Walkman Bean
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Sony_Walkman_Bean_Plugged_To_Computer.jpg/200px-Sony_Walkman_Bean_Plugged_To_Computer.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Sony_Walkman_Bean_3.jpg/200px-Sony_Walkman_Bean_3.jpg)
The Walkman Bean was a flash memory-based portable media player by Sony.[1] The name refers to its shape, which was modelled after a jellybean, and its ancestor, the original Sony Walkman portable cassette player. The product was released in October 2005, and production ceased in April 2006.[2][3]
The player was available in three versions: the basic model with 512MB capacity (model NW-E205), the basic model with an inbuilt FM radio (model NW-E305), and a higher-capacity 1GB model (model NW-E307). It was also available in four colours, named after jellybean flavours - Tropical Ice (blue), Cotton Candy (pink), Licorice (black) and Coconut (white).
The Walkman Bean featured a 'pop-out' USB port for file transfer. One of its major selling points was the battery's fast charge speed, with Sony stating that a 3-minute charge would give 3 hours of playback. Sony claimed that a fully charged Bean playing Sony's own compressed audio format, ATRAC, can operate for 50 hours, or 40 hours for audio compressed as MP3.[4]
References
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20101114003043/http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/portable_audio/walkman_players/release/9014.html
- ^ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/why-your-mp3-player-is-already-out-of-date-466561.html
- ^ https://www.engadget.com/2006/02/16/sony-kills-walkman-bean-after-failure-to-sprout
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20051201084453/http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowArticle.action?article=1123188805574