New Sony NETJUKE System: NAS-M95HD, NAS-M75HD, NAS-D55HD & NAS-C5

Sony Japan announced yesterday that three new NETJUKE system – NAS-M95HD, NAS-M75HD, NAS-D55HD along with an optional NAS-C5 wireless digital audio streamer will be added to its current fleet of NETJUKE system (click here for previous version). The new NETJUKE system – NAS-M95HD, NAS-M75HD, NAS-D55HD and NAS-C5 wireless digital audio streamer will be available for sale (in Japan only) on November 10, October 20 and November 21, 2007 respectively.

NAS-M95HD: 120GB HDD/MD/CD/S-Master 26W×2ch
★ approx. ¥120,000 (USD$1,053)
NAS-M75HD: 80GB HDD/MD/CD/S-Master 20W×2ch
★ approx. ¥80,000 (USD$702)
NAS-D55HD: 80GB HDD/CD/Digital amplifier 20W×2ch
★ approx. ¥60,000 (USD$527); available in Pink, White and Black
NAS-C5: wireless digital audio streamer
★ approx. ¥30,000 (USD$263)

Like its predecessor, the new NAS-M95HD and NAS-M75HD will feature Sony’s S Master Digital Amplifier*. However, the NAS-D55HD will only employ a standard digital amplifier. The new NETJUKE system will also have an Ethernet port (which is DLNA compliant) so that your Mp3 and ATRAC tunes residing within your PC can be transferred onto the NetJuke’s HDD via Wireless LAN. These new NETJUKEs are also equipped with Sony proprietary “WM-PORT”; so direct music transfer without the PC is possible for selected Walkman (*currently, NW-A800/S710F/S700F/S610F/S600 series).

The “S-Master” digital amplifier, used in the BRAVIA X series and a range of other Sony products, is designed to transform electricity into sound efficiently. This fully digital amplifier minimizes power consumption by converting more than 85% of electricity into audio signals*4. Moreover, the “S-Master” suffers almost no sound deterioration due to heat, because it generates only one-tenth the heat of analog amplifiers. This improvement ensures high-quality sound. In addition, Sony contributed to the conservation of resources by significantly reducing the size of the heat sink - a part that stabilizes the generation of heat.

More pictures and details after the jump …

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ATRAC Is Still Alive in the New NW-S71xF & NW-S61xF Series

Sony Japan announced today that the following new Walkman: NW-S71xF and NW-S61xF series will debut on October 20, 2007 (only for the Japanese domestic market). The newly announced NW-S71xF series will be available in capacity of 8GB/4GB/2GB (White, Pink, Red, Blue and Black) whereas the NW-S61xF series will be available in both 4GB and 2GB capacity (Silver, Blue and Pink). MSRP for the new Walkman S series are as follows:

★ NW-S718F [8GB] – 26,800 (approx. USD236)
★ NW-S716F [4GB] – 20,801 (approx. USD183)
★ NW-S715F [2GB] – 16,800 (approx. USD148)
★ NW-S616F [4GB] – 17,800 (approx. USD157)
★ NW-S615F [2GB] – 13,800 (approx. USD121)

The NW-S71xF series differs from the NW-S61xF by having the Noise Cancelling feature, higher capacity and different color variation. Otherwise, both these new Walkman series are identical in terms of basic functions and features. Like its predecessor, the NW-S700F/S600, the new Network Walkman also features a proprietary WM-PORT – which enables direct recording from CD/MD –> Network Walkman using an optional WMC-NWR1 cable, which is equipped with a recording level switch. The cable is about 60cm in length.

However, unlike both the new NWZ-A81x and NWZ-A61x series, the NW-S71xF series along with its non-Noise Cancelling variant, the NW-S61xF series will still support the ATRAC format and obviously, SonicStage. It is important to note that the Japanese NW-S71xF and NW-S61xF series is not part of Sony’s Open Digital Music Environment using Windows Media Player 11. So, for the time being ATRAC will still continue its existence in the land of the rising sun. In sum, the new Walkman series supports:
Audio Format: MP3 (32-320kbps), WMA (32-192kbps), ATRAC (48-352kbps), ATRAC Advanced Lossless (64-352kbps), linear PCM, AAC (16-320kbps) and HE-AAC (32-128kbps).
Video Format: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264

More pictures and details after the jump …

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PSP Firmware 3.70

PSP Firmware 3.70

Firmware version 3.70 for the PSP is now available via Network Update and respective Sony PlayStation regional sites as outlined below (will be available shortly). This update includes the following changes:

SETTING
★ You can now set custom themes in [Theme Settings] under [Settings].

NETWORK
★ Support has been added for assigning buttons in [Remote Play].

VIDEO
★ A scene search feature has been added under [Video].
★ Sequential playback is now supported under [Video].

MUSIC & PHOTO
★ Simultaneous playback of content under [Music] and [Photo] is now supported.

UPDATE NOW AVAILABLE:
PSP Firmware 3.70: Japanese | US | European | Chinese | Korean



Forum Member Reviews the New NWZ-A818

Sony NWZ-A818

Forum member, aznbro85 reviews the new NWZ-A818. This exclusive review is definitely a must-read! 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.



MDR-EX700SL

Sony MDR-EX700SL

Set to debut on October 20, 2007 with a MSRP of 36,750 yen (approx. USD$317), the new MDR-EX700SL is Sony’s newest addition to its popular EX series canal-type earphones.

The new MDR-EX700SL features a larger vertically aligned 16mm drivers (note: the MDR-EX90SL features a much smaller 13.5mm drivers), 440kJ/m3 high magnetism neodymium magnet, magnesium housing and comes bundled with a 1m L-shaped gold-plated stereo mini-jack extension cord, 7 soft silicon earpieces (Size: SS/S/MS/ML/L/LL), earphone case and a premium leather case. (pictures of bundled accessories and specifications after the jump)

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