NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2006 - For a world filled with noise, Sony today announced its first digital music player with built-in noise-canceling technology. The NW-S700F Walkman player ensures high-quality sound, to help you find your quiet place."While Sony has offered noise canceling headphones, this is the first time that we've integrated the technology into the player itself," said Koba Kobayashi, general manager for personal audio at Sony Electronics. "We've created an entirely new category and are confident that even audiophiles will be pleased with this Walkman digital music player."

By embedding the noise-canceling technology in the player and headphones, Sony offers a high-quality listening experience. The player's clear stereo technology creates sound clarity that maintains the same quality as the original source. The clear bass technology enhances the deep sound with no distortion. Because the system diminishes intrusive noise; listeners can avoid pumping up the volume.

The player comes with a long, reliable battery life of up to 50 hours at full battery capacity. The quick-charge feature, which offers up to three-hours of playback with just a three-minute charge, works wonders for fast-paced lifestyles. A built-in FM tuner lets you listen to your favorite radio stations and includes pre-sets for the most visited stations.

To simplify the music management process, these new devices support ATRAC , ATRAC Advance Lossless, MP3, AAC (non-DRM), WMA (non-DRM) and Linear PCM music files. They are compatible with the Sony CONNECT online music service and include SonicStage CP software to import, manage and transfer music collections.

The player's compact design includes a three-line color organic electroluminescence display with cover art. The artist, track and album information appears on the screen beside a picture of the album cover.

The NW-S700F Walkman player comes with 13.5 mm diameter headphones with a built-in microphone that reduces most ambient noise. Newly developed drivers produce wide dynamic-range playback and bass. To enhance the sound, you can set the equalizer to match the type of music you are listening to, such as jazz, pop, heavy or custom, or simply turn it off.

Virtual Phone Technology reproduces the acoustic effect of the studio, live in-house, club or arena venue where the music was recorded. Direct encoding allows you to record an analogue audio signal directly from an audio player without using a PC. A cradle or cable accessory is needed to use direct encoding.

Pricing and Availability

The latest Walkman music player can store up to 1,350 songs on the 2GB model and 685 songs on the 1GB model at 48kbps.The NW-S703F player has a total capacity of approximately 1GB, comes in violet and pink and will cost about $169; and the NW-S705F player has a total capacity of approximately 2GB, comes in black and will cost about $199.

The noise-canceling Walkman players will be available in November at sonystyle.com and at Sony Style retail stores nationwide (www.sonystyle.com/retail). Visit any Sony Style retail store after October 12, for a live demonstration. Pre-orders will begin on October 12 at www.sonystyle.com/noisecancel.The player is on display at the Digital Life event in New York City, October 12 to 15 (Javits Center, booth # 222).