Sony's NWZ-B130F Walkman makes its way to Asia

No, it's not all Playstation news for Sony today -- the company also announced the new NWZ-B130F Walkman, a slender little stick of a player available in several colors. The latest entry in the B series of Walkmans sports a 3-line LCD, MP3 and PlaysForSure WMA support, 90 minutes of playback on a 3-minute charge, an FM tuner, and voice recorder in both 1GB and 2GB capacities. We're hearing pricing will come at least $20 below that of the iPod Shuffle, but it's a little moot -- it's scheduled for an Asia-only arrival in August at the moment.

[Via SonyInsider]

[Boarderwoot @ Jul 15th 2008 5:39PM]

Sweet. A shuffle with an fm tunner for less than 60 bucks. I'm game.

[ScOObyDoo @ Jul 15th 2008 5:40PM]

Every time I see a new Sony MP3 player I have to ask why they even bother. Doesn't anyone at Sony innovate any more? 2GB, WMA, MP3, FM? 2002 called, and it wants its players back.

[Kaiser-Machead @ Jul 15th 2008 5:41PM]

If it supported more formats, specifically AAC and such, then I'd say it was a damn good player. The codec support is the only real fault I have with these things.

[fanman @ Jul 16th 2008 3:03PM]

Its more innovative than the shuffle... -.-

Personally, I can't see why anyone would decide on a walkman and then not get a walkman phone.

[Kaiser-Machead @ Jul 15th 2008 5:40PM]

This is just about what the first gumstick Shuffle should've been.

[retro77 @ Jul 15th 2008 5:47PM]

Unboxing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2b1D5w82yU

Looks sweet!!!

[L @ Jul 15th 2008 6:17PM]

Wow, that's actually pretty nice! Surprising, really...

[vdogg89 @ Jul 15th 2008 5:58PM]

yaaawn, each sony mp3 player is just so so, they've had the same "look" to them for years. Do something cool

[Unknown @ Jul 16th 2008 12:45PM]

you mean the ipod?

[L @ Jul 15th 2008 6:10PM]

How many of those stick-like players does Sony offer at the moment? 20? 37?

Really, a tiny bit of innovation now and then wouldn't kill them. Maybe they'd even have - *gaspshockhorror* - some success with their Walkmans then?

[helloUser @ Jul 15th 2008 6:11PM]

Does engadget ever mention that sony mp3 players arent forced to use software to load tracks onto the player like bloated iTunes?

Thats a huge plus, but hey, it iEngadget here anyway. I dont expect them to post without bias.

[Harry @ Jul 16th 2008 1:49PM]

That's an interesting point to make since until not too long ago, they *did* require you to use some proprietary software and unlike iTunes, it was single platform only (Windows, naturally).

I'm thinking in particular of the NW-S705, which I have direct experience with.

[Skazer @ Jul 15th 2008 7:09PM]

Um, it's $20 cheaper than a shuffle. What do you guys want out of this thing? Sony MP3 players are known for their good UI, build, battery life sound quality, and stable firmware. How many companies can achieve that?

Not to mention that you get a 90 minute of battery life in a 3 minute charge for this thing.

[ScOObyDoo @ Jul 15th 2008 7:21PM]

It does the same as 100 other mp3 players. My local Fry's has an entire aisle of similar stuff.

Sony need to stop making players for a bit, and see if they can come up with something really remarkable. Microsoft tried, and added wi-fi, and while I'm not a Zune fan, it does show that they tried to do something different.

To Sony, different means making 4 different colored players.

[Skazer @ Jul 16th 2008 7:44PM]

Really? Give some examples then. What music players can get ALL the basics right?

Well, I truly hope other consumers don't think like you scooby. Not everyone needs a touch interface or a thousand useless applications to satisfy their music player needs. The sony does what it was designed to do, and it does it well, which isn't something that I can say for the majority of the music players on the market right now.

[iEye @ Jul 15th 2008 7:56PM]

Sony is really slacking off. I remember when everyone called a portable tape player "WALKMAN"

Then Panasonic came out with that "ShockWave" brand. Then Apple took over.

And now they are bad mouthing Nintendo Wii. Look out Sony CE-OH no he did'nt cause is can happen again.

What is a Walk-Man? Oh mean iPod...

[Amrit @ Jul 15th 2008 9:41PM]

difference between sony and other palyers...

sony does the basics really well... battery life.. UI.. sound quality... and now sftwr ( since there aint ne :P )


most others believe in giving thousand features rather than first getting the basics ...


pick what you want... but that doesnt make these players bad.. appreciate the quality.. a lot of those chinese knockoffs offer wealth of features... but wud u spend your hard earned money on them ?

[Valgas @ Jul 16th 2008 2:05AM]

wonder if it sounds better than the clip

[fondy44 @ Jul 16th 2008 2:14AM]

I wonder how much they have to spend on R&D in order to maintain such a consistent level of mediocrity? Then again, how pathetic is it that the iPod Touch can now function as a wireless iTunes remote but still has no graphic eq?

[tekdroid @ Jul 16th 2008 3:06AM]

"As with its predecessor the NWD-B100F series, the new NWZ-B130F series features a direct USB connection and drag and drop interface for easy uploading/downloading and playback of audio content. In addition, the new Walkman B series allows for direct music recording and playback on supported audio systems, removing the need to connect to a computer in order to transfer audio content."
----------------
Nice.


"Sony is focused on its vision to bring cutting-edge audio technologies to meet the needs of consumer lifestyles," said Mr. Shinichiro Ikeda, General Manager of Personal Audio Division, Sony Marketing Asia Pacific.
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I guess meeting the needs of consumer lifestyles doesn't involve:
1) removable storage so you're not limited to a paltry 1GB or 2GB, or any fixed size.
2) removable batteries for long trips easy-swap. As the battery ages, easy replacement when it reaches 300-500 charges, rather than throwing out the unit within 2 years would be nice. Sony have existing thin gumstick batteries that would be perfect for this.
3) upping the phone output beyond 5mW per channel at 16ohms. If history is any indication, using these devices with anything but tinny 16ohm impedance earbuds will result in low volume. It's nice to have good sound in a portable sitting anywhere in the house with full-size headphones. Unfortunately Sony's power output has traditionally been low for a long time now, PSP included.
4) better codec support, like FLAC. Why do we have to compromise now? Storage is dirt cheap and FLAC is lossless and won't result in any additional royalties being paid. They just need to implement it. http://flac.sourceforge.net

Not that they are the only ones doing all this, of course. But some real innovation would certainly help them here. Small, simple audio devices with good capabilities that will be truly something different to what everyone else is doing. Credit to them, they often make good-sounding devices, regardless.

Sony, are you listening?
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&categoryId=16178&SR=sensory:shop:walkman:ss