Newsletter
Sony has been known for their media devices since the 80’s and still makes Walkman’s to this day. From cassette, to CD, to digital, they’ve maintained a presence in the space despite competition from the iPod and smartphones. Today, the company announced their new Walkman for 2012, the F800, which will come in several capacities and be running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Don’t except to be able to make any phone calls or anything like that. This is purely a device for consumption, though comes with access to the Google Play Store. Here’s the specs:
- 3.5 inch multi-touch screen
- Available in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB versions
- Wifi and Bluetooth connectivity for Internet access
- Google Play Store
- Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
- Built-in xLOUD speaker system for minimizing distortion
- Up to 20 hour battery life
There’s no mention of the processor, processor speed, or amount of RAM, but in Sony’s press release they do say there is plenty of processing power for smooth and speedy responses. The F800 will launch in Europe first at a price of around $279 US. Quite a bit for a device that is essentially a slimmed down smartphone. One can’t help but wonder how much longer digital media players will exist thanks to smartphones currently on the market.
Clearly there is still a market and the Walkman F800 looks to compete directly with the iPod Touch.