Sony developing Android Walkman?
updated 07:50 am EDT, Mon June 8, 2009
Sony Android Walkman Dev
Sony has been porting Android with the idea of bringing it to the Walkman and other devices, according to claims made on Monday. Calling it an "open secret," Impress says Google's OS is due both on the media player and for other products, likely appearing next year. The aim would be to produce a common platform that could be shared between devices; the Walkman and Mylo communicator are similar, for example, but right now need to use different operating systems and end up duplicating efforts.
Supporting the claim are statements from Sony chief Sir Howard Stringer, who said Android might be a logical base for integrating Sony's various products using open standards. The use of Android is also considered a logical extension given Sony Ericsson's plans to use Android in the near future and would theoretically let both the electronics and phone groups share certain apps.
The PSP Go and its family isn't likely to adopt Android as the architecture and software is too fundamentally different.
Moving to Android is a potential accelerator for Sony; while one of the more successful competitors in the market, its Walkman line trails behind SanDisk and Microsoft in the US and is late to market compared to Apple. The Walkman X1000 touchscreen player shipped last month, or roughly a year and a half after Apple's iPod touch, and is a closed platform without support for third-party apps.
