Charlie Sorrel
Gear

Sony NW-A910 TV Walkman: Tivo in Your Pocket

The new TV Walkmans will time-shift broadcast shows using on-the-fly compression to squeeze up to 100 hours of video onto the top end, 16GB NW-A919, although the EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) can only be set for 10 shows.... Let's just hope the Walkman isn't in the bottom of your bag when the recorder kicks in. Japan only, prices ¥30,000 ($260), ¥35,000 ($300) and ¥40,000 ($345) for the 4, 8 and 16GB versions.

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Remember the 80s? Handheld TVs were playground gold. You could impress your friends with the snowy analog image and spend the whole lunch break twisting the aerial, failing to tune in to any of the four available channels (yes, four. Such was the state of English TV back then).

Now Sony brings us up to date with the new NW-A910 series of pocket PVRs. The new TV Walkmans will time-shift broadcast shows using on-the-fly compression to squeeze up to 100 hours of video onto the top end, 16GB NW-A919, although the EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) can only be set for 10 shows. You'll get six hours of video playback via the 2.4 inch screen.

There's also music playback (MP3, WMA, AAC and, of course, ATRAC) and recording, an FM tuner and SonicStage syncing with a PC (no Mac support, sorry).

From the pictures, it looks like the aerial made it through to this modern revision. Let's just hope the Walkman isn't in the bottom of your bag when the recorder kicks in.

Japan only, prices ¥30,000 ($260), ¥35,000 ($300) and ¥40,000 ($345) for the 4, 8 and 16GB versions.

Product page [Sony via New Launches]