When Sony launched the Walkman cassette tape player before the millennium, it was the hottest selling portable music device. Now Apple has beaten Sony in the 21st Century with its iPod hard drive based music player.
As a result Sony are now are now eager to become the market leader again with its new portable Video MP3 player; the HMP-A1. Unlike its previous players, Sony appears to be trying to attract the consumer's interest by using the world's most popular audio and video codec's - MP3 audio, MPEG2/4 Video and JPEG graphics rather than its proprietary ATRAC audio codec or other closed proprietary codec's such as Windows media. Its software bundle can transcode from MPEG 1, Windows Media Video, AVI and DVR-MS to its support MPEG format, several image formats to JPEG and comes with MusicMatch for MP3 encoding.
The HMP-A1 features a 20GB of capacity on its hard drive, a 3.5" 320 x 240 resolution colour LCD display, Lithium Ion rechargeable battery lasting up to 8 hours on MP3, 6 hours on MPEG4 and 4 hours on MPEG2. It has a dimension size of 13 x 7.6 x 2.2 cm weighing 250g. Output connections include an earphone socket and video out for hook-up to a TV. Thanks to GristyMcFisty for submitting the following news via our news submit :
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Earlier this month we reported on its first Vaio-branded colour portable music player, the VGF-AP1. Today, Sony unveiled a second machine, this time pitched even more as an adjunct to a home PC, but this time with still photography and video playback functionality. And in a rare move for Sony, the player supports MP3 rather than the company's own ATRAC audio format. The second model, the HMP-A1, contains a 20GB hard drive, the contents of which are listed on a front-mounted 3.5in, 320 x 240 colour LCD - larger than the VGF-AP1's 2.2in display. The new unit is larger, too, and heavier: it's 13 x 7.6 x 2.2cm to the first model's 11.5 x 6.3 x 1.7cm. The two machines weight 250g and 195g, respectively. The HMP-A1 plays back MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 files. Its software allows it to handle MPEG 1, AVI, WMV and DVR-MS, but these are converted to one of the MPEG video formats when they're downloaded from a host PC to the player. |
Having admitted this week that Apple beat it to offering the "Walkman of the 21st Century", Sony is fiercely fighting back to recapture the title.
I am not sure if many consumers would be keen in going for a portable video player over a music only player. This would be a problem for cyclists, drivers and other users who need to keep focus on their work or something else. However for those who travel as a passenger or in public transport, it would be handy to watch content such as recorded TV programmes on the move. Mostly likely useful
for TV addicts who want to pass the time, but are not too keen in listening to music all the time. Pricing may also be an issue, but then again the Apple iPod managed to do really well despite its bloated price and limited features.
The HMP-A1 will go on sale for ¥63,000 (~$ 563 / ~£310) in Japan on June 26th.
Source: The Register - Mobile Devices
