Topic: Sony
Category: Portable AV
Technorati: Linking Blogs

Yes, I know that plenty of sites already have this story in English, but I figured I'd translate the Impress Watch article as they usually manage to get more technical information about the devices, rather than sit and bash Sony about their attempts to create a competitive product. Hopefully this will contain some information new to you.

Sony will release the "Network Walkman NW-DH1" portable audio player with internal 20GB hard drive o­n July 10th. The price is Open Price, and the estimated retail price is about 53,000 yen. Supported operating systems are Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP.

This model has a body size of 89 x 12.6 ~ 13.8 x 62.1mm (W x D x H), and a weight of 110g, making this the world's smallest and lightest 20GB hard disk-based with a 1.8" drive.

The body uses a magnesium alloy created with hairline processing, and two body colors will be made available: silver and black.

Using the internal lithium ion battery, up to 30 hours of playback (ATRAC3plus 48kbps) are possible; it boasts the top class of battery life for HDD based portable audio players. At 64kbps ATRAC3plus, the life is about 27 hours. The player supports rapid recharging, and about 80% of the battery can be recharged in o­ne hour. Completely recharging the battery takes 3 hours.

As a protection function for the hard drive, the device contains a gravity acceleration sensor called the "G Sensor." When the sensor detects that the device is falling, the hard disk heads will automatically take shelter, protecting the drive from damage. It also has a shock dampener, warding off damage from shock to the hard disk itself. Also furnished is a buffer providing up to 25 minutes of skip protection.

Supported formats are ATRAC3plus and ATRAC3. WAV, MP3, and WMA files are automatically converted to ATRAC3plus and sent to the NW-DH1 using "SonicStage Ver.2.1." o­nline music distribution sites can be accessed directly from SonicStage, allowing for the simply purchase of music data. Up to 13,000 songs can be recorded o­n the player, when using ATRAC3plus 48kbps. The "NW-HD1" and SonicStage Ver.2.1 support a format called the "ATRAC Audio Device (ATRAC AD)" format.

ATRAC AD allows for direct transmission of encrypted audio to supported devices from a PC, after certain information is read from devices supporting ATRAC AD. Combine this with optimized data management o­n the hard drive, and transfer speeds are about 5 times faster than what they used to be. Furthermore, as ATRAC AD is standard for hard drive based devices, it is already in use by the VAIO pocket and XYZ hard drive car navigation system. Sony plans o­n making the license to ATRAC AD open in the future.

A cradle using the USB 2.0 interface is included. Not o­nly can the cradle recharge the player, it features an "auto transfer" function that will synchronize the contents of the player and the audio library of a PC with SonicStage 2.1 installed. It can also be used as an external HD for a PC. Recharging using o­nly a USB cable, however, is not supported.

On the front side of the device is a 1.5" monochrome LCD with EL backlight. To the right of the LCD lies a direction key, and most operations can be carried out with o­ne hand. As a remote controller, a stick controller that supports the display of Kana characters is included.

Artist, Album, Genre, Group, Playlist, Other search modes are available, and the song or album is selected using the direction key. The Play/Stop/Enter button in the middle is used to control playback. Featured o­n the device is the VPT Acoustic Engine high quality circuitry, as well as a 6 band equalizer.



Inspired by:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/0701/sony1.htm

Press Release:
http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/200407/07-0701/

Sony VAIO pocket (TechJapan article):
http://www.techjapan.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=276

Sony HMD-A1 (TechJapan article):
http://www.techjapan.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=313