As blogged yesterday, Sony has released two Walkman models that finally support MP3 files, putting to death Sony's previous stonewalling position against MP3. All well and good, despite being six years late to the party. But Sony is hoping to compete with Apple by producing just two models—flash-based devices, at that. The units are small and light, and are available in a 512k and 1GB version. The topper? This is a Europe-only release, with no foreseeable plans to release the players in America or Asia, the two most influential markets. What, Sony is testing the waters? Seeing if MP3 is for real? Instead of scrambling for its life and hoping to rectify years of boneheaded anti-MP3 policy? And for this continued fumbling, Sony gets press to die for, including simultaneous coverage in CNET, ZDNet, and MSNBC, among other outlets.
