Sony's OLED Walkman Ships Next Month?

Amazon spilled the beans on the ship date for Sony's X Series OLED Walkman, and it supposedly hits the market in the next few months.

For the uninitiated, Sony's X Series OLED Walkman bares the old-school name synonymous with the ancient cassette player and the more current CD  and digital players, however the company has taken the whole "Walkman" brand to a whole new level by directly competing with Apple's iPod Touch. Now the Walkman is a touchy little Walkman, offering a smaller 3-inch OLED touchscreen while fitting snug in the front pants pocket (or back pocket, wherever consumers like to stick it). Gadget lovers have clamored over this device for some time now--after all, it is birthed by Sony--and have waited on pins and needles for some definitive street date.

Well guess what. There isn't one, but apparently Amazon UK was caught with its pants down, projecting the Walkman's eventual release date for May 10 (link). The UK's Play.COM contradicts Amazon's fortune telling, dating the Walkman's ship date as April 30... which apparently changed from March 30 a few days ago (link). Granted these dates come straight from Europe, Sony USA is still sticking to its guns, giving the X Series Walkman ship date an "early summer" slot. Hey, they could all be right for what we know, indicating that the device is almost here, so insistent nail biting can come to a halt very soon.

According to the Sony Insider, Sony Japan hasn't even acknowledged the device as of yet, thus dismissing any previous conceptions that perhaps the Walkman would debut there first. That still may happen, of course, but at the moment, its all speculation until Sony Japan steps out and coughs up some details. Over here in the States, the prices are beginning to roll out, revealing that the 16 GB model will cost consumers $299USD, and the 32 GB will cost $399 USD. That's pretty hefty considering the state of the economy, however those prices aren't any different than Apple's offering: $299 for the 16 GB version, and $399 for the 32 GB version.

Strangely enough, the actual specs regarding the Sony NWZX1060B X Series Walkman remain elusive, however there is an actual list over on Sonystyle.com.hk that offers a hint as to what's under the 32 GB version's hood (link). On top of audio and video playback, the Walkman also supports noise cancellation and utilizes an S-Master digital amplifier. The device also sports a built-in FM tuner in case all those downloaded videos and audio files get to be troublesome and boring. The 3-inch OLED color display even features a 432 x 240 resolution and 262,144 colors.

To be honest, nothing really jumped out when analyzing the specs. The device has WiFi capabilities, enabling users to jump on a local network and surf the Internet using the device's built-in NetFront Browser for Walkman. While the firmware is upgradable, there's no indication that the device is capable of downloading and installing 1st and 3rd-party applications. That speculation may be wrong, of course.

Supposedly the new Walkman is slated the be an alternative to the Apple iPod Touch, gleaming with Sony's excellent audio capabilities and a beautiful OLED screen. To see this thing in action (and prove it's not just Vaporware), head over to YouTube and check out a little 2-minute hands-on with the device (link). Whether it ships at the end of April or the beginning of May, Sony's new Walkman definitely shows promise. Let' just hope it doesn't become a lackluster media player like the PSP... that initially showed promise, too.