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Sony shows off its waterproof Walkman... by packaging it in a water bottle
If those ads showing swimmers rocking Sony's new Walkman haven't convinced you it's really waterproof, then get this: you can buy one packaged inside a full bottle of water. "The Bottled Walkman" is currently being sold from vending machines across New Zealand in places like gyms, right beside neon-blue bottles of Gatorade. The idea behind the promotion is to get the device out of electronics stores and into the places target customers actually hang out. Of course, the shock value of being encased in liquid certainly makes the Walkman a bit more enticing than if it was sitting behind the front desk. The big question is, who wants to drink a bottle of water that's had a Walkman sitting in it for days (or weeks) on end? Check out a video of the vending machine in action after the break.
Select Sony Bravia W-series TVs now available for pre-order in Europe
In a quiet announcement that's decidedly less exciting than last week's 4K pricing reveal, Sony's European arm shared news today that select W-series TVs are now available for customers to pre-order. A press release published in Europe lists several CES models, including the KDL-W905A, KDL-W805A, KDL-W650A and KDL-W600A, though only a few have made their way to the company's online store. In the UK, for example, you can pick up the W905 in 40-, 46- and 55-inch flavors for £1,299 (about $2,000), £1,699 (about $2,600), or £2,399 (about $3,700), respectively, with an estimated ship date in early May. The other aforementioned models have appeared with pricing across the pond, albeit without a pre-order link, so HD-hungry consumers will need to hold out for a bit before reserving one of those sets. With those W950 MSRPs approaching the top end for their class, though, we're tempted to hold out for Sony's 4K versions, which are set to ship for $5,000 and up beginning this very weekend.
Sony unveils Meb Keflezighi Edition Walkman W Series, fills it with the marathoner's coaching wisdom
NBC may have retired its Olympic spirit by repurposing its dedicated app, but Sony's sporting fever hasn't broken, as its just announced the Meb Keflezighi Edition Walkman W Series. A special edition orange hue graces the third-time Olympic marathoner's device and, like the other players in the line, it features a water resistant design, a quick-charge mode and an eight hour battery life when fully juiced. Twenty-four minutes of audio coaching by Meb himself are preloaded into the player's 2GB memory, which is estimated to store roughly 470 songs. Eager to hear the athlete's dulcet tones as you pound the pavement? You can pick up the player for $69.99 at Sony's online and brick-and-mortar stores, or wait until October for its arrival at Walmart.
Lenovo refreshes its ThinkPad T, W, L and X lines with Ivy Bridge processors, retooled keyboards
Now that Intel's Ivy Bridge specifications are finally out of the bag, you may as well resign yourselves to a deluge of PC refreshes over the coming months. Today Lenovo's up at bat, unveiling a slew of products under its business-friendly ThinkPad brand. If you were looking for a wholesale redesign, we'll kindly direct you to the X1, which was just reborn as a 14-inch Ultrabook. Otherwise, if you were just holding out for a little Ivy Bridge, we've got your refresh right here. All told, the upgrades span Lenovo's ultraportable X series, mainstream "T" lineup, budget "L" models and the W-series workstation. In general, you'll find Ivy Bridge processors (natch), Dolby audio and, in some cases, optional 4G radios. Additionally, the company tweaked its famed keyboard ever-so slightly and added a backlighting option to almost every system, save the newly available T430u Ultrabook. That's the abridged version for those of you not actually in the market for a new system, but folks craving more nitty-gritty details can follow past the break for a more detailed breakdown of pricing and specs.%Gallery-155303%
Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXIII: VAIO W netbook clone handily beats Sony to market
Turns out by the time Sony went official with its inaugural VAIO W netbook, it was already old news to the Chinese KIRF market. The "VAIO" pictured above apparently came out some time in mid-June and does a laudable job of honoring the actual one's chassis, although the keyboard is more traditional than Sony's isolated / chiclet stylings. Throw in a 10.2-inch LED display, 1.6GHz Atom processor, integrated graphics, a 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM, and decently convincing packaging and you'd be liable to think you went through a time warp spotting this in Shenzhen. It's got a pretty sizable head start on the legit version, but something tells us this particular model won't be trying its luck elsewhere in the world.[Via PMP Today and Cloned in China]
Sony's wraparound W Series Walkman on sale and in pink
Not much has been said of Sony's unique W Series Walkman since its unveiling at CES this year, but now the player is on sale and available in a vivacious pink hue for all the ladies in attendance. Or fashion-forward gentlemen, whichever. At any rate, said player -- which is more formally known as the NWZ-W202 -- is expected to start shipping out as early as tomorrow, bringing with it 2GB of inbuilt storage space, support for MP3, AAC and WMA files, a battery good for a dozen hours and a three minute "quick charge" feature that provides up to 90 minutes of playback. Catch it right now in black or the aforementioned pink for $69.99.[Via ChipChick]
Sony expands connected BRAVIA HDTV line with new W-Series
While these three weren't quite ready for CES, they're still being debuted in Las Vegas alongside Sony's new Blu-ray devices. The W-Series, as with the recently announced BRAVIA Z5100 and XBR9 models, is fully equipped with an Ethernet jack and a Yahoo!-powered widgets engine. Consumers who bite on the 52-inch KDL-52W5100, 46-inch KDL-46W5100 or 40-inch KDL-40W5100 can expect easy access to Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, Sony Pictures content, etc. The new family also includes Sony's Motionflow 120Hz technology, DLNA compatibility, a USB port for loading up external media, BRAVIA Sync (HDMI-CEC), four HDMI inputs and the Xross Media Bar (XMB) interface. As expected, each one sports a 1080p panel, and while pricing details are still sorely missing, the trifecta should hit retailers later this Spring. Full release is after the break.
Sony hearts its new wraparound Walkman W-series
Sony is expected to unveil this new wearable Walkman here at CES according to SonyInsider. The W-series device is said to feature 2GB of memory with a price in the range of $50 to $75. Magnetic connectors keep the 13.5mm EX earphones with built-in MP3, AAC, DRM'd WMA and PCM player tidy and heart-shaped when not in use. The Walkman charges to 90 minutes playback after just 3 minutes on the mains -- 30 minutes will give you 12 hours. Sounds good, but we'll have to check these out in person to measure the dork-factor.
Lenovo's ThinkPad W500 and W700 now on sale
Not like Lenovo has been keeping this duo on the DL or anything, but the potent W500 and W700 are now available to order. Hailed as the company's "most powerful notebooks ever," the 15.4-inch W500 gets going from $1,629 with a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 CPU, Vista Home Premium, a WSXGA+ display, 1GB of DDR3 RAM, ATI's 512MB Mobility FireGL V5700, a 100GB HDD, DVD combo drive, WiFi and a 6-cell battery. Overshadowing that is the 17-inch W700, which starts at $2,978 and features a WXGA+ display, T9400 CPU, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA's 512MB Quadro FX-2700 and a 160GB hard drive. The W500 should ship within 1 to 2 weeks, while the W700 isn't expected to head your way for a solid month. No worries -- that gives you plenty of time to save up for the $1,275 QX9300 Core 2 Extreme option.[Via 32packets]
Lenovo's ThinkPad T, SL, W, R, and X-series are popping for retail
Sitting up nice and pretty on Lenovo's US store front are none other than Lenovo's newest lineup of ThinkPad notebooks. The site breaks down if you try to custom configure and order anything at the moment but it's good to see the 12.1-inch X200, 12.1-inch X-series tablet, SL, R, T, and W-series of laptops readying themselves for take-out. [Thanks, Salman and Spencer]Read -- Full lineupRead -- X200
Sony's new DSC-W300 brings 13.6 megapixels to point-and-shoots
Tired of taking candid shots with your point-and-shoot that can barely stretch over the state of Nevada? Sony's got those megapixels in spades with its new DSC-W300, the new top-end shooter in its W lineup. In addition to the 13.6 megapixel sensor, the camera sports a 2.7-inch LCD, 3x optical zoom, optical image stabilization and up to ISO 6400 shots in "extra high sensitivity" mode. The camera also brings along Sony's Smile Shutter tech, and other fancy processor capabilities, including a limited burst mode. The DSC-W300 will be available in May for about $350.
Sony fesses up, Cybershot W series gets official
Not many surprises here, Sony's W series comes in the 7.2 megapixel DSC-W80, 8 megapixel DSC-W90 and 12 megapixel DSC-W200 flavors we spotted before, but instead of the HDMI plug we were hearing about, the three cameras output their HD wares via a component adapter. Everything else seems to be in line, like 3x zoom lenses, 2.5-inch LCDs, optical image stabilization, ISO 3200, and face detection for boosting exposure and focus. Pre-orders start February 28th, and the W80 and W90 should be available sometime in March, with the W200 following in May. Prices aren't bad for what these things are packing, with the W200 at $400, W90 $300 and the W80 for $250.%Gallery-1820%
