Sony is rolling out a few new Android-powered portable media players. The new Sony NW-F880 series models are due out in Japan in October, and they’re basically variations of the F886 we saw earlier this month, but with 16GB to 64GB of stroage and pink, blue, black and white color options.
The Sony Walkman ZX1 (or NW-ZX1) is a new premium model which comes in silver, offers 128GB of storage, and is due out in December.
Each model supports 192 KHz/24bit audio, features a digital amplifier, WiFi, Bluetooth, and NFC. The devices all have 4 inch, 854 x 480 pixel displays, and each runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean software with access to the Google Play Store.
While these little guys look like smartphones, they don’t have cellular capabilities. While the ZX1 is the high-end model, it’s actually missing a few features found in the F-series such as digital noise cancellation and FM radio.
But Sony says not only does the Walkman ZX1 offer more storage space than the cheaper models, it should also offer superior audio quality.
The new Walkman devices will sell for between $274 and $760 in Japan. There’s no word on if or when they’ll be released in other countries.
via Unwired View
Evidently the previous models must have sold well for Sony to still not include a card slot.
Its all about money. Force consumers to pay more for larger internal storage rather than pick up some cheap cards.