Sony’s latest headphones tackle high-res and bass-heavy listening

While several other audio outfits have already unveiled hi-fi minded and bass heavy options, Sony’s looking to add some more of the same. First, the MDR-1a are a high-res set of on-ear cans aimed at listeners who fancy high-end aesthetics, with a bit more sophisticated look than the MDR-1. There’s silver accents with leather-like material wrapping both the earcups and headband for “long-term” comfort and silent joints keep movement from muddying the tunes. Inside, sound reproduction ticks the meter at up to 100 kHz to keep things clear with 40mm drivers powering beats. Of course, there are two cables included — for those who prefer in-line controls — designed to curb signal loss and a folding design that tucks nicely into that rucksack. Sound too good to pass up? The MDR-1a will arrive later this month with a $300 price tag that matches several other high-end options.

For folks who fancy a wireless set with a heavy dose of bass, Sony is adding to its existing line focuses on those tones with the MDR-XB950BT. This time around, the over-ear unit with built-in electronic bass boost and 40mm drivers cut the tether and go full-on wireless — as the alphanumeric moniker suggests. The Bluetooth connectivity handles streaming with AAC and apt-X support alongside a mic for making calls. What’s more, NFC allows for quick and easy pairing with your smartphone or streaming device of choice. And of course, if you gobble up that 20 hours of advertised battery life, there’s a passive option with a cord so you can still listen while you find an outlet. They have a bit of the leather-esque material of their own too, in case that’s a deal breaker. These are set to arrive mid-September for $200 where Sony’s gadgets are usually sold. For now though, take a look at both sets in the hands-on gallery below.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Sony

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Sony outfits the SmartBand Talk with an e-paper screen and voice calling

When does a fitness band become a smartwatch? We’d argue that an e-paper display is one feature you can use to make that distinction, which is exactly what Sony’s added to its “lifelogging” SmartBand. A display isn’t the only thing new about the SmartBand Talk, because as the name suggests, you can also make/take calls on the wearable thanks to an embedded microphone and loudspeaker. There’s an ARM Cortex-M4 32-bit processor to power the whole thing with 2MB of flash memory and that 1.4-inch black and white display to keep you updated on progress. As you might expect, Sony’s Core is at work here as well with edge-mounted volume and menu buttons to round out the on-board controls. The IP68 waterproof and dustproof wearable connects to an Android 4.4 (and above) device via NFC and Bluetooth to wrangle tasks for up to three days before needing a charge. If you’re looking to get a bit more active, €160 (around $210) will be the cost of admission when the SmartBand Talk arrives this fall in four different color options.

Filed under: Wearables, Sony

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Wearable and high-res music players added to the Sony Walkman fold

Still opt for a dedicated music player for listening on the go? Sony has two new options in its Walkman line that’ll do just that, and the NWZ-WS613 takes the wearable player and has it double as a Bluetooth headset. Connecting to your smartphone can beam tracks or you can listen to tunes loaded directly on the device with a ring-like controller for controls and calls that won’t break your stride. A smartphone app is also capable of tweaks and skipping around — should you want to limit the number of items in that gym bag. As you might expect, the unit is indeed waterproof to keep the sweat at bay and connects to fitness apps to further enhance those workouts. Does the wrap-around look sound like a solid addition to your exercise attire? Parting with $160 in October will secure one of your very own, but for those who’d rather keep the music player and headphones separate, there’s an option for that, too.

High-resolution audio has been talked about a great deal lately in regards to new gadgets, and Sony’s new Walkman music player continues to take aim there as well. The NWZ-A17 claims its the “world’s smallest and lightest” device to sort such files, with support for WAV, AIFF, ALAC, FLAC and more baked in. For regular ol’ MP3 and WMA files, DSEE HX upscales the tunes for higher quality listening. There’s 64GB of storage on board that’s expandable via a microSD slot, and the gadget allows for up to 50 hours of regular and 30 hours of high-res listening. Bluetooth and NFC connectivity is included too, and the whole lot is accessed via a 2.25-inch QVGA LCD display. So what about loading the thing with music? It appears to be quite easy as drag and drop functions play nice with iTunes on both Mac and Windows. Interested parties can grab one later this month for $300, and to tide you over, there’s a closer look in the gallery that follows.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Sony

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Sony’s Xperia E3 is its next colorful, budget device

Not everyone needs a smartphone that’s as fast (and as expensive) as their laptop, and competition in the affordable handset market is fierce. Never one to miss an opportunity, Sony has announced that it’s complimenting the top-end Z3 handset with the more modestly endowed Xperia E3. Of course, that means compromising — Sony says the E3 features “flagship design” and 4G capability, but that’s where the high-end comparisons end. It carries a 4.5-inch, 854 x 480 screen, quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 CPU, a 2,330 mAh battery, 1GB RAM, 4GB expandable memory and a 5-megapixel camera. Though those specs aren’t exactly inspiring, Sony is emphasizing social and camera features like HDR and Timeshift burst. There’s no word on pricing or availability yet, but we imagine its young target market will be able to afford it.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony

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The Xperia Z3 Compact is a cut-down version of Sony’s latest flagship

Sony may’ve decided against making a pint-sized variant of its previous leading device, but not this generation. The company’s announced at its IFA press conference the Xperia Z3 Compact, a smaller version of the new flagship also revealed today. Here’s the thing to remember about the pint-sized variant — it packs the same quad-core 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 chipset under the hood, 20.7-megapixel rear camera (complete with Sony’s Exmor RS sensor) and the same sort of waterproof as its big brother. It’s the screen that differs most dramatically — we’re looking at a 4.6-inch Triluminos display running at 720p, a pretty significant step down from the 5.2-inch 1080p panel that graces the full-size Z3. Yeah, we know, a 720p screen seems downright passé these days, but it might be a small price to pay for someone tired of all these pocket-busting phablets floating around out there. Of course, you can also expect that slightly less impressive screen to drive the Z3 Compact’s price tag down, though at this point we’re not entirely sure how much cheaper it’ll be than the Z3.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony

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Source: Sony Mobile

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