Sony's iPod Killer
For more than 2? years, Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod digital music player has fended off every rival product handily, not only remaining the most popular digital music player, but becoming a cultural icon and spawning an industry of accessories and of legal music downloads.
Next month, however, the iPod will face its most potent competitor. This latest challenger is none other than Sony Corp., the Japanese giant that revolutionized portable music with its Walkman tape players 25 years ago. Sony, which has lost its leadership in portable music to Apple, will try to regain that crown with its first iPod-type high-capacity, hard-disk-based music player.
My assistant, Katie Boehret, and I have been testing Sony's would-be iPod killer -- a sleek, slim, silvery, magnesium-clad gadget inelegantly called the "Network Walkman NW-HD1," which holds 20 gigabytes of music and is set to go on sale in mid-August for $399. Sony plans a massive ad campaign to back the new Walkman, and to try and revive the once grand, but now faded, Walkman brand.
The $399 Network Walkman NW-HD1 from Sony Corp. See a comparison of portable players.
A second Sony hard-disk player, a bulkier but more radically styled model that will sell for $499, will be introduced later this year by another division of famously Balkanized Sony -- the group that makes the company's Vaio computers. But Sony officials say they are placing their emphasis, and most of their marketing dollars, on the new Walkman entry, not the Vaio.
We've also been testing Sony's new online music service, Connect, which is designed to work hand-in-hand with both new players and to compete with Apple's wildly successful iTunes Music Store. Both the new Walkman and the Connect store, work only with Windows computers.
Our verdict: While the new Sony is smaller than the iPod and has much better battery life, it is markedly inferior overall. It has a confusing, complex user interface that makes it hard to use; weak software for the PC; an oddball music format that makes loading it with songs tedious; and a companion music download service that offers less than Apple's. The iPod wins this round, and remains champion.
For Sony, the stakes in this battle are high, especially in the crucial U.S. market.
When the online digital music revolution erupted a few years ago, Sony was missing in action, for two main reasons. First, it bet on the wrong horse, a technology called MiniDisc, or MD, which never caught on big in the U.S. Second, because it owns a music label that was initially hostile to music downloading, Sony's first memory-based digital music players were loaded with restrictions on consumers and turned off digital music enthusiasts.
Apple iPod mini
Apple, acutely aware of Sony's new challenge, isn't standing still. Earlier this month, it introduced its fourth generation of the full-sized iPod, with 50% more battery life and streamlined controls and menus. And it knocked $100 off the iPod's price, which saddled the new Walkman with a $100 price premium. Sony doesn't plan a matching price cut.
In two key areas, Sony beats Apple. The new Walkman, which looks sort of like a small digital camera, is shorter than the iPod, and a bit thinner and wider. Even though it packs the same hard-disk capacity, the Sony is about 10% smaller in overall volume and it's also a third lighter, at 3.8 ounces vs. 5.6 ounces for the Apple. It's not as small or light as Apple's iPod mini, but the mini is in a different category, with much lower capacity.
And the Sony trounces the Apple in battery life, which has been the iPod's main weakness. Even though Apple boosted the battery life on the latest iPod model to 12 hours from eight hours, Sony claims anywhere from 20 to 30 hours of battery life, depending on the quality level at which the digital song files on the Walkman were stored. Higher-quality files drain the battery quicker. Like the iPod, the Walkman uses a sealed battery that can't easily be replaced by the user.
In our battery test, the Walkman got about 22 hours of play time on a single battery charge, well below the 27 hours Sony claims for the quality level of files we were using. Our iPod got a little over the 12 hours Apple claims, but the Sony still won hands down.
After that, however, the advantages are all to the iPod.
One major downside of the new Walkman is that it can't play MP3 files, or any of the other standard formats. It can play back only a proprietary Sony format called ATRAC3, or a variation called ATRAC3plus. This means that, when you transfer your MP3 files to the new Walkman, Sony's PC software must laboriously convert them first into ATRAC3 files. Sony claims it designed the player this way because ATRAC3 produces superior sound, and because it has features that extend battery life.
To transfer MP3 song files from your PC to the Walkman, you first launch the software Sony supplies to manage the Walkman, called SonicStage 2. It finds all the MP3 files on your PC, and then offers you the option of copying any or all of them to the Walkman.
That's pretty similar to other music programs. But instead of just shooting the files quickly into the player, the Sony software must grind away, converting all of them, one at a time, to the special Sony format.
For my test, I used a very modest collection of 431 standard MP3 files. SonicStage 2 refused to transfer 15 of the files, posting a nonsensical error message. After that, it took an agonizingly long two hours and 13 minutes to transfer the remaining 416 tracks to the Walkman. By contrast, Apple's iTunes software transferred all 431 songs to an iPod in about four minutes.
Also, the Sony software stores a shadow copy of your music library on your hard disk in ATRAC3 format, so the tracks don't ever have to be converted again, but this takes up much more hard-disk space than iTunes requires.
And, unlike the iPod and other hard-disk players, the new Walkman can't be recharged, or connected to a computer, directly. You have to first place it in a cradle, which has the connectors for the charging and computer cables. That means you have to carry the cradle on trips. And, even with the cradle, the Walkman can't draw power from a computer for recharging, as the iPod can. You have to plug the cradle into an electrical outlet.
But the Walkman's biggest weakness is its lousy user interface, which is dense and confusing. The SonicStage 2 software and the Connect music store are also badly designed. This is because, for all its historic brilliance in designing hardware, Sony stinks at software.
For instance, while the Walkman's tiny screen shows lists of artists, albums and genres, it can't display a list of all your songs. And neither Katie nor I could figure out how to make it shuffle through the entire song library, even after poring through the 45-page manual. Two Sony officials gave us conflicting advice on how to do this, but their advice didn't square with the manual, which is full of discussions about things like "play units."
By contrast, the iPod has always been able to display all your songs and to shuffle through the library. In fact, the newest model has a one-touch command called "Shuffle Songs" right on the main menu.
And there is no mention of the basic concept of "play lists" in either the Walkman's screens or the SonicStage software. The software has something called "compilation albums," which seem like play lists. But there's no reference to these on the player's screen. The player has something called "groups," but this concept isn't mirrored in the software. When I made a "compilation album" in SonicStage and transferred it to the player, it never showed up on the screen.
There's a button on the player called "Mode," but to set the "Play Mode," which controls the order in which songs are played back, you have to press a separate button called "Menu." By contrast the Mode button switches the screen display between artists, albums, genres and so forth. The little dial on the player for navigating all these menus is inferior to the iPod's navigation wheel, and the Walkman's screen is so small that artist names and album titles that display fine on the iPod are truncated.
The SonicStage 2 software is supposed to manage all your music, but it can't perform a basic function: burning a standard audio CD. For that function, Sony says you have to download a special version of SonicStage from the Web. Neither version, however, will allow you to convert a CD into MP3 files, only into Sony's proprietary ATRAC3 format.
As for the Connect service, which is accessed from inside the SonicStage software, it has nearly 100,000 fewer titles than Apple's iTunes Music Store, and, for about 10% of the tracks it does have, you can't preview the songs before buying. Connect also has more restrictive rules on burning CDs than Apple's iTunes store, and its user interface is bizarre, with a cramped little area for listing available titles surrounded by a huge, immutable gray border.
Sony says a greatly enhanced version of Connect, with more liberal rules and better features, will be launched in September.
On top of all that, Sony's marketing claims for the new hard-disk Walkman are over the top. The company claims the player can store up to 13,000 songs. But that's only if you use a very low-quality standard, 48 kilobits per second, which reduces audio quality. In fact, the new Walkman holds the same 5,000 songs as the 20 gigabyte iPod when you use a quality level roughly comparable to the default on the iPod.
If you love the Sony name, or the Walkman's size and design, or if you regularly take flights lasting more than 12 hours, you might be willing to pay $100 more for this new Walkman over an iPod. But, for everybody else, until Sony fixes the multitude of sins in this product, steer clear of it.
索尼重拳出击挑战苹果iPod
在两年半的时间里，苹果电脑(Apple Computer Inc.)的iPod数码音乐播放器轻易地战胜了所有竞争对手，不仅保持住了“最畅销的数码播放器”的地位，而且已经成为一种文化标志，并培育出配件产业及合法音乐下载行业。
但下月，iPod将迎来一个最有力的竞争者。这个新挑战不是来自别人，正是日本巨头索尼公司（Sony Corp.,又名:新力公司）。二十五年前，索尼公司推出的Walkman（随身听）系列播放器，在便携式播放器行业掀起一场革命。尽管在这个行业，索尼已经让位于苹果电脑，但现在，它希望通过推出第一代iPod式的高容量、硬盘式音乐播放器，重新夺回失去的宝座。
我和我的助手卡蒂?博莱特(Katie Boehret)最近一直在测试索尼这款可能成为iPod竞争对手的数码音乐播放器。机器名为Network Walkman NW-HD1，造型纤巧，外表光滑，有银镁亮泽的外壳。可存储20GB音乐，预计在8月中旬上市，售价399美元。索尼公司策划了庞大的广告攻势来推广这款新Walkman，希望能重振Walkman品牌的雄风。
索尼的另一款硬盘式数码播放器，体积更大，但设计风格更独树一帜，售价499美元，将于今年晚些时候上市，推出者是索尼旗下生产Vaio电脑的集团。但索尼管理人士表示，他们的重点和大部份营销资金都放在这款新Walkman身上，而不是Vaio。
我们最近也一直在测试索尼新推出的网上音乐服务Connect，Connect是与新播放器配套推出的，也旨在与苹果电脑非常成功的服务iTunes Music Store展开竞争。新Walkman播放器和Connect服务都只能适用于安装Windows系统的电脑。
我们测试的结论是：尽管索尼新Walkman播放器比iPod更小巧，电池寿命更长，但总体上它不如iPod。它的用户界面十分复杂，难懂也难用；用于个人电脑的软件太差；单一的音乐格式，使下载歌曲很烦琐；提供的配套音乐下载服务也比苹果电脑少。这一回合胜者是iPod，iPod仍然是冠军。
对索尼而言，这次较量的风险很大，尤其是在重要的美国市场。
几年前网上数码音乐革命爆发的时候，索尼错过了良机，主要有两个原因：第一，它下错了赌注。索尼看好一项名为MiniDisc (MD)的技术，但这项技术终未能在美国流行。第二，索尼最初被贴上了反对音乐下载的标签。索尼的第一代内存式数码播放器对消费者下载音乐有限制，这将真正的数码音乐迷拒之门外了。
苹果电脑敏锐地觉察到了索尼的新动向，它并没有坐以待毙。本月初，苹果电脑推出了第四代全屏幕iPod，电池寿命提高了50%，控制键和菜单更简洁了。这款产品使iPod系列的价格下降了100美元，和新Walkman播放器比有100美元左右的价格优势。而索尼并没有做出相应降价举措的计划。
不过，在两个关键的方面，索尼的产品胜过苹果电脑的产品。新Walkman播放器看上去像一个小型的数码照相机，比iPod更矮，更薄，更宽。尽管配备了同样的硬盘容量，但索尼的产品在总体积上比iPod小10%左右，重量轻三分之一，新Walkman重3.8盎司，而iPod重5.6盎司。新Walkman不及iPod Mini小和轻，但iPod Mini是不同类别的产品，容量小很多。
在电池寿命方面，索尼产品也胜过苹果电脑，这一直是iPod最主要的缺陷。尽管在最新的iPod产品上，苹果电脑将电池寿命从8小时提高到12小时，但索尼声称其产品的电池寿命可达到20到30小时，取决于Walkman上的数字音乐文件存储的音质效果。音质越好的文件耗电越快。与iPod一样，Walkman也使用密封电池，用户无法轻易地更换。
在我们对电池的测试中，Walkman在一次充电过程中根据文件的音质可连续播放22小时左右，远低于索尼声称的27小时。而iPod则略微超过苹果电脑声称的12小时，但在这个环节，仍是索尼胜出一筹。
除此之外，都是iPod的优点了。
新Walkman一个最大的缺点是无法播放MP3文件，以及任何其他标准格式的文件。它只能重复播放索尼专有的一种名为ATRAC3的文件格式，或者是ATRAC3的变种ATRAC3plus。这也就是说，当你把MP3文件上传到新Walkman机器里，索尼的电脑软件必须不辞辛苦地将这些文件转换成ATRAC3格式。索尼公司解释称，这样设计是因为ATRAC3文件音质更好，而且ATRAC3有些功能可以节省电力。
要把MP3文件从电脑上传到新Walkman里，你首先要启动索尼提供的Walkman管理软件SonicStage 2，由该软件找到你电脑里的所有MP3文件，然后为你提供将部份文件还是全部文件复制到Walkman里的选项。
这和其他音乐软件非常相似。但索尼的软件并不是将文件迅速地载入播放器，而是必须慢腾腾地，一次一个文件，将全部文件转换成索尼的特殊文件格式ATRAC3。
我在测试中使用了非常普通的431个标准MP3文件。结果，SonicStage 2拒绝转换其中的15个文件，弹出令人难以看明白的错误信息窗口。然后，它花费了令人难以忍受的2小时13分钟才将剩下的416个文件载入Walkman。与此对照的是，苹果电脑的iTunes软件将全部431个文件上传到iPod只用了大约4分钟。
另外，索尼的软件会在硬盘上以ATRAC3格式存储音乐文件的备份，这样就无需再次转换了。但这样会占掉比iTunes大得多的硬盘空间。
与iPod及其他硬盘式音乐播放器不同，新Walkman无法充电，也无法直接与电脑连接。你首先必须将Walkman接入专门插座，上面有充电和电脑线的接口。这就意味著你在旅行的时候必须带上插座。即便如此，Walkman也无法像iPod那样借用电脑的电力充电。你必须把插座接到一个外部电源接口上。
Walkman最大的弱点是它的用户界面，密密麻麻，且令人困惑。SonicStage 2软件和Connect下载服务也设计拙劣。尽管索尼在硬件设计上有辉煌的历史，但它在软件设计上却“臭名昭著”。
比如说，Walkman狭小的屏幕上能显示歌曲的演唱者、唱片名和歌曲种类的列表，但无法显示全部歌曲的列表。我和我的助手也想不出什么办法查询整个歌曲库，翻遍了那本45页的使用手册也找不到。索尼两位人士就如何做到这点给我们提供了一个复杂的建议，但他们的建议里满是“试试”之类的话，而且在使用手册里也没有注明。
相反，iPod总是能显示全部歌曲，也能检索歌曲库。实际上，最新款的iPod在主菜单上甚至有一个名为“检索歌曲”的一触式命令键。
还有，在Walkman的屏幕上和SonicStage软件上，都没有出现基本的“播放列表”的菜单。SonicStage软件上有个名为“编辑曲目”的命令，看上去像是播放列表，但在播放器的屏幕上没有出现这些命令。显示屏上有些名为“族”的命令，但这个命令在软件上又没有出现。当我在SonicStage上编辑了一个曲目并上传到播放器后，文件却根本没有在屏幕上出现。
在播放器上有个“模式”按键。但要想设置播放模式，控制歌曲循环播放的命令，你必须按另外一个名为“菜单”的单独按键。相反，“模式”按键是用来在歌曲的演唱者、唱片名和歌曲种类等不同页面之间进行屏幕切换的。Walkman为所有菜单进行导航的小按钮也不如iPod导航键，而且Walkman的屏幕太小了，在iPod上显示得很好的演唱者、唱片名在Walkman上都是缩减的。
SonicStage 2软件本来应该对你的音乐全面管理，但它无法完成一项基本功能：刻录标准的CD。索尼称，要实现这一功能，你必须从网上下载特殊的SonicStage版本。但不管是哪个版本，都无法让你将CD转换成MP3文件，只能是转成索尼专有的ATRAC3格式。
至于在SonicStage软件内测评的Connect服务，我发现它比苹果电脑的iTunes Music Store少将近10万首歌曲。而且在Connect服务提供的歌曲中，有大约10%你无法在购买前浏览。另外，在刻录CD方面，Connect服务也比苹果电脑的iTunes有更多限制条款。Connect的用户界面很怪异，在一个狭小的区域内列有歌曲名，外面则包著巨大的灰色边框。
索尼称，在9月份将推出大大更新的Connect版本，歌曲将更多，功能也更强。
最重要的是，索尼在新款硬盘式Walkman播放器推广中的说法言过其实。公司称，播放器最多能存储13,000首歌曲。但只有你在使用低音质的标准时才能做到这一点，每秒48千字节，使音质大大下降。实际上，当你使用音质大致相当的标准时，新Walkman也就存储5,000首歌曲，和20GB的iPod差不多。
如果你喜欢索尼的品牌，或者Walkman的外形及设计，又或者你经常进行持续12小时以上的飞行，你也许会愿意比iPod多付出100美元来购买这款新Walkman。但对于其他人而言，在索尼公司解决这款产品的先天缺陷之前，对它感兴趣的人恐怕不多。
