Sony developing new Walkman audio player

Unconfirmed rumors indicate Sony plans to introduce a new touchscreen Walkman next month during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.  The new touchscreen MP3 player is being designed to compete with the Apple iPod Touch MP3 player, and has several key improvements over current MP3 players.

According to "trusted inside sources" speaking with Sony Insider, the Japanese company will introduce 16 GB and 32 GB models of the Walkman.  The video and music player is expected to be the most sophisticated Walkman player that Sony has released. 

Sony’s new Walkman has a built-in F radio with a search function that lets users search for information about musicians and the ability to purchase CDs from Amazon.com.  It’ll support MP3, WMA, AAC, and PCM audio formats, while supporting AVC, MPEG-4 and WMV movie files. 

The new generation of Walkman players will have WiFi Internet capability, a three-inch OLED touch screen, and an integrated Web browser — though it’s unsure if it’ll have Adobe Flash support.  Assuming it does have an Internet connection and Flash capabilities, there is a strong possibility Sony could create an apps store.

The device will be unveiled next month at CES, where CDFreaks will be on-hand to see the device in-person.  It seems risky trying to launch an attack against the Apple iPod, especially when Sony already is struggling in the console market and is facing financial uncertainty in Japan — the company recently announced it will cut 8,000 employees from its global workforce.