nw-e005
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Sony brings NW-E000 series to the States
After a few months of partying down in Japan, Sony's NW-E000 series of thumbdrive DAPs is making its way on over to the States to meet an aging iPod shuffle and cronies. Headlining the series is the 2GB NW-E005, which comes in green, black and violet, and retails for a wallet-friendly $130. Sony also has a $100 1GB version in silver or pink, and a $70 512MB unit in blue to round out the collection. This being Sony, the SonicStage software, Connect Music Store and ATRAC3plus format are all necessary evils, but things do look up from there. Sony has included unprotected MP3, WMA and AAC playback, along with FM radio, one of their sexy (if hard to read) embedded OLED displays, and a 5-mode EQ. The rechargeable batter life is rated at 28 hours when playing ATRAC3plus at 48Kbps, but other formats don't fare so nicely, and the three-minute quick charge only manages three hours of playback. Overall, Sony isn't breaking a lot of ground here, but they are offering a sexy device, a bit of codec support and a dang good deal if you can stand to have the evil tendrils of SonicStage all over your tunes.
Sony NW-E005 flash Walkman with AAC support
Sony has updated its E-series flash Walkman, but if you've already picked up a first-gen unit and are happy with it, you probably don't need to rush out and pick up a new one. Like its predecessor, the NW-E005 comes in versions from 512MB to 2GB, and comes in a range of colors. But Sony has added one key feature: the new model now supports the AAC file format, which Sony is in the process of adding to all new players. As previously mentioned, although AAC is the default format used by iTunes, these players won't be able to play any DRM-protected iTunes downloads. However, if you've ripped CDs into AAC using iTunes, you will be able to play them back in the NW-E005 without having to convert them into another format first. Sony's also rolled out a waterproof case for this player, though we'd still be a little wary of taking it into the shower or pool. (Note: Sony is currently offering a firmware upgrade to allow owners of the A-series Walkman to play AAC files, but we have yet to hear of an upgrade for this model.)
