Sony is bringing its Walkman Z line of Android-powered portable media players to the US. The Walkman Z1000 series will be available starting this spring for $249.99 and up.
The handheld media players feature 4.3 inch multitouch displays and run Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread. While there’s an emphasis on music, with a S-Master MX digital amplifier with noise reduction, and a dedicated W button to launch the music player, the Z1000 is really sort of an Android version of an iPod touch. It can handle music, movies, video games, and thousands of other Android apps.
The Walkman Z features WiFi and comes with the Android Market. Â The only thing it won’t do is make phone calls — unless you use a Voice over IP application such as Skype.
Sony will offer an 8GB model for $249.99, a 16GB version for $279.99 and a 32GB Walkman Z for $329.99.
The Walkman Z isn’t the only Android-powered alternative to the iPod touch. It will join the Samsung Galaxy Player line of products and a crop of far-less impressive devices.
There are always cool things announced at CES but this is on
my list of the top two favorites. The other thing I am excited for is the
Hopper from my employer, DISH. With this new receiver, users can record several
things at once and access them from different TVs. As far as the Walkman goes, at
first I didn’t really like that you can’t use it as a phone but when I thought
about it, it makes sense. It takes the hassle out of switching providers or
making sure you have enough storage on your phone for music. I can’t wait to
make both of these new gadgets my own.
Â