Targeted at devoted audiophiles.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Sony has decided to rejuvenate a classic brand name– the Walkman has returned.
Like a phoenix rising anew from a flaming entanglement of wires, the iconic music player has been reimagined as a high-definition, not to mention high-end, digital audio device.
Sony unveiled the Walkman NW-ZX2 at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, along with a lofty $1,119.99 price tag.
The cost may seem exorbitant considering how many modern consumers are able to listen to music on their smartphones, but Sony hopes the latest iteration of their time-honored music player will appeal to devoted audiophiles.
In an official release, Sony says the new Walkman is designed with technology that “can reproduce master quality recordings just as the artists originally intended.” The Japanese electronics titan also claims that the Walkman upscales lower-grade music files to sound better.
An odd feature of the newest Walkman is that it operates on “Jelly Bean,” an Android build from 2013. To date, two newer generations of Android have been released to the public. The ZX2 will be available later this spring and has a 128 GB repository along with an expandable SD slot for further storage. It is also wi-fi capable and runs for about 60 hours on a battery charge.
The original Walkman debuted in 1979 and revolutionized how people listened to music. Along with the Discman, which was introduced in 1984, it helped Sony dominate the portable music market. However, sales took a tailspin soon after Apple unveiled the iPod in 2001 and the landscape of music started to become decidedly digital.