Sony debuts one-piece, water-resistant Walkman music player

By Geoff Duncan Published July 18, 2011

Sony NWZ-W260 water-resistant Walkman headphones — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Anyone who participates in sports or fitness activities with a music player knows what a pain they can be: it doesn’t seem to matter what pocket they’re in or which limb they’re strapped to: they’re always in the way and earphone cables are forever getting snagged on hands, elbows, and gear. Sony is looking to take out the middle man—or at least that annoying headphone cable—with its new W Series Walkman Model NWZ-W260: it’s a one-piece music player in the form of wrap-around headphones—the entire music player is embedded in the earpieces. If the idea sounds familiar, Sony notes that the W260 is about two-thirds smaller than previous music players that used the same idea, and weighs about 24 percent less. And to top it off: it’s rinsable and water-resistant to keep sweat and precipitation from ruining your fun.

The W260 is available in black or white with either 2 or 4 GB of storage. Users can drag and drop music files from either iTunes for Windows or Windows Media Player straight onto the device using their computers—although the W260 will only handle DRM-free content. Sony says the W260s should run for about eight hours on a full battery charge, and feature a quick-boost technology that should enable users to get an hour’s worth of playtime after just three minutes of charging.

Sony NWZ-W260 water-resistant Walkman headphones — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The NWZ-W260 is the official music player of the Rock’n’Roll Marathon series, and is endorsed by marathon running Meb Keflezighi.

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Sony says the W260s will be available in August, with the 2 GB version running $59.99 and the 4 GB version (in black only) available for $79.99.

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Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

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