Talking of which, Sony have demonstrated their bid to become a bit more user friendly on all things codec with the launch of their latest digital walkman - the NW-HD. The new walkman plays WAV, Windows Media and basic MP3 files in addition to
Sony's own ATRAC format.
Like previous digital walkmans, the new player, which incorporates some aspects of the iPod layout into its interface, competes well on battery life, delivering 30 hours of continuous play.
But insiders say the real challenge for Sony is likely to be price point. Other iPod competitors like Creative are lowering prices in their bid to gain market share, and it remains to be seen if Sony is willing (or able) to participate in price wars.
Sony are still working hard to regain some ground in the digital music space, and they need to if a new survey by American investment firm Piper Jaffray & Co is anything to go by. Although Sony came second in a survey on digital music in the youth sector, only 14% of school students who owned a digital music device said they used a Sony player, compared to 50% who said they had an iPod. iPod's other competitors followed closely behind
Sony - 7% said they used iRiver players, 5% Rio players and
17% other players.