On Thursday, Sony launched its A800 series of portable music and video player, also known as the “MP3 Video Walkman”. The player, considered the world’s lightest video player by the company, is a Flash-memory-based device that measures 0.36″ in thickness yet uses a 2″ screen.
The MP3 Video Walkman, considered a direct competitor to Apple’s iPod Nano, supports full MPEG-4 and H.264 playback and boasts a 30 hour battery life for continuous music playback and eight hour battery life for video playback. The device also handles a wide range of audio formats including AAC, MP3, WMA and Sony’s proprietary ATRAC standard according to MacNN.
Sony has stated that the MP3 Video Walkman will be available in Europe this April and be available for slightly more than Apple’s iPod Nano. The unit’s two and four gigabyte models will be available in black, blue, pink and white while the high end eight gigabyte model will be available in black and white. The units will be priced at 120, 150 and 200 British pounds respectively.
A final date for a U.S. launch has yet to be announced.

On Thursday, Sony launched its A800 series of portable music and video player, also known as the “MP3 Video Walkman”. The player, considered the world’s lightest video player by the company, is a Flash-memory-based device that measures 0.36″ in thickness yet uses a 2″ screen.
The MP3 Video Walkman, considered a direct competitor to Apple’s iPod Nano, supports full MPEG-4 and H.264 playback and boasts a 30 hour battery life for continuous music playback and eight hour battery life for video playback. The device also handles a wide range of audio formats including AAC, MP3, WMA and Sony’s proprietary ATRAC standard according to MacNN.
Sony has stated that the MP3 Video Walkman will be available in Europe this April and be available for slightly more than Apple’s iPod Nano. The unit’s two and four gigabyte models will be available in black, blue, pink and white while the high end eight gigabyte model will be available in black and white. The units will be priced at 120, 150 and 200 British pounds respectively.
A final date for a U.S. launch has yet to be announced.