Japanese technology manufacturer Sony has rolled out its two latest music players — the NW-ZX707 and the NW-A306 models — to attract new customers to its Walkman, which ruled the music industry in the 1980s and 90s.
“Both players are designed for listeners to enjoy music the way the artist intended with high-quality sound with a sleek design,” Sony said.
The Tokyo-based company, which launched its first cassette-based Walkman, the TPS-L2, in 1979, is credited with revolutionising the portable music market and changing the way people listen to music.
The National explores the new Walkman models and looks at their competition in today's market.
Nostalgia mixed with modern tech
Walkman is a portable audio player brand produced and sold by Sony since 1979. The company’s first Walkman was a portable cassette player that transitioned its presentation and technology over the years into CD, mini-disc, MP3s and eventually music streaming.
Sony sold about 200 million cassette-based Walkmans before retiring them in 2010. However, the total number for all devices under the Walkman brand is more than 400 million, according to different reports.
More juice to last more than a day
The new models come with a longer battery life compared to previous iterations to ensure listeners can immerse themselves in more music.
The NW-ZX707 has a battery life of up to 25 hours, while the NW-A306 has a battery life of up to 36 hours, the company said.
They come with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that can be fully charged in 3.5 hours from a computer using a USB cable.
Android 12 and Wi-Fi support
Both models are supported by the latest Android 12, Google-owned operating system and are compatible with Wi-Fi connectivity.
Android 12, which was launched in October 2021, allows users to access various music-playing apps available on the Google Play Store. Users can download music and stream from several services including YouTube and Spotify.
“This stylish and compact music player lets consumers download and stream more of the music they love,” Sony said.
Besides enjoying streaming services and music apps on the Walkman, users can also connect the device to their personal computers to gain access to their own music collection.
How big is the new model?
With a 3.6-inch display, the NW-A306 models weighs only 113 grams and comes with a 32GB memory. The NW-ZX707 has a 5-inch screen and weighs about 227 grams, offering an enhanced memory of 64GB.
How Apple’s iPods drove innovations in Sony’s Walkmans
Apple's iPod, a device that upended the music and electronics industries more than two decades ago, is no more, but it fuelled innovations in Sony’s Walkman at regular intervals.
In 2004, the Walkman entered the hard disk music player arena to compete with iPod. Starting from close to $400, the company unveiled a palm-sized device that could store up to 13,000 songs on 20GB.
At the 2011 Internationale Funkausstellung, Sony unveiled an Android-based Walkman to compete with the iPod Touch that allowed users to gain access to apps available on Apple’s App Store.
Called the Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player, the new gadget allowed customers to use various music apps through the Google Play Store.
Using high-definition multimedia interface technology, users could also play games and videos stored on the Walkman on any HDMI-equipped TV.
Similar to iPod Touch’s AirPlay technology, Sony introduced “throw” technology in 2011 that allowed the Walkman to find a local compatible device and stream content directly on them.
In May last year, Apple announced that it would discontinue the iPod Touch, the last remnant of a product line that first went on sale in October 2001.
Price and availability
NW-A306 will start from about $430, while the NW-ZX707 will cost $820, more than many smartphones on the market. Both products will be available in select markets in Asia and Europe.
The company expects the new products to add to its profitability. Its net income jumped by 24 per cent on a yearly basis to about $1.78 billion in the quarter that ended in September last year.
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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
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The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
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February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
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WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
UPI facts
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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How to apply for a drone permit
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- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
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- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
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The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
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