Sony today unleashed three new "series" of players--the S, E, and B-series. Within each Walkman series there are different capacities, colors, and price-points. The S-series is the high-end Walkman line, with noise cancellation, "SensMe"--a feature that creates channels by dividing your music up by genre and tempo, and a 2-inch LCD screen. Available in 4GB and 8GB capacities, the S-series will go for approximately $150 and $180, respectively.

The E-series comes in 4 and 8 GB models, as well, for $100 and $140, and will have video capabilities and, like the S-series, generous audio codec support (WMA, protected WMA, AAC, MP3, linear PCM) as well as laudable video support, including WMV with DRM, AVC (H.264/AVC) Baseline Profile and MPEG-4.

The B-series appears to be the budget Walkman, coming in 1GB and 2GB capacities for $45 and $60, respectively.

Sony claims the battery life for the E-series is a whopping 45 hours for audio playback and 10 hours for video playback. The S-series has 30 hours of audio playback and 8 hours of video playback per charge. No battery information was available for the B-series.

The new Walkman models will hit stores, in a variety of dazzling colors, in September, but you can pre-order from Sony now.

Post by Tim Gideon