Just when we thought that Sony’s MSRP of $250 for the upcoming 4GB Memory Stick Duo Pro was great, SanDisk strikes back with its own 4GB variant. The SanDisk Ultra II Memory Stick PRO Duo will be available this March for MSRP $239.

It’s important to note that this 4GB variant is of SanDisk’s Ultra II line. If SanDisk’s historical price system holds, we should expect the standard version of SanDisk’s 4GB Memory Stick Duo Pro to be under the $200 mark.

It’s official! The 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo media card will be available in July for about $250 direct at SonyStyle.com, nationwide in Sony Style® retail stores and across the country at authorized dealers. MSRP of $250 is definitely a resonable cost and way below our expected MSRP - the best of all, there’s no need to wait for a gradual price decrease. 

SPECIFICATIONS

Memory: Flash Memory
Storage Capacity: 4GB
Usable Capacity: Approx.3.66GB
Interface: Memory Stick Interface (Serial/Parallel)
Operating Voltage: 2.7V-3.6V
Average Operating Current {Serial transfer}: 65mA (max.)
Average Operating Current {Parallel transfer}: 100mA (max.)
Standby Current: 1.5mA (max.)
Access (Read/Write) Speed{parallel transfer}: 15Mbps when combined with optimized Memory Stick PRO format-compatible devices

Whilst there are numerous NW-A3000 reviews on the Internet, Rosemary Haworth’s words seem to be a genuine expression of the current experience associated with the new Walkman. Far too often there will be cookie-cutter reviews that seemingly are nothing more than a rehash of the product specifications, biased unrelated commentary and overall little value.

Sony NW-A3000

It’d be a slight overstatement to say there was a round of applause when we heard that Sony was going to break the habit of a lifetime and start selling music players that were capable of playing MP3s. But it was certainly greeted as a welcome volte-face.

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We are pleased to host two new Sony MDR-SAxxxx series headphone reviews: Ishiyoshi’s Sony MDR-SA5000 Review-Pictorial and Damage’s Sony MDR-SA1000 Review & Pictorial. Check out the many other topics in our Product Reviews/Pictorials section that were not mentioned here, and you can add to the growing list - Register for free to participate in the #1 discussion board for ATRAC based device.

About the size of a paperback and weighing approximately less than 9 ounces, the PRS-500 will soon hit retail shelves sometime in March 2006. Anticipating its debut, Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about the “E-Reader.” The WSJ article states that while Sony may be a “little too late” in the domain of digital music player, the advent of its “E-Reader” may make headway in the digital-book market, in which is very much an untapped market. Note: E-books currently represent only $10 million of the $24 billion publishing industry.

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Stan Medvedenko has made a Sony NAS-CZ1 Network Audio System Pictorial. Check out the many other topics in our Product Reviews/Pictorials section that were not mentioned here, and you can add to the growing list - Register for free to participate in the #1 discussion board for ATRAC based device.

Sony announced this week that the cute bean-shaped WALKMAN will be discontinued effectively in April 2006. Oliver Duff reports that after less than six months on the market, Sony’s Walkman Bean is to be discontinued - a victim of the digital revolution and the fashion for ruthlessly upgrading. Duff is indeed correct.

During its debut, the WALKMAN Bean was marketed by Sony as part of its “gadgets for girls” campaign. Despite its short lifecycle, this cute little device has adorned models as they struts the fashion runway. In fact, the WALKMAN Bean was only recently used by Luella Bartley to accessorize her Fall/Winter 2006 collection. 

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