A touchscreen player with real tactile buttons. That's how it's supposed to be, unlike the O2, iPod Touch, and similar, which are a hassle on the go.

That cheesy 80ies "stonewashed" look is pretty awful, though.

Not a fan of the design, but the quality is probably going to very good, considering Sony's past.

OMG!!!! Oh yeah, I'm with it!!!! Nice player, I'm loving the REAL tactile controls.

WOW!!! man if this has the same great SQ of sony.. or prabobly better.. This would be a really great device.. Sony should offer different coulors though,cuz that stone slab look will get my ipod touch friends to say.. "Nice stone , it plays music"...

I have a doubt with the web browser though.. It might not be as good as the Ipod touch.. Sony IMO Doesnt make pretty good web browsers on their portable stuff.. The ps3 browser is pretty good but the psp is not that good IMAO.. but add in a high resolution screen, flash support and a browser as good as the ps3 and this would be great..

PS: I dont even know if this will have a web browser..

PPS: I'm not being smart and all but could this be a device to take down the s9 or the p3.. lets hope for the best.. and thanks grahm for this post.. I really waited for this walkman

*drool*
Too bad I just bought S638 not long ago >_> aaarrrrggghhh

That does look pretty sweet...hate to imagine what the 32GB would cost though.

i hear the sony com 2 web browser is actually very good comparable to an ipod touch.

- The device looks cheap and ugly (granite-style plastic; they wrote all over the device); same old interface.

- Low resolution (iPod Touch: 480×320; Sony: 384x240).

- Not enough codecs; no lossless codecs.

- The device is slow (it takes a few seconds to display a few thumbnails in the video).

- Gapless playback? On-the-go playlists? 100 % drag & drop in UMS mode (i.e., including playlists)? Radio with RDS?

^^
- One word: OLED.
- No official info on codecs yet.
- What video?
- Walkmans have been drag & drop for some time now.
Walkman with sonys SQ, noise canceling & s-master digital amplifier beats any ipod.

Video: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=OHF1LQkAwX0
Looks a little sluggish and unresponsive in places.

It becomes available in early summer according to sony, so by that time, people will have either picked up a S9, P3 or even ipod touch, perhaps others will wait for the new ipod touch and not even bother with the sony.

as always, sony decides to screw over the consumer and debut a product that won't be available for another 5-6 months depending where you live.

Give me flac and i will buy this!!

On point ascariss, on point!!!

I have already posted my grievances on sony's blog and yes it was published the comment, with no editing, I specifically mentioned the poor choice sony made by selling this 6 months from now and moving the release date forwrds is only the logical solution during a recession, because otherwise why announce it then release it half a year from now?

I just hope sony listens to my comments and does bring the release date forwards.

@jjrosaria: no matter what player you get, all the ipod fan boys will say something to the liking of: "Nice piece of crap, what? don't want the awesomeness of an ipod?" and no, i'm not a ipod fanboy (exact opposite)
relating to the article: this player looks sweet, i for one kinda like the stone color scheme that they made for it, put would like to see it in standard colors like black and white.

The mockup photos looked better in all honesty. Sony really needs to get rid of that awful stonewash skin (or at least offer a more conservative alternative).

Easily accessible tactile buttons for volume, play/pause and forward/rewind are the way to go. I don't understand people who enjoy having to look at the screen to perform these functions.

Feature-wise... Well, it has wi-fi. Apart from that, I'm not impressed. Lossy codecs only, most certainly no gapless playback. I highly doubt the Cowon S9 and Samsung P3 will be overshadowed by this thing.

Everyone seems to be trying to emulate the iTouch design, which is a pity. Not everyone wants Wi-Fi support, or a large OLED screen for video. Plenty of people would be content with a cropped feature set, compactness, equivalently stellar sound quality, but an equally large capacity, yet nobody seems willing to cater to this market.

I understand that everyone has their own list of desired features and there shouldn't be any fault in that, but seriously, people need to get over the lossless format and gapless playback thing. Every time a player is released, there's always someone who chimes in just to say "It doesn't support FLAC or gapless playback?! It's just another crappy mainstream player!!1one"

FLAC and gapless playback do not matter to probably over 99% of the DAP consumers. Companies do not just decide to spend money on development to hit a small niche of audiophiles who demand flac. Cowon probably only supports flac due to the large number of no-name players in the asian market that need to compete based on an extensive feature list.

I realize that everyone has their own list of desired features, but I think that people seriously need to get over the whole lossless audio and gapless playback support thing.

As an aside, how often do you really need gapless playback anyways? For the 1 out of 100 albums where the tracks overlap, or I missing out on some sort of giant techno movement?

Heh, well apparently I repeated part of my post twice by accident, just in case people thought I was flaming, now I look stupid too. :P

*searches for edit button in vain*

I actually think this player looks pretty awesome. I have been looking for a new PMP for a while now; and haven't found anything that can fully compete with the ipod touch due to the lack of wifi & internet capability.

If this device works as well (hopefully better) than the ipod touch in regards to the wifi/internet; I will almost for sure buy one.

sony canada info is out

X series
-32 gb only
-black
-no price mentioned
-may release

W series
-2 GB
-black, white, pink, violet
-april release
-around 100 bucks.

Thank goodness I held off on buying the latest sony s-series so I don't have to save as hard xD

@ skimhitz

It is true that most people give rat's arse about sound quality: just look at the amount of iPod users. But just because the masses are stupid doesn't mean that lossless and gapless are needless features. I am not an audiophile, yet my whole library is in FLAC [and yes, I can tell the difference between V0/320cbr mp3 and lossless). Also, I don't know what kind of albums you listen to (best of collections/ self-made compilations maybe?), but every second record in my collection seems to have at least one "overlapping" track.

Not having gapless is definitely regression since it was the norm in CD/vinyl.

kafkef wrote:

> - Walkmans have been drag & drop for some time now.

You can't drag & drop playlists, and playlists can't be transferred in UMS mode. Walkmans don't (although they did) even support on-the-fly playlists (the lack of OTF playlists is one of the reasons I didn't buy an s639f; I'm still using an a808).

> Walkman with sonys SQ, noise canceling & s-master
> digital amplifier beats any ipod.

Walkmans beats iPods... but only between the gaps ;)

skimhitz wrote:

> how often do you really need gapless playback anyways?
...
> or I missing out on some sort of giant techno movement

Techno? A Momentary Lapse of Reason (Pink Floyd), S&M (Metallica), Also Sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss), etc.

G4 claims that the

16GB $299
32GB $399

and that they'll be out in May.

Seems kind of pricey to me though that's about as much as the Touch.

I would get one under the following conditions:

1. Make the color solid black or white

2. Make the background color customizable (I'd prefer purple to that boring blue

3. If the prices posted above are right, Lower them by $50.

Yay, I hope they have some more players to show. I heart Sony

I think the background can be changed, I know I saw 2 different backgrounds on some images aroud.

"I am not an audiophile, yet my whole library is in FLAC [and yes, I can tell the difference between V0/320cbr mp3 and lossless). "

Hate to break it to you... you are an audiophile.

I've been looking for so long for a decent alternative to the ipod touch (wifi browser), and this may just be what I'm looking for. I hope they come out with a non-marble, plain ol black matte version. If they have a decent wifi broswer on this thing and a slight change in the design, this thing will be a hit.

Linear PCM (.wav) is always an option...

It better have games, apps, a voice recorder, radio, txt support, and an accelerometer. If it doesn't, than I will buy an Ipod Touch. I would EXTREMELY HATE to do that, but I am a Feature Freak and want every single feature that could possibly be packed into a PMP.

To bad about the headphone jack no top. That's such a bad idea plus it looks like crap.

remember people that this device is still in the BETA stages so the interface and design might change by the release date which is about 4 months from now so RELAX, plus i the SOUND alone might be a reason to get this player, and it doesnt look SO bad so stop hating.

it is the perfect player !
portable media player is all about the sound quality and the video too...
and this will be the best sound quality in the market no dought and the oled will make the video more crystal clear so don't complain about ( games, apps, a voice recorder, radio, txt support, and an accelerometer ) this stuff should be in the phone :)
but maybe you are right about the radio but i guess it will have one :)
nice one sony i finally found my dream player when i saw ipod touch i wondered when i will be able to have a player like that with my s618 quality and now there is more!
i love soooooooony ! :D

Remember people that this device is still in the BETA stages so the interface and design might change by the release date which is about 4 months from so RELAX, plus i the sound alone player, and it doesnt look so bad so stop hating.

I think it looks nice I agree with Tech on the stop hating I also agree with Skimhitz on the gapless playback and such to be honest forget the unnecessary toast to good sound quality, battery life, and video quality I don't my player to jump higher then me or wake me up there the alarm clock for that I just won't a solid...player....thinking about the s9 really hard though....d2 has to many firmware issues. Got the Sony820 still didn't care too much for the new one but the touchable, rubbable, one lol. Why six months is my question probably to build up the wanting of it I guess. S9 looks mighty tasty.....16 GB is enough but 32 would be nice....just some thoughts I had swimming around I apologize for my continual typing Confispect signing out.

Will this be another Sony that only accpets WAV for lossless audio?

WAV is far too large in size and offers no advanced tagging capabilities. I'm sure Sony will not continue with it this year and adopt FLAC.

Right... right?

I really like the stone deisign and the coverflow. Very nice. I might of bought this if the screen was a bit larger (Internet navigation might be slightly problematic with a 3 inch screen), and if it they had plannd to release it earlier this year. I broke my Creative Zen and I really need a replacement. I think I'll go for a Cowon S9.

I know it's very subjective, but I think it looks great.

Whilst I have no need for the noise cancelling feature (am I the only person in the world who doesn't regularly use air/rail/bus travel?) I'll be first in the queue to buy it if it's compatible with Audible audiobook content.

I to have long awaited a Sony "Touch" version.

Use Sure e500's & Senn IE8's with a A**** "Touch" 2G - sound Q is not up there for me and that is using Lossless.

Also have a D2 - to complicated, spend more time programming the thing and firmware issues to enjoy it, best sound Q i have heard though.

So if like Bloodpool has stated if it still has four months to iron out the creases in it's Beta stage i sincerly hope they are listening to us guy's like us on all the forums as i to would like to see the finish changed - what where tey thinking! Surly there will be more colour finishes? Silver is my preference but then again i would prefer them to do Metal casing than a cheap plastic feel as the best product's Sony have produced always seem to have a metal finish.

With 32GB they really do need to give in to Flac and stop been stubborn and come to the realisation of making it for the consumer who wants it and not what they (Sony) want!!

Hope it still has good battery life and is good as my A818 was in all aspect's.

Reservation's about the web browser like many other people, if Sony want to compete with A***e then they need to make it better than their version, not just bung one on there for the sake of it! It will also need good support if they are to have apps like the Touch does, otherwise it will also fail there to.

Just wish it could of had expandable memory card like my D2, that is a wish and a half!
Also inline remote's would not go a miss which sony used to do so well..

Please, please Sony, change that finish and colour availability and if possible a metal casing for that touch of quality & class (don't care about the extra grams of wheight!).

I would pay as much as a Ipod touch if you (sony) can manage that!

Good luck Sony, we know you are capable of good thing's when you want to... :)

wow, saw this BETA at the Gadget Show Live in Birmingham, looked absolutely amazing, and trust me you will get over the stone wash/ marble case. The bad part was that it was stuck in a cabinet where there was just a mass of people in awe.

i am definelty waiting for it to be released and saving up, i mean what better to over take my t10 at the moment hey:P

the functions are semi flawless, with the wi-fi incorporated it seems that i'd pay at least £150 for it possibly £180 if it met standards, which i hope it will

@ skimhitz
er...
well, lossless format is cool when you have it sure, but not that bad when you don't.
But Gapless playback is unacceptable from a high end tech walkman model. How often do I listen to nonstop music? ALWAYS. Sorry for having "strange" music tastes, but, Operas, Non-stop techno megamixes, concerts and often Movie soundtracks are most of my listening delights.
Hearing this unbearable sound cut between each tracks drives me crazy.
Ipod is gapless, why can't SONY do it too???
This would make a no brainer for me, and I would pick this walkman since I haven't listen to a better sound than from a sony walkman so far.

i have over 450 cds ripped to WMA Lossless and over 90 gigs of BBC Radio 1 essential mixes as well as other downloads. Pretty much all of it is played in continuous, gapless mixes.

There is a HUGE market for non-stop music and the lack of gapless absolutely kills it.

so much so that i find myself not using my S639F as much as i would like. It only supports gapless in WAV but then doesnt bring up any album art or info. Sony really dropped the ball when they stopped sonic stage. the sonic stage players ALL played gapless with their ATRAC compatibility.

gapless has been supported with pretty much all media types, vinyl, cassette tapes, cds, md's... it's crazy that this is even a topic today.

in my eyes music is getting ruined. Millions of people listening to 'noise' downloaded from itunes with their 128kbps quality music, it's pathetic. people don't know what they're missing. in a world of HD something horrible has happened to audio. i hope it gets rectified (and gapless supported) soon.