We recently reported on some leaked info for Sony's upcoming video player, the NW-A800 series. Today that player has been officially announced. This is Sony's first serious attempt at releasing a color screen DAP, and one with video playback to boot. Though it's arriving late to the game, the NW-A810 still offers a respectable feature-set, including support for H.264, AAC, and 30 hours of battery life:



Features

• Capacity: 2, 4, and 8GB's
• Display: 2.0" QVGA LCD (240x320). Can be used horizontally & vertically
• Audio: MP3, ATRAC, WMA (non-DRM), AAC (non-DRM)
• Video: MPEG-4 and AVC Baseline (aka H.264) at 30fps
• Battery Life: 30 hours for audio, 8 hours for video
• Dimensions (LxWxD: 88.0mm x 43.8.0mm x 9.1mm
• Colors: Black, White, Pink, and Violet

Interface



From the few screens I've seen of the interface I'm fairly pleased. I've always been a fan of the white text on black background that Sony has used in their past few players. I like the use of icons in the main menu, as well as the nice layout for the now playing screen.

One aspect I thought Sony planned to improve was the naming of their players. A couple of their older players went from odd alpha-numeric names to simpler ones like the Bean, Circ and Core. I think giving the player a real name makes it more accessible to the consumer and makes it look like more of a competitor against the iPod nano and others.

You can pre-order the NW-A808 (8GB) from Sony's EU site for £ 199.99 (VAT included). This roughly converts to a price of $392US. That sounds like a pretty hefty price tag but keep in mind most players retail for a higher price over there. For instance the 8GB iPod Nano retails for £169.00 or roughly $331US. I imagine we'll see a considerably lower price when this arrives in N. America.

Product page (via, GenMP3) + Demo page

Thanks indeego