For those who want a disposable lighter sized MP3 player but don't want to compromise on the iPod shuffle's lack of a screen, Sony has released their iPod shuffle 'Killer' series. Their two new models NW-E50x and NW-40x both feature a 3-line OLED display behind the casing showing track details, time, calendar & stopwatch, ATRAC3/Plus & MP3 native support, capacity of either 512MB (NW-E405/E505) or 1GB (NW-E407/E507), dimensions of 8.5 x 2.9 x 1.4 cm (3.35" x 1.14" x 0.55") and a weight of only 47g (1.66oz). The NW-E50x also features an FM Tuner. Both models feature a lengthy 50 hour battery life, while playing 105Kbps ATRAC3 audio using its "power saving mode"
Sony's upcoming 100 series is round in shape and comes in models NW-E103 (256MB), NW-E105 (512MB) and NW-107 (1GB) all featuring up to a lengthy 70 hours on just a single AAA battery. These feature a backlit LCD display, direct USB connection and a weight of just 26g (.92oz).
The NW-10x series will ship from the 21st March, followed by the NW-E40x and NW-E50x series from the 21st April. Our forum moderator Womble submitted the following news:
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What distinguishes the Sony product - apart from the distinctly disposable lighter styling - is the integration of an OLED read-out into the player's casing. The device doesn't have a screen as such - track details, the time and tuner station information - appear on the surface of the player. Sony will offer two models, one with an FM tuner (NW-E50x) and one without (NW-40x), both in 512MB and 1GB versions, and each available in a range of colours, including... er... "froth tea silver" if our translation software is to be believed. Other colours include midnight black, ocean blue, rose pink and olive green. A limited edition gold version is on the cards too. Read the full article here. Some more info can be found on Mi2N here and from Sony here. |
It looks like Sony is now the leader when it comes to a very long battery life. I remember when a portable CD player ran 3.5 hours on 6 AA batteries and over time how each new player tried beating another on battery time until when players such as some Sony CD players offer a 100 hour battery life. Now this approach seems to be happening again, but with MP3 players.
Feature wise, the NW-E40x and NW-E50x series look to be good competitors to the iPod shuffle, especially by having an built-in display, lengthy battery and a radio (on NW-E50x), while still very close to the iPod shuffle's dimensions. The drawbacks would be their more expensive pricing and double the weight of an iPod shuffle. The other difference here is that Sony's series works only with Sony's connect online music store while the iPod only works with the iTunes online music store, thus a major drawback for iTunes fans.
Source: The Register - Mobile Devices
Yup, at least the manufacturers are competitng on battery life as it was just a few days ago that iRiver announced its leading 60 hour battery life. Oops 
When I got my player 2 years ago, I avoided anything that said it had its own rechargable lithium ion/polymer battery as the last thing I wanted to happen was to have a flat battery midway through a trip. Now with this and the new iRiver's it looks like the chance of one ending up in silence is the same chance as their mobile phone's battery becoming low, with the exception that their player is not left on 24 hours a day like a mobile 
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