Sony's NW-E505 Network Walkman

We don't know what it's going to cost, when it's supposed to be released, or if it's ever going to be sold over here, but the NW-E505, Sony's new 512MB digital audio player, is the best evidence we've seen yet that they're not going to let Apple just walk over the market for flash-based players. Has a 3-line OLED display (take that, iPod shuffle!), a built-in FM radio, a battery that should last for as long as 50 hours, and is supposed to come in either blue or silver.

[Thanks, DirtHerder]

[tex210 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

The oled screen shows that it's kept on shuffle! lol

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

http://www.sonyproductinformatie.nl/200501/nl/detail.php?group=pa61&product=NWE505L

[Kapila Wimalaratne @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

But does it play Audible books?

Didn't think so.

Plus, there's no mention on the site on how it connects to the computer and transfers songs - don't see any USB connection on the thing?

Kap

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

The shuffle has left me unimpressed, but this little baby really has something going on - I love the embedded OLED display. Now if only it was price-comparable with the Shuffle... we'll see I suppose.

[Connor @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

512MB is not enough.

[John @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

yes but the key issue is can they compete with and match apple on price. If not it wont matter how wany exrta features/longer batettery life their flash player has

[Guido @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

#3: some people can live without that.

I for one, would take it.

[Guido @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Definitely. I would take it.

� Lithium-Ion rechargeable Battery: 50h continuous playback
� High speed charging: 3 minutes charging = 3H playback time

[Jay @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Its always amusing to see how pathetic the rest of market is when it comes to Apple.

Ever noticed that the world NEVER innovates. Apple is the only innovator, and each time they come up with a winning product, you find the rest of the market scrambling to compete! LOLLL What a bunch of losers. Why don't you come up with something NEW on your own.

Sad sad real sad. And what's even scarier is the thought of what would happen if Apple ceased to exist. I think we'd be really boring.

[Marke @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

wonder how long before that shiny exterior is all scratchy and ugly....

[DustBunny @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Hmmmm... I would guess $250 or more.

I've wanted the other Network Walkmans, but their insane prices have turned me off every single time. I can't see why it would be any different now :(

[Steve @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Any player can play audio books if there in the format for that player. I listen to audio books on my treo 650 with pocket tunes.

[Sandeep Koorse @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

It's sonicstage or their crappy mp3 transfer program (adds some DRM to mp3s transferred to the device) or the lack of useful accessories or the brainless USB 1.1 connection that doomed the NW-E99. It only had 80 S/N too.
Sony doesn't know crap. Not too many people care about 50 hours of battery life if it doesn't sound good, and an LCD if you can't see it, using a player without an armband, or having a metal case when it's covered by glass that breaks. I've mentioned the software which is the biggest disadvantage it has.

[Sandeep Koorse @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

It did look good though... but it was a little too heavy to wear around the neck when jogging. I ended up with bruises on my chest after a 5 mile run.

[edd:e @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Wow. That looks hot.
It's got the same 'phantom' LCD as their new MD players coming out.
This just proves that, when they're trying, Sony can smack anyone around in the design department - including Apple.

[#7]: I really hope you're being sarcastic. The words "iPod Shuffle" and "innovation" go together as much as "black & white television" and "high-tech" do.

[Joe Beirne @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

.......$299.........

[Adnan Osmani @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

>>Ever noticed that the world NEVER innovates. >>Apple is the only innovator, and each time >>they come up with a winning product, you find >>the rest of the market scrambling to compete!

Dude that is just BS - Apple doesnt innovate, they take a product already on the market, and advertise the hell out of their own version of it. Apple didnt come up with the hard drive MP3 players - and if it wasnt for Toshiba (who probably came out with the first HDMP players in Japan) - they wouldnt even have the technology to release the iPods. As for that ridiculous piece of hardware they recently released - flash based players have been around for soo long - I mean you can get a Japanese import off eBay for less than half the price of an iShuffle - why bother with the advertising/label at all

[The Dude @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Ok, now Jay, I'm not exactly sure how you can say the world never innovates. The portable music players that have sold more than any other in the world and were considered the coolest and the greatest for the longest time were the sony walkmans. Sony has lost is spotlight in portable music to apple, at least for the time being, so its not that no one else "innovates" its just that apple is in charge at the moment. The problem with apple is that they are a relatively small company and lack some in electronics.

Lets take a quick glance at the HD3 I believe its called, the new version of the hard drive based music player by Sony and the ipod. The only problem with it is the music format. My dad has the HD1 and my sister has an ipod. If I were to buy one I wouldn't even stop to think. The ipod pales in comparison. If you have never held the HD1/3 in your hand then you have no idea the fact that its brushed metal casing is a beast. I have a minidisc player as well. Those things don't scratch, and even theose that are colored are amazing. The HD3 is smaller and is the perfect size (about the size of a ipod mini). What it amounts to is Sony has the technology, Apple is lacking. So, how does this relate to this player?

If you look at it it is drop dead gorgeous. That silver, integrated OLED is definitely innovation. The battery life is just Sony showing the world that there technology is still some of the best in power consumption, and for those of you that are worried about sound quality, I've listened to the ipod and the network walkman HD1, and they are about the same, with the HD1 winning out a bit. I personally don't care for crappy white plastic on the ipod. This sony player looks plastic, but the scratch resistance is probably very high. Truth be told, its the hype that surrounds the ipod that lets it survive (and maybe the fascination with its good looks). For those of you that have owned both players, you know that the Sony rules over the ipod.

[Michael @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

@#7...

I would hardly call Apple an innovator. There were hard drive players before the iPod; Apple just took something that was already there and improved it. The shuffle isn't anything innovative; it's a simple piece of hardware, a good piece of software, and a hell of a marketing team.

Bottom line, Apple took something already there and smoothed out the details.

[Chin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

damn true... #7, you are the stereotypical apple jack ass... apple makes goo d products true, and many of their products are revolutionary! i admnit it!

But the ipod shuffle is absolutely nothign! the onyl thing going for it is the price! mp3 players liek the shuffle have been around for god knows how long! and this looks just so amazingly sexy compared to the silly shuffle! jus wish sony would drop their stupid prices!

and i agree with #13 about sony styling

[truth @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Exactly! Apple's success is due to their wonderful marketing team. Ahem.. innovative products? Just a mp3 player without LCD and called it innovative. I guess as usual many mac users only able to see apple logo as product the rest are crap to them.

[NightFire @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

So can this network thingy play MP3 files or do i have to convert it to atrac? Can I use it as a removable flash harddrive? What will it cost? $99,- +?

[bullring @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

I dunno about you people, but this OLED is sweet... I would take one too for sure.
The playback support says ATRAC3 and MP3... and Sonicstage management.

Features:
� 512MB Flash Memory MP3 Walkman
� ATRAC3plus and MP3 direct playback
� NW-E505: More than 20 CD�s in ATRAC3plus, 10 CD�s in MP3
� FM tuner
� Stylish, compact design
� Bright and clear 3-line Organic EL display for easy navigation
� Super light: weighs just 37 grams
� WMA / WAV compatibility
� Lithium-Ion rechargeable Battery: 50h continuous playback
� High speed charging: 3 minutes charging = 3H playback time
� Easy music management with Sonic Stage 3.0 Jukebox software
� Available in: Blue and Silver

[MM @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Looks like theres also a 1Gb option but you lose the radio...

[AD @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Design is okay, controls look nice and simple (kind simplified post-Shuffle?) ... but that screen, it's fantastic!

Now lets see Sony kill it off by asking more than I'm willing to pay for it.

[thugbug12 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

If Sony can keep the price at $150 they could have an iPod Shuffle killer on their hands if they market it right.

[Joey Geraci @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

You know what it really amusing. To see fanboys go into Damage Control whenever another company comes up with a product that is clearly more innovative than on of apple's products. Zen micro, iriver h10, and now this. This thing really makes the ipod shuffle look like a stick of chewing gum. I guess that is what they wanted, right?

[Wiman @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

#8

So Apple is the innovative ones you say?

You must be really dumb, they've taken almost everything they've sold from someone else, but thats how the world is.

i.e. their "first one with GUI" computer, was a total ripoff from the Xerox network computer. I can name alot more of these ripoffs, so apple isn't the inovative, they'r just a hell of a marketing team, and know what sells and what doesn't

[Joshua Ochs @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Let's be fair here. I think this Sony has shown that Apple could have easily included a small, sleek display in the iPod Shuffle (although I don't know how that would have affected the price). The way the display melds into the player looks very, very elegant.

However, the Sony will still "just" be an MP3 player, that you probably load songs on via an explorer-style interface. For a lot of people here, that will be just fine. However, iTunes (the software) is a hell of a program for managing and seamlessly syncing your music collection, and the fact that the iPod Shuffle uses it will be a major bonus to many people. As others have commented, there's no chance this will play Audible books or AAC (not that you could *fit* many books on a Shuffle or this).

So, this has a very nice screen, continuing to prove Apple wrong on that front. Otherwise, I expect the seamless "it-just-works" nature of the iPod Shuffle to still beat this. Time will tell, of course.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

"Ever noticed that the world NEVER innovates. Apple is the only innovator, and each time they come up with a winning product, you find the rest of the market scrambling to compete!"

Yeah, because nobody made flash players before Apple, right?

Apple's one innovation in the flash player market was to remove the screen. Sony has thankfully not copied that "innovation".

I think these oled screens look freakin' sweet, personally (Sony's got another player with one too). I think this thing makes the iPod Shuffle look like yesterday's news, personally. This thing blows it up.

Now, if Sony would just develop an app that works as well as iTunes, they'd really have something. I saw some comments from them yesterday saying they understand that, so maybe they'll finally put some effort into it now.

Competition is good...

(And once again, I say this as an iPod owner.)

[DirtHerder @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

There are two things that would get me to consider this Sony (or any other Sony mp3 player for that matter).

The first is elimination of it's dependency on software.

I'd love to simply be able to plug the player into a computer and drag-drop files onto the player, without haveing to use any kind of software at all.

I've been screwed by Sony's lack of long term software support before (with their older Network Walkmen... I've got one... it's pretty much useless now).

Sony isn't a software company, they should focus on the hardware and nix the software.

The second is price. More competitive pricing would definitely make the choice to go Sony far easier.

[John @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

I have a question about the ipod battery. why is it so inferior in terms of playing time and batterys overall lifespan. Players by Sony iriver, dell and virtually every other manuafacterer surpass apple in this respect Is apple being cheap and using a low quality manufacturer or a less moden batter?. does the ipod simple use more power then other players? Is it an older style battery? I'm not an apple lover /hater it just seems that this should be an easy problem to fix and yet its persisted for years

[oe @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Sony is an OLED touch screen away from rejuvenating the Walkman brand. This particular product isn't especially revolutionary or innovative; but, when I take a look at all the different technologies and interfaces Sony has been developing and toying with over the last year, I see a promising future. Between the PSP, the new Network Walkmans, the improving SonyEricsson line, and the various personal media devices they released in Japan in 2004...well, there's a lot of "tangible" potential there. Oh, and the PS3 is on the way. �There's no doubt that the future of personal electronics lies in convergence, and no one else is dabbling in as broad a range of consumer technologies as Sony. Apple took 2003 & 2004 with the iPod - but that brand and aesthetic is getting pretty old. If they can just get their software development on track, 2005 & 2006 are Sony's for the taking.

Oh god...I sound like a marketing VP. OK, I'll stop now.

[MM @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Oh and for anyone likening this device to a shuffle... personally I think it bears a lot more resemblence to the MD remote controls sony have been making since before I got my first MD back in 1998...

[Brandon Paddock @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Apple doesn't innovate.

BUT, they are good at one thing...

They take cutting edge/"geeky" technology and market it to everyone. They're very good at taking others' innovations and making them cooler.

That said, I think this device looks very promising. But I'll reserve judgement til there's some hands-on detail to go by.

[Max Tipper @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

I like the mirrored effect screen, just like on my denon UD-M31, looks sweet. By the way OLED is not mirrored. OLED is really bright but its nothing new and loads of mp3 players out there all ready have it.

I agree why can apple only squeeze 12 hours with a mp3 player with no screen when sony can get 50 with a screen?

[Carmi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

I think we all need to look beyond the actual hardware. The iPod and iPod shuffle are clearly successful because of Apple's great sense of industrial design. However, what really differentiates them is their tight integration with iTunes - both the software and the store.

If Sony can match or exceed Apple on this front, the feature-for-feature comparison of the hardware will cease to be a key issue for most users. It's the entire end-to-end experience that matters most.

Carmi
http://writteninc.blogspot.com

[Tomas @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Screw the software Sony. Stick to hardware. Plenty of WMP users out there. WMP actually works ok, and its already on millions (billions?) of users machines. Why bother with a new software, with all the headaches that comes with software support etc...

This thing looks great and I agree with previous posters: The iPod and shuffle is so passe.
Creative's biggest misstake was to try to make their latest products look like the iPod!
Cudos to Sony for sticking to their own design.

[Kev @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

The battery probably is one of the best (my Sony camcorder battery is heads and shoulders above my older Canon batteries) but ...

Sony has been known to exaggerate the battery life on its MP3 players because they keep using the ATRAC3 48kbps songs as the measuring stick. So if that's the case here (don't know for sure since I don't have one), you can cut down that 50 hours to 12 hours if you're using 192k MP3, or maybe 15-18 hours for 128k.

[max @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

It shouldn't make a difference if it is a solid state player. Only on a HDD player does the bit rate affect the battery life as it means that it has to spin the HD more. No HD no spinning.

[James Katt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

The attractiveness of the iPod is the EXPERIENCE due to the INTEGRATION between it, the software (iTunes), and the music store (iTunes Music Store). That is Apple's innovation. Apple's innovation also is the scroll-wheel for navigation of your music (which they have a patent on). It can't be pass?f it commands 90% of the hard-drive MP3 players, and soon much of the flash music players.

Other competitors are at a disadvantage because they can only do a portion of the music experience. For example, Sony can only make hardware - their software sucks.

Napster is at a disadvantage because they need third-party MP3 players to provide the hardware - and less than 10 are compatible with Napster-to-Go.

In addition, Napster is going to be swamped by people downloading tons of music for free using stream ripping software - which will make music executives highly unhappy.

[john @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Apple is always innovative.
This time, they invented the shuffle function.
huhuhuahahhaha

[psdiao @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

I don't see how Sony's sonftware is any less intuitive, you just need a heel of alot of computer power so i think they should cut down on the fancy animation, or have a option to turn it off. Secondly the ATRAC3 format is slow in converting because many, many, many calculations need to me made per second, much more compared to MP3 or AAC conversion. The price would bee around the $300 mark but that is a disadvantage due to the design, someone is designing these beautiful pieces of electronics and designers don't come cheap, if someone dropped their Shuffle on the road I wouldn't think it was anything special, it looks like it fell of a car. Apple, stop being so conservative and be a little innovative.

[The Dude @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

The reason why sony has such a better battery life is because their technology is more advanced. They have spent loads of mula on making chips that use less and less power. It is true, as one person noted, that Sony often times exaggerates their batter life, but as he noted that is cuz they record it at a low bitrate. For a player that doesn't use a motor and cache to store info to play, the battery life would probably be no different at differrent bitrates, whereas on say, a hard drive player at higher bitrates less music can more stored and so the motor has to run for longer for the same amount of music. Hope this answers some questions!

[gerald` @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Dear Sony,

if you want to beat out the iPod Shuffle, fix these three things:

1. Keep the price low - no more than $25US above an equivalently-sized Shuffle.

2. Fix SonicStage. It's the reason I don't have a NetMD player.

3. Get real names. There's no passion in NW-E505.

Love, gerald`

[ripar @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

wiman,

I have to disagree with you there. I'm tired of all this xerox parc and Apple copying them. Yes, Apple got the idea from them. But they invented a lot of the os themselves. And it was the first affordable and usable computer with a gui... the xerox machine was over 10k.

I suggest you check out this link for a good history:

http://web.archive.org/web/20020606171244/www.apple-history.com/quickgallery.html?where=128k.html

Also, Apple, though not inventing, made the following things mainstream standard items of computing(off the top of my head): the GUI, 3.5" floppy, cd-rom, dvd-rom, the mouse, the modern laptop computer, and usb.

Yes, I know that all that stuff was invented elsewhere. But Apple was the first to integrate and make them standard features on their computers. They've taken various pieces of technology and put it all together and made it work. Sounds like innovation to me. Example, usb was invented by Intel. It did a whole lot of nothing for years because Microsoft didn't provide OS support. Then Apple made it standard and created a market for usb devices. If it weren't for Apple, you would still probably be using a lot of ps/2 and serial devices and parallel printers.

And finally, a couple of things that Apple did invent. Firewire and video on computers(Quicktime). Oh, and AOL.

Having said all that, I do think that the Shuffle is not innovative at all from a hardware standpoint. A flash mp3 player is a flash mp3 player. But don't kid yourself. What Apple has done in digital music is innovative. They actually made digital music usable. The iTunes music store wasn't the first, but it was the first that was usable and actually made sense and the first to be successful. Everything else on the market was and is still a joke. The iPod wasn't the first, but it was the first to offer seamless integration with the computer and software. So while the Shuffle isn't all that big of a deal hardware-wise, if you want that seamless integration, its at the top of the list.

The sony player seems cool though, technology-wise. That floating display is pretty cool. Unfortunately, I'm sure the software will be absurd. And I'm guessing that the price will be $175-200 for the 512. The oled and radio alone probably add $20 to the cost.

[Dean Shan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

The embedded screen is very cool. Glad to see the Sony added MP3 support, maybe people will start to buy their stuff.

[umijin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

I'm also not impressed with the Shuffle (innovation my a$$!) so if this thing is in the same price range and can connect via USB - that's great. And if it loads via iTunes - that's even better, given I am a Mac user.

[umijin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Looking at that link to the Sony Netherlands page, you can flip through the menus and find their listings for this product. Looks like they have 3 versions of the product - varying in color and capacity. Really kewl looking things. Maybe you can't use them as data sticks. I'd like to know about Mac compatibility...

[Edvard_Grieg @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

#39

Actual the difference is in the decoding. Since sony has been using ATRAC for so long they have proprietary hardware decoders that can decode ATRAC VERY VERY efficiently. That's why it has a higher battery life for ATRAC than MP3. It has nothing to do with file size/hd spin-up, but with decoding the compression scheme.