Sony NW-HD3: Sony Finally Gets on the MP3 Bandwagon

Sony has finally come through on its promise to support MP3 music files. Up until today, Sony ignored the hugely popular music file format and was rewarded by consumers ignoring Sony's audio players.

Today, however, saw the announcement of the Sony NW-HD3, an update to the NW-HD1 and NW-HD2, which will natively support MP3 audio files. Previous devices supported Sony's proprietary ATRAC format only and forced users to convert music into the Sony format.

Now that the MP3 issue is resolved, the NW-HD3 is a fairly compelling choice (assuming it arrives in the US at all, that is). It's smaller and lighter than the iPod and has excellent battery life. However, it's quite a bit more expensive than the iPod. US pricing isn't yet available, but we would be suprised if it were to retail for less than $399. Even at $399 it would $100 more than the comparable 20GB iPod.

On a related note, owners of the older NW-HD1 and NW-HD2 models can have their devices upgraded to support MP3s as well. It costs a small amount (2000 yen) and requires mailing the device to Sony, but it's good to see that Sony finally seems willing to give consumers what they really want.

Photos and a Flash demo are here. More photos at AV Watch.

More bits at TechJapan, i4u, Gizmodo (also here), DAPReview (also here), Engadget and the Wall Street Journal.

Related Links:
Sony Acknowledges Existence of MP3 Format
A Rough Week for Sony
Sony Debuts Another New Network Walkman

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