Sony Corp. will release a new series of portable music players on Oct. 20 that will boast the best sound quality in the Walkman lineup.
The struggling electronics giant said Thursday that it is hoping the F series, which have built-in noise-canceling technology to generate crisp acoustics for the wireless-earphone version, will draw new interest to the portable music player market. Sales have been shrinking in the face of competition from smartphones, most of which are designed to double as music players.
The F series incorporates newly developed data-processing technology to reproduce vivid voice and instrument sounds. It will also come with the Android operating system so people can download games and videos from Google Play, Sony said.
The 16-gigabyte model will cost around ¥26,000 and the 64-gigabyte model about ¥35,000, Sony said, with speakers and Bluetooth headsets in various colors available as options.