Financial Times reported yesterday that Sony is in talks to sell its advanced semiconductor facilities to Toshiba in a move that would represent an effective retreat from high-end semiconductor fabrication. This strategy is in line with Sir Howard Stringer’s desire to slim down the industry giant and if the deal with Toshiba goes well, Sony may stop making advanced chips and instead focus on audiovisual equipment come 2008.

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Sony’s Walkman devices will always come with optional accessories and the new NW-S71xF/NW-S61xF series is no different. The new Network Walkman series will debut with new accessories as shown above; and it can also utilize existing Walkman accessories such as the AC-NWUM50, BCR-NWU3, WMC-NWR1, CPF-NW001, SRS-NWZ10, STP-NWN3/W, STP-NWN3/T, STP-NWN2/S, STP-NWN2/B and other miscellaneous Bluetooth accessories.

Product info and pictures after the jump …

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AV Watch has released a pictorial review of the newly announced MDR-EX700SL canal-type earphones. For those interested, please visit AV Watch for the review piece.

More pictures after the jump …
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It has come to our attention that Sony will be putting forth a new line of NetMD micro system on November 21, 2007. The new micro system, known as the CMT-M35WM will be available in three colors: Black, White and Silver; and has an expected MRSP of approximately 37,800 yen (or approx. USD328).

The micro system’s suffix – WM underscore its capability to facilitate direct recording to certain Walkman models* via its USB port. (as shown in the picture below) It is also interesting to note that basic operations of a Walkman while connected (via USB) to the micro system can be accessed using the CMT-M35WM’s remote control.

* NW-E305/E307, NW-E002/E003/E005, NW-A605/A607/A608, NW-S603/S605/S703F/S705F/S706F, NW-S203F/S205F, NW-E013/E015/E016, NW-A805/A806/A808, and NW-S615F/S616F/S715F/S716F/S718F.

The CMT-35WM has a CD, MD and Cassette Tape module and its amplifier has a maximum output of 20W×2ch; Dimensions: approx. 450mm (w) × 282mm (d) × 232mm (h); Weight: Main unit, approx. 3.1kg; Speakers, approx. 2.2kg for one.

More pictures after the jump …
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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).

More pictures and details after the jump …

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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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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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