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Sony Unveils New MP3 Hard Disk Walkman

by , 8:30 AM EST, November 30th, 2004

Sony Corp. announced Tuesday a new 20 gigabyte digital music player with MP3 support that will be available in Great Britain and Japan before Christmas and elsewhere in Europe in early 2005.

The NW-HD3 (see photo below) will go on sale Dec. 10 in Japan in black, blue, silver and grey colors. It will retail for approximately US$463. An exact availability date for Britain was not announced.

The new hard disk player is the successor of Sony's first hard disk Walkman, which it introduced this summer, but which can play back only music compressed with Sony's proprietary ATRAC3plus software. Atrac3plus is the format Sony uses on its Internet music shop Connect.

The decision to add MP3 support shows consumers were not fully embracing Sony's proprietary standard and wanted access to other online services that offer MP3 files. "Many users have lots of MP3 files and want to be able to play them, and we believe adding that feature will benefit consumers," said Sony Japanese spokesman Shinji Obana told The Wall Street Journal.

Sony said it will produce software upgrades for earlier players with hard disk storage so they can play MP3s too. The company did acknowledge it will bring the NW-HD3 to the U.S. market, but would not say when.

The device is not compatible with Apple's iTunes Music Store and does not support the Macintosh platform.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Mace Posts: 9604 Joined: 07 Aug 2003
Subject:

Look like a landscape iPod. The wheel looks too similar to the click wheel of iPod. At US$463, it is $164 more expensive than a 20GBytes iPod. This is probably why Sony is not releasing it in the US yet.

Close Name:iggyb Posts: 112 Joined: 09 May 2003
Subject: About time

Brilliant move by a bunch of idiot executives who thought that it shouldn't support MP3 in the first place.

Now, if they can just get the price to something within everybody else, they might sell a dozen or so.

Close Name:studentx Posts: 38 Joined: 16 Aug 2004
Subject: Looks like a camera from the back?

This device requires two hands to use vs. one hand for the iPod. That may not seem like a lot but the "landscape" layout changes the entire dynamics of its use. If your traveling its handy to have a hand free.

The placement of the headphone jack also does not make it pocket friendly, since the "landscape" layout keeps you from sliding it into your pocket. even if you could without placing pressure on the jack, the buttons on the top would be upside the side of your pocket.

Bad design for those on the go...

Close Name:Tiger Posts: 1016 Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Subject: two words

Mo
Rons

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Mac compatible?

Does is work on Macs?

Close Name:Intruder -   TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 3149 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
Does is work on Macs?


According to the article, no.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Yuck

Boy, that thing is a stinker! Look at the picture and imagine holding it in 1 hand and controlling it. Does the wheel scroll? (I'll bet not). It is clear Sony doesn't have anyone in-house that can figure this market out.

And such a catchy name. "did you get your NW-HD3 for Christmas?" We can go do some NW-HD3-casting for fun". "We're having a NW-HD3-DJ party - wanna come?".

Geezh - this thing is stillborn.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: yo

its not the same thing as an ipod, it is 3.9 oz vs 5.6.
In addition it will be around 350$, just like the first one (nw-hd1), in the US because they price more competetivly here.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Here is a great place to load it up!

http://www.bandsradio.com

11 channels - funk, reggae, hip-hop, alt country and more.. come n git it.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: WTF

Quote
Guest wrote:
its not the same thing as an ipod, it is 3.9 oz vs 5.6.
In addition it will be around 350$, just like the first one (nw-hd1), in the US because they price more competetivly here.


well in here uk its only about 330 in us dollers

Close Name:AFCdtLoeb Posts: 2533 Joined: 20 Jul 2004
Subject:

Poor Sony. They keep getting killed beacuse Sony (the electronics company), seems chained to the will of Sony (the record company). They have everything else right. Vertical integration, nifty marketing, celeberity support, a bazzillion dollars behind it...

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Competition is Good for Everyone

Perhaps this will push Apple to do something about its awful battery life (which shortens quickly with use), the only knock on an otherwise great product. They are claiming 30 hours per charge for the NW-HD3. If the battery is user replaceable and the user interface is not clumsy, I see it as worth an extra $100.

8 hours (now 12) and 2-3 after a year of real world usage does not cut it.

Close Name:Small White Car Posts: 1960 Joined: 02 Jul 2004
Subject: Re: Competition is Good for Everyone

Quote
Anonymous wrote:

8 hours (now 12) and 2-3 after a year of real world usage does not cut it.


My god, how much do you listen to your iPod? I plug mine every night, and it's good to go in the morning. You're listening to your iPod more than 12 hours a day?

Close Name:Mace Posts: 9604 Joined: 07 Aug 2003
Subject:

My 1G iPod still can last about 6 hrs after 3 years of use. As with all Lithium, draining it fully before charging, the battery will last longer.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: I-Pods

iPods will lose their crown now thanks to sony's mp3 supporting players (finally!) isn't it time to change the industry standard? i mean 30 hours kills the iPod's pathetic 12 (plus its SO much smaller)
Open your eyes everyone the next generation!

alex

Close Name:Intruder -   TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 3149 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Subject:

Not a chance. Everybody I know that has received the Sony as a gift for Christmas has returned it in favor of some flavor of the iPod.

And the 30 hours is based on 48kbps ATRAC3+, not 128kbps MP3. You can't have it both ways.

They will be bargain bin items by the end of the year.

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