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Sony CEO Howard Stringer on music: "If we had gone with open technology from the start, I think we probably would have beaten Apple"
We've always had a soft spot for Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer, and it sounds like the old man's doing more than cajoling Tom Hanks into telling jokes following his consolidation of power: in a lengthy and illuminating interview with Nikkei Electronics Asia, Sir Howard pledged that Sony would use more open standards in the future, saying "If we had gone with open technology from the start, I think we probably would have beaten Apple" in the music market. That's a pretty bold statement to be making in hindsight -- especially since we're pretty sure the Connect Player and SonicStage would have still driven people screaming into the arms of iTunes -- but it's pretty heartwarming to hear from the head of a company just as famous for an endless array of funky proprietary standards as it is the Walkman. You want to make us feel even warmer and fuzzier, Howie? "We can no longer say that we're right and our customers are wrong. We can't build only what we want to build." Wow -- sounds like the start of a whole new Sony. We'll see if Sir Howard can actually pull off what sounds like a major change in his company's culture, but for right now we'd recommend hitting the read link and taking in the whole interview, cause it's a good one.
Sony's SonicStage CP contains playlist security hole
We've never had much love for Sony's SonicStage software, and now it looks like there's yet another reason to avoid it: according to Secunia, there's a buffer overflow vulnerability in the latest edition, version 4.3, that allows arbitrary code to be injected and run. The bug is triggered by .m3u playlists that contain over 1000 characters and there are already sample exploits floating around, so those of you still rocking the ATRAC action may want to avoid downloaded playlists until things get patched up.[Via Heise Security]
Sony's NWZ-A810 and NWZ-S610 now really, really official and ATRAC free
So long ATRAC, hello NWZ-A810 and NWZ-S610 Sony Walkmans. The A810 we've seen before, twice in fact, but this is the first time the S610 (pictured) has wiggled free from the rumor mill all dolled-up in full specs and pricing. The S610 series packs the same QVGA resolution in a slightly smaller 1.8-inch display and still one-ups the A810 with an FM tuner bunged inside. Both support USB Mass Storage file transfer, AVC (H.264/AVC) and MPEG-4 encoded video, and AAC, MP3 and DRM'd WMA audio formats without bothering us with any of that icky ATRAC stuff or their much maligned SonicStage software. Sony's also making nice by bringing their B100 series of Walkman DAPs to town in 1GB ($60) and 2GB ($80) models. The S610 series starts at $120 for 2GB on up to $210 for the 8GB compared to a $140 to $230 range for the same capacity A810 models. All available in September, pre-sales now.%Gallery-6575%
Sony's PMX-U50 and PMX-M70 China-only media players
While the rest of the world makes do with the 2-inch, QVGA display on their NW-A800 Walkman, China just nabbed a pair of biggie Sony Walkman branded flash video players under the PMX-M70 (pictured) and PMX-U50 monikers. The M70 series brings a 4.3-inch, 480 x 272 pixel display for viewing MPEG-4 video stored in up to 8GB of flash memory or Memory Stick expansion. It also records audio or video when jacked-in appropriately or plays back MP3, WMA, and AAC audio over the unit's integrated stereo speakers. The PMX-U50 then, is a throw-back to the ol' GigaPocket PCVA-HVP20 design with a refreshed spec sheet touting a 2.4-inch TFT LCD, FM tuner, drag-n-drop support (no SonicStage!), voice recorder and more in capacities up to 4GB. Notable by its absence from the press release is ATRAC, again. While three ATRAC-less, SonicStage-less products released in the last 4 weeks certainly does not constitute a trend, it's tantalizing nonetheless. See the U50 pictured after the break.[Via I4U]
Hello Sony Walkman B100 -- bye bye ATRAC and SonicStage
An interesting bit of news from the kids over at ATRACLife this morning. According to "trustworthy insiders," Sony is set to introduce another Walkman stick -- the B100 series -- which supports drag 'n drop music transfer... no SonicStage required. Perhaps oxymoronic considering the source, the player will not support Sony's MiniDisc era codec, ATRAC; a milestone in and of itself. Instead, the player touts MP3, non-DRM'd WMA, and presumably AAC like we've seen in the recent lineup of dedicated Walkman players and phones. The latter necessary to get your DRM-free EMI on (at least initially). The B100 series will ship sometime before May has sprung in 1, 2, and 4GB capacities with or without FM radios. Nice, now where's that nano killer?
Sony NW-A800 gets reviewed
While we wait twiddling our thumbs in the States to get ahold of Sony's new supposed hotness, the NW-A800, French DAP site GenerationMP3 has snagged itself the first review of the player. They seem to have good things to say, but unfortunately they're all in French. From what we gleaned, there's some good stuff going on here, with the 2-inch QVGA screen setting it well apart from the nano, and a good feel to the controls and shape of the player. The battery is apparently much easier to get at than that of the iPod -- though still a bit of a chore to replace. On the software side, Sony's made some big improvements, since they've not only spruced up SonicStage, with transcoding and the like, but also allow you to manage your player completely without it. Sony also has a new RSS app, for subscribing to podcasts, photo streams and videos to place on your player, but GenerationMP3 ran into some trouble areas with it. Battery life isn't quite at the 30 hours Sony was promising, but 22 hours for ATRAC and 5 hours for video ain't too shabby. Of course, codec support is quite commendable for Sony, with AAC, WMA and MP3 (all non-DRM) in addition to the regular ATRAC. The GenerationMP3 folks gave this player a 4/5, we'll be keeping an eye out for a review we can actually comprehend.[Via dapreview]
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-S205 2GB Network Walkman reviewed
After we let the cat out of the bag, it didn't take long for CNET to get their hands on Sony's latest excuse to exercise. The NW-S205, appearing only in black and housing 2GB of capacity, is their newest Network Walkman and is apparently poised to combat the Nike+iPod craze. It seems to have done quite well at accomplishing that goal, as the myriad of features and bundled accessories (Sony, is that you?) readily revealed its "athletic intentions." Although the reviewers weren't too fond of being forced to transfer files via SonicStage, there was plenty of love for the cigar-shaped DAP. The player seemed well-built for its intentions: having a water (and sweat) resistant enclosure, throwing in a comfortable armband, and including the G-Sensor (Sony's name for a pedometer) made this a viable alternative to Apple's offering. CNET was most impressed with the built-in FM tuner -- something sorely missing on the nano -- and the intelligent playlist changer that hopped lists when you broke into a run or slowed to a walk. Thanks to a $150 asking price and superb "out-of-the-box" functionality, the NW-S205 was highly regarded, and will be tempting legs everywhere to make good use of themselves in August.
