Sony Launches iPod Rival

"Our first ever Walkman with video support combines the best of what we know in sound and vision, it is compact and super-stylish with an impressively large (two-inch)screen  for such a small unit – it's what people have been waiting for, says Sony's Suzanna Gan.

Video footage can be viewed horizontally or vertically on the two-inch QVGA screen. Playback supports MPEG-4 and the codec of AVC Baseline profile formats, at up to 30 frames per second, Sony says.

And to improve on sound quality for the compressed audio in your player, Sony has added its new Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) technology that it says "restores the nuances and frequencies usually lost in music like MP3 files due to
the compression process."

The new Walkman Video MP3 player's lithium-ion rechargeable battery has a claimed life of up to 30 hours continuous music or up to eight hours continuous video playback. It also allows you to store JPEG photos and create slideshows with music sound effects to match.

Available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB versions and a choice of four colours (violet, black, white and pink), the player comes with SonicStage software for music management. They also come with a set of EX monitor headphones in the box.