Finally, I found a booth displaying the NW-A3000 and NW-A1000 with an unspoken promise of release in the United States (“It will be ready when we decide that the software is ready — there are no hardware problems.” one executive said). I was surprised that they weren’t actually going to debut the NW-A1200, which I will speak of more authoritively when allowed.
Of course, alot of the pictures shared within this entry will not be anything new if your a seasoned reader of ATRACLife — we had this months ago. Nonetheless, there were no working demos of Connect Player at CES, which is very odd considering the hardware is on full display. It is obvious that Sony has no intentions of releasing this software in the United States any time soon. I spoke of it candidly as I’m quite versed from my position here at ATRACLife, but I had to often remind high-level Sony individuals of it’s existance; even the discussion itself seemed to make them feel very uncomfortable. Some of the representatives seemed hostile, whilst others are very accepting; I have not decided if this is attrition due to my inexperience, or merely a stressed endeavor on their part.
None of the representatives were ready to give information of when the NW-A3000 or NW-A1000 would debut in the United States, let alone Connect Player. It would be extremely surprising to see these units arrive until late 2006 in the US. By that point, it’s possible they may roll out a newer generation of Walkman instead of introducing these models.
We all must remember that the “new” Walkman experience has had a very confusing release schedule across the world; whilst Japan, Europe and even Canada have enjoyed the fruits of their labor, Sony is playing it safe by waiting for an optimal experience to deliver to the average consumer in the US. With the United States now realized as Sony’s second largest market, and the landscape is maintained by an iPod touting world, it is easy to understand why Sony has made this decision.
(We found the symbolism in this image entertaining.)
