Hasta La Gadget!

There is nothing quite like a software update to make sure that your app remains up to date, and is able to keep up with the Joneses, or for the more pioneering updates, it would set the pace for the rest of the following pack. Well, the Walkman name under Sony’s banner might be very different from the hardware that we have seen in the 1980s and early 1990s – that is, portable cassette tape players, as it now arrives in software format, being a Walkman app and all. Sony has just announced that they will begin to introduce updates to its Walkman, Album and Movies media apps, and the main change would be that each of the apps will now boast of enhanced integration with the rest of your media which is stashed away in the cloud.

Take for instance, the Walkman app will now enable users to perform a search on both locally stored and cloud-based content via Music Unlimited. Other than that, Movies take a similar route too, where it is also on the receiving end of a minor facelift alongside a tweaked interface, having been synchronized to Video Unlimited so that one can make the content on their Sony devices to be more accessible. Last but not least, the Album app too has been upgraded, letting one enjoy intelligent recall playback and a new favorites feature among others. It is available via the Update Center in an Over The Air download, and will also be introduced in stages for owners of Xperia devices that have Android Jelly Bean 4.2 or higher running. [Press Release]

Sony Updates Walkman, Movies And Album Apps original content from Ubergizmo.

More and more people may be relying on their smartphones for portable entertainment, but Sony isn’t willing to leave even a shrinking PMP market to Apple’s iPod, hence the new E-Series Walkman range. The Walkman E580 and Walkman E380 each support music, video, and photo playback, with the E580 having a 2-inch display and a battery good for up to 77hrs of use, while the smaller E380 scales it down to 1.77-inches of screen and up to 30hrs of runtime.

The Walkman E580 – effectively an iPod nano alternative – comes in 8GB and 16GB capacities, good for up to 3,700 tracks. It will play MP3, WMA, Linear PCM, AAC, HE-AAC, FLAC, and Apple Lossless audio, and AVC, MPEG4, and WMV 9 video, and comes with a set of MDR-NC31 noise-cancelling earphones.

They work with Sony’s own Clear Bass, Clear Stereo, and Clear Phase digital processing, as well as “Virtualphones Technology” (VPT) which is basically the company’s attempts at modeling different environments, such as a recording studio or a club.

As for the Sony Walkman E380, that’s the smaller version, coming in 4GB and 8GB capacities for up to 1,950 tracks. It’ll play 4hrs of video, though only supports WMV 9; audio support misses out on the HE-AAC, FLAC, and Apple Lossless of its bigger sibling.

It also gets a more mundane pair of bundled headphones, though Sony does at least throw an FM radio inside. Listeners also get the Clear Bass and Clear Stereo processing.

Both the Sony Walkman NWZ-E580 and Walkman NWZ-E380 will go on sale in Europe later this month, with pricing yet to be announced.

Sony Walkman E580 and E380 take on Apple’s iPod nano is written by Ewdison Then & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Sony will soon release a music player/alarm clock/speaker made specifically for docking by digital Walkman music players to play music.

The alarm feature allows you to choose music from your Walkman to be what you wake up to.

It has a retractable cover, so it can stay closed when you don’t use the Walkman port so it won’t get dusty.

There are some other external terminals, so you can play music from a smartphone or other device as well.

Price: 6,980 yen
Color: white, black
Size: 126 × 92 × 100mm
Weight: 482g

Higher quality audio is a staple of the experience for a growing number of streaming music services, most notably Spotify. Sony won’t let itself become the exception to the rule: Music Unlimited now has an option for a much more detailed 320Kbps bitrate. The quality upgrade is staggered and is initially active on Android devices, the PlayStation 3 and the web player, while desktops, iOS, the PlayStation Vita and home theater gear will get improved tunes later on in the year. Music Unlimited won’t appease those who want a consistent experience in the near term, then — still, it might be enough for listeners whose Xperia serves as a primary jukebox.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video, Tablets, HD, Mobile, Sony

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Source: Sony Music Unlimited

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