Sony Brings Bluetooth Walkmans to U.S.

Sony has announced plans to bring Walkman portable media players to the U.S. that support noise canceling and Bluetooth technology.

Sony Electronics has announced plans to bring its NWZ-S710F, MWZ-A720, and MWZ-A820 Walkman digital media players to the United States—and, with them, support for noise-canceling and Bluetooth technology.

Sony promises audio quality is a high priority designing its digital media players, and the new Walkmans will offer EX-series in-ear earbuds that feature 13.5mm drivers and passively block ambient noise. (Although cotton balls can also be said to passively block ambient noise.) The players also include Sony technologies that enhance bass, minimize distortion and quality drops that can happen during audio compression.

For travelers, Sony is offering the MWZ-S710F with an active noise-canceling system that can block out up to 75 percent of ambient noise in the environment. The players also feature a 1.8-inch 320 by 240-pixel display and an FM tuner with 30 presets. The S710F will be available in three colors (silver, black, and red) in 4 and 8 GB capacities for about $150 and $200, respectively.

The MWZ-A720 series has a 2.4-inch QVGA display and offer Bluetooth technology so users can stream music to headphones or other Bluetooth devices without having to mess with wires and cables. The NWZ-A820K comes with both EX-series wires earbuds and DR-BT21G Bluetooth headphones and aims at the fitness crowd; the headphones feature integrated pause/play and forward controls. Expect to see 4, 8, and 16 GB versions of the A720 series in black and pink for $150, $200, and $300, respectively; the A820s will be available in black only for $270 and $320 for 8 and 16 GB versions.

Sony is touting the compatibility of these new players: they support WMA and non-DRM AAC audio, along with MP3 and PCM music formats. The devices will also display JPEG images and H.264 and MPEG-4 video.

All the players should be available in March.