Next-Gen Walkman S-Series Details Leaked

Alleged details about Sony's next-gen Walkman, S-Series, have been leaked by a French gadget Website that reports the upcoming model will support 42 hours of music play, FM tuner, video capability, drag-and-drop file transfer and a built-in speaker. The site, Materiel.net, says the new Walkman will be available in 8GB (NWZ-S544) and 16GB (NWZ-S545) capacity with both having a 2.4-inch LCD screen with QVGA display.


Image is from Materiel.net


The French site lists the S-Series pricing as 129 ($183) for the 8GB and 149 ($211) for the 16GB. There's no word on U.S. pricing, but Sony's current 16 GB S-Series Walkman sells for about $160. It's likely the newer models will stay around the same price point as current S-Series devices. On the down side, it doesn't look like the refreshed Walkman will come with Wi-Fi capability like the new X-Series does, and Materiel lists black as the only available color for the new models.

If Materiel's specs are correct then the new devices are just a minor tweak from the current S-series. Compared to the 16GB S-Series on store shelves today, the new device gets a playing time boost of two hours from 40 hours to 42 hours, the screen goes from 1.75-inches to 2.4-inches, and the built-in speaker is new. The new S-Series also gets a more compact, Mickey Mouse-style button layout than its predecessors. There's no word on a release date yet, but we'll keep you posted once we hear something.