Sony E540, S440 Walkman PMPs Hit US [Integrated Stereo Speakers, 2.4-in Screen, 42-hour Music Playback]

Sony today announced that they would be updating their line of non-touch capable Walkman portable music players specifically for launch into the US market. As we heard some months ago, the S540 series will sport its own integrated stereo speakers allowing users to play music or video without headphones. The LCD display of the unit has also been enlarged, now up to 2.4 inches, and an additional feature lets users record both through a microphone as well as the built-in FM radio.

As should be expected, the larger screen and the integrated speakers have come at the cost of battery life. Although music playback lasts even longer on headphones at 42 hours, video playback has dropped from 10 hours to 6.5. The addition of the power-sucking speakers drops battery life to 17 hours of pure audio and 5 hours of video.

A more cost-conscious line, the E440 series, has some of the same design elements found on the S540 with the exception of the integrated speakers and recording functions. It also has a smaller 2-inch LCD much like earlier Walkman players. Because of the reduced screen size and lack of powered speakers, the E440 player lasts for 30 hours of music and 4 hours of video.

Both Walkman units continue to support AAC, MP3 and WMA for audio as well as H.264, MPEG-4 and WMV for video. Music reaches the players through drag-and-drop loading on both Macs and Windows PCs, though the latter continue to get a companion Content Transfer app for an intermediary sync with iTunes.

The S540 extends the capacity of Sony’s flash players and will come in 8GB and 16GB versions for $110 and $130 respectively. The E440 will have the exact same capacities but, due to its simplicity, will cost significantly less at $80 and $130 for corresponding models. Sony ships both models in September.