, Apple’s range of portable media devices is now king.

For those who love the old media format, then there could be a revival of the cassette player in a decade or two – you only have to look at a range of products that allows you to connect your Vinyl record players to your computer via USB. Watch this space.

If you are one of these people after a portable music player you should perhaps check out Sony’s latest offerings, these are the WALKMAN B150 Series and the W250 Series Walkman.

The B150 series features an impressive 18 hour battery life, however if you run out of charge you can gain 90 minutes of extra playback time from a charge of just 3 minutes. This series should launch in June this year, you can find out fully detailed information here.

The W250 Series is being marketed as the “perfect sporting partner”, this wearable player has a wire-free design and is water-resistant, apparently you can wear the headset in the shower or whilst training in the rain, you can find out full details here.

Currently we are unsure of pricing, however as we hear further details we will keep you posted.

Source: SlashGear