Sony lanserar ny Walkman med inbyggd dämpning av bakgrundsljud

Pressmeddelande - Sony 2006-10-12

SONY LAUNCHES NEW WALKMAN^® WITH BUILT-IN NOISE CANCELING TECHNOLOGY

Sony today announced the launch of the WALKMAN NW-S700 series – Sony’s first portable digital music player designed with integrated noise canceling technology to offer the best in sound quality.

The innovative NW-S700 series will establish a new benchmark in high sound quality thanks to its original clear audio technologies including noise canceling, clear stereo, clear bass and newly developed 13.5φEX headphones. This means that users can finally enjoy the best sound quality in a bustling street or on a noisy train journey without having to increase the volume, which may damage hearing.

The noise canceling technology works in three steps with discreet microphones built into the 13.5φEX headphones to catch surrounding noise interruptions, to analyze its properties, and to finally produce an equal reverse sound wave so all that users can enjoy their music without distraction. The NW-S700 series also utilizes clear stereo technology to prevent audio signal leaking from one channel to another and it features clear bass technology to reduce distortion providing an unparalleled listening experience true to its original recording like never before.

The new Sony WALKMAN boasts unrivalled battery stamina with up to 50 hours playback time and a 3 minute charge & 3 hour playback quick functionality. Designed to be compact and lightweight, a direct encoding function allows users to record analogue audio directly from an audio player without the use of a PC. The recorded
songs can later be transferred to SonicStage thanks to the new recording feature on SonicStage CP.

These features are further enhanced by the addition of a 5 band equalizer system and ‘Virtual Phone Technology’, a process which converts the played back music to include 3D sound thus reproducing the acoustic effect of a studio, live-house, club space or arena. The NW-S700 series also boasts a three line colour OEL cover art display as standard and will be available in 4 stylish colours - violet, black, pink and gold.

WALKMAN NW-S700 series features
• Built-in Noise Canceling
• Clear Stereo / Clear Bass / 5 band Equalizer / Virtual Phone Technology
• 13.5φEX Headphone: Wide frequency response and higher dynamic range playback
• 3 Line Colour OEL Display
• 3 Minute Charge 3 Hour Playback
• 50 hours of playback with built-in lithium-ion rechargeable battery in ATRAC 132 kbps power save mode “super” and noise canceling / Clear Stereo/Equalizer / VPT are not in use
• Direct Encoding %uFF08w/optional cradle or cable%uFF09
• JOG Shuttle operation
• Multi Codec (ATRAC /ATRAC Advanced Lossless/ MP3 / WMA / AAC^* / Linear-PCM)
• FM tuner

^{* WMA/AAC format audio files that are copyright-protected cannot be played back.}

SonicStage
The latest SonicStage CP software allows listeners to get the most from their music. The program enables easy music management and also seamlessly works with the Sony CONNECT music store, an online music catalogue which contains more than 1.5 million tracks to download, ranging from the latest chart hits to specialist genres and an extensive back catalogue of classic albums. In incorporating the “Artist Link” feature of SonicStage CP, which randomly selects related songs for playback, users can save and edit their music selections before transferring the data back to the NW–S700. It also supports multiple codecs including ATRAC, MP3, WMA*, AAC^*, ATRAC Lossless and Linear-PCM. New features will be forthcoming on Sony’s CONNECT music store, including an extensive promotional campaign in autumn/winter 2006 including free downloads for new WALKMAN customers.

^{* WMA/AAC format audio files that are copyright-protected cannot be played back.}

A range of stylish accessories including high quality leather cases (CKL-NWS700), and neckstrap (STP-NWN2/STP-NWN3) will be available to ensure that the NW-S700 series will always look its best, whilst a recording cable (WMC-NWR1) and a cradle (BCR-NWU3) means that customers can record music directly from non-PC sources. Additionally, devices such as the Bluetooth Audio Transmitter (WLA-NWB1) that allows connectivity to other Bluetooth enabled devices or a Cradle Audio Speaker System (SRS-NWZ10 and CPF-NW001) to play music aloud will also be on sale.

From November, consumers will also be able to purchase the WALKMAN NW-S600 series. The NW-S600 range will come without an FM tuner and the integrated noise cancelling technology, but it will still provide excellent audio quality thanks to the Clear Bass and Clear stereo technologies and the new 13.5φEX Headphones. Besides this it will also feature the 50 hour total Stamina. The NW-S600 will be available in 3 colours; black, blue and pink.

The WALKMAN NW-S700 series will be available throughout Europe from the end of October 2006 and NW-S600 series will be available throughout Europe from November 2006. Both models will be available to pre-order at www.sonystyle-europe.com