Sony NW-E55 and NW-E75 Network WALKMAN

Sony NW-E55 and NW-E75* Network WALKMAN digital audio players are so small they can be worn around the neck.

UPDATE: From the end of October 2004 owners of Sony NW-E55 and NW-E75 Network WALMAN digital audio players will be able to download software from the Internet, which upgrades these WALKMAN to play MP3 tracks directly, in addition to ATRAC3plus compressed music.UPDATE ENDS

Measuring a little more than an inch and weighing about 40 grams, these sassy new digital audio players are small enough to fit on a key chain, yet they have up to 256 MB of built-in memory that stores up to 170 four-minute songs at 48 kbps. This tiny, tune-token is also huge on battery life, achieving up to 70 hours of continuous playback on one AAA battery. And since there are no moving parts, users can enjoy uninterrupted playback even during serious activity.

The distinctive acrylic finish, in silver for the Sony NW-E75 and blue, red or pearl for the Sony NW-E55, makes them too good looking to hide away on a belt or in a pocket, and who would want to, because at 40 grams these digital audio players are light enough to be worn around the neck. Sony has supplied a convenient neck strap specifically for this purpose. Each model has a backlit LCD display with four modes to show track numbers, play modes, artist names, song titles and more. The group/folder function allows for easy navigation between multiple folders transferred from playlists.

Both the Sony NW-E55 and NW-E75 Network WALKMAN models will be available across Europe in early July.

*Previously announced at CeBIT 2004.