If you're over the age of about eighteen, you probably have fond memories of your first cassette Walkman. It might not even have been a Sony, but you still called it a Walkman and played those mixed tapes that you spent hours carefully compiling yet still had those annoying clicks between the songs. Sigh... I miss those days. I even still call any portable audio player a Walkman. Shoot me, I'm old.
The Walkman brand is turning 25, and to celebrate, Sony is launching a brand new hard-disk music player, the Network Walkman NW-HD1. Sony is aiming hard at Apple and the mighty iPod/iTunes combination with a whole series of new portable media players as well as the new Sony Connect online music store.

Looks like the competition is going to be fierce. The 20GB Walkman NW-HD1 is smaller than the 20GB iPod, and the battery life is 30 hours, 22 hours longer than the iPod's. It will also be less expensive, with Sony promising a price under $400. The bad news? The new Walkman will only support Sony's annoying ATRAC format.
The Walkman HD-1 will be available in the US in mid-August.
Check out the Sony Connect Store.