Sony CES 2011 Preview (Update)

Here we are again at the end of the year with CES 2011 approaching fast. So will Sony have anything worthwhile this year for Walkman fans? Two years ago Sony unveiled the Walkman X-Series at CES 2009 but it was kept from the public’s fingers until later in the year. With zero Walkman news at CES 2010, does this mean Sony will finally come back strong at CES 2011 with a successor to the X-Series? With Qriocity launching in 2011 perhaps Sony will launch a player that will be able to take advantage of the service in select markets, but this then leaves many other markets were Qriocity will be unavailable to consumers. More after the break.

-Update-

Sony will be broadcasting their press conference live on a video stream which you can watch in this thread

Or you can visit this link: http://www.ustream.tv/sonyelectronics

-end of update-

In addition to the new Qriocity service, it appears that there will be a new batch of PMPs at this year’s CES which could entice Sony to debut a new X-Series. Samsung has the new Galaxy player with Android OS and Cowon is introducing the new D3 with Android OS and a high resolution AMOLED screen. Could Sony finally unveil the new Android Walkman that was previously rumoured? It remains to be seen but one thing is for sure, Android 3.0 is coming this upcoming spring and perhaps a new Walkman could be based off this new Android OS version. So assuming Sony has something new in the works for CES or even early 2011, what could it be? No doubt the device would ship with a touchscreen, hopefully AMOLED with higher resolution than the X-Series. Capacity from 32 to 64GB, although 128GB might be a possibility in 2011. Perhaps Android OS, version 3.0 but then perhaps it would be running Sony’s own OS and of course Wifi for internet access and transfer of files. Again all this is speculation but one can dream. Personally I am not expecting much from this year’s show with regards to the Walkman brand, but I would be pleasantly surprised if Sony does debut a X-Series successor.