AV Watch Review of Z-Series

AV Watch has done a review of the new Z-Series which is available for purchase in Japan.  You can find the translated version of the post from AV Watch here.  It appears that the new Z ships with NC headphones  (MDR-NWNC33) and a WM-post to USB cable for transfers.  The 4.3 inch screen has a resolution of 480x800 which is said to offer a good viewing experience.  Supported video formats are MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (.Mp4, .M4v), MPEG-4 (. Mp4,. M4v) and WMV.  The new Z does feature a micro HDMI  port which is handy when connecting to a TV but it appears that AV Watch had some issues with this.  

Applications from the Android market will work with no problems and with a NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz CPU and memory at 512MB, the new Z should have no issues with Tegra games.

The new Z is more expensive than the equivalent Ipod touch but it does feature a larger screen, faster cpu, noise cancellation and of course Android instead of iOS.  The main competition may actually come from Sony itself, the PlayStation Vita with its gorgeous 5-inch 16:9 OLED display with a resolution of 960 x 544.

So should one wait for the new Z-Series to hit your local area?  At this moment it is not looking too enticing for me personally, since my X-Series provides me with plenty of storage and noise cancellation and I have my phone for everything else.  And if you like playing games on a mobile device, I would definitely wait for the PlayStation Vita.

Original Article

Music Unlimited Now Available for the Walkman

Sony's Unlimited music service is now available for the Walkman Line.  Before it was initially only limited to Android devices, gaming devices and Sony's Tablets.  There are 2 pricing categories, 3.99 and 9.99 but in order to use it on a Walkman, the 9.99 plan has to be purchased.  Unfortunately service availability is limited, with users only from Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States being able to access the new function on their Walkman.

This is an intriguing new function on the new Walkman if you are into streaming music and if you are in the areas where it is available this might be a nice incentive to get one of the new Walkmans as a gift for someone or yourself.  List of compatible devices and link to the Sony site after the break.

Sony Z-Series graces the FCC

I had a feeling that Sony would possibly debut the Z-Series at CES, so it comes as no surprise to see the new player hit the FCC.

I do wonder if Sony will be using Ice Cream Sandwich for the OS or will stick with a customized Gingerbread setup.  Who knows, 3 models, possibly 16, 32 and 64 GB.  Link to the FCC site and 2 more images after the break.

Walkman Gift Ideas

Some gift ideas for Christmas from Walkman.

The A-Series - The new Touchscreen A-Series with high end EX headphones and great sound quality.  I was able to try this out for a few days and even though it is lacking noise-cancellation of my X-Series, it is still a great little device. The sound quality is great and the included headphones are a nice bonus.  The LCD screen is bright and responsive.  If you need noise-cancellation or use FLAC, this Walkman is not for your, since it lacks both.  But it does come with Bluetooth and this could be a nice addition for some to use with Bluetooth earphones.  Unlike some other touchscreen players, the A-Series features standalone buttons for play/pause, backwards, forwards and volume control.  Such controls are a major benefit which can allow a person to use the player in their pocket without taking it out to change or pause songs.  If you are willing to spend a little more for yourself or a gift, then I would highly recommend the A-Series.

The S-Series - The new S-Series with bundled Bluetooth headphones.  Slightly smaller than the A-Series, the New S-Series is a nice evolution of the previous model.  It offers the same great sound quality of the A-Series but at a slightly more affordable price.  The only downside is the small screen, lack of codec support and small capacity but it makes this up with great headphones and amazing sound quality.

E-Series - If either the A-Series or S-Series are a bit too expensive then I would recommend the new E-Series which also offers amazing sound quality.  With a 16GB model available it provides great bang for the buck since it ships with premium EX headphones.  Limited codec support is the only downside, but if you need a good cheap player then I would recommend this to anyone that likes listening to music on the go.

I apologize for the lack of updates or news but there is not much happening in the world of the Walkman.  Perhaps once CES 2012 rolls around there will be more news with possibly the introduction of the Z-Series to the international market.  Perhaps Sony is waiting for Ice Cream Sandwich before it launches the Z-Series worldwide?