Sony Officially Announces N760C, MP3 Adapter

Posted By: Ed Tuesday, September 18, 2001 2:06:28 PM

As has been rumored for weeks, Sony officially announced the PEG-N760C today. This is the upgraded version of the now-discontinued N710C. The major change is it now includes Palm OS 4.1 rather than the OS 3.5. This means its screen has 16-bit color.

It can be pre-ordered now from the SonyStyle webstore for $500. It will be available from there and from retail stores in October.

Palm OS 4 has built-in support for 16-bit color, which means that the screen can display 65,000 colors. The screen on the N710C is physically capable of displaying 16-bit color but is limited by OS 3.5, which doesn't support it. While Sony hasn't officially announced an OS upgrade for its U.S. customers, it has in Japan and one is widely expected in the U.S. in the near future.

Other than the operating system change, there's not a lot of difference between the N760C and the N710C most people are familiar with. Like its predecessor, the N760C has a built-in audio player so it can play music in both MP3 and ATRAC3 formats. It comes with an external control wand and clip-on headphones to make listening to music easier.

Of course it has a Memory Stick slot and comes with an 8 MB Memory Stick. It also comes with a new Memory Stick-related app. Basically, it is a one-tap application that stores all the resident data from the handheld to the Memory Stick. The user can also restore that data back onto RAM. It functions very similarly to a backup module.

Update: According to a Sony spokesperson, Palm OS 4.1 is simply a "bug fix" update to OS 4.0 with no new features.

In a related announcement, Sony also unveiled the PEGA-SA500 MP3 module in the U.S. market, which lets Sony models without built-in audio capabilities play music. It reads MP3 audio files stored on the Memory Stick inserted in the Clié and also enables stereo sound with gMovie video clips. It uses a digital signal processor (DSP) integrated into the unit. It comes with headphones and will cost about $130 when it is available in October. Sony had already announced this product for the Japanese market.

Related Information:

Article Comments

 (60 comments)

The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.

Comments Closed Comments Closed
This article is no longer accepting new comments.

Down View Full Comment Thread

Haleluea (?)

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 2:12:18 PM #
Finaly! Is it just me or do I hear church bells ringing?!?!?

Now the next holy event will be when it comes out in Canada!

Palm_pilot_guy

RE: Haleluea (?)
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 7:37:08 PM #
don't hold your breath for that one.
I checked with the Sony store in Windsor about 2 weeks ago and they don't have any of they Clies. They never did, and have no potential date for release in Canada

Canada's Clie's
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 9:02:02 PM #
What I meant was it would be a miracle if it came out in Canada.

The closest thing that Canada's gonna get to a Clie is the PEG-S320. It's the cover picture of the fall SonyStyle.ca magazine.

Oh well, I guess you can smuggle one across the border:)

RE: Haleluea (?)
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/19/2001 2:10:15 AM #
according to a friend and employee of a sony store .. the clie will be carried within a few weeks [lets say a month] in canada .. there will be a color one [the 760 i guess] and the s320

710 Owner Here

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 2:18:42 PM #
...this pisses me off. That is all.

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 3:00:59 PM #
What pisses me off is SOBs who don't appreciate what they have and buy into things they don't do enough research about. You KNEW what you were buying. And what's wrong with your 710c? Besides the 16K colors, nothing!

Come on people, let's be patient here. There WILL be an OS 4. It does no good to whine endlessly about something just because you don't have the patience for it.

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 3:36:47 PM #
... and when you DO get your precious 4.0 update, you're going to be woefully disappointed. The one biggest factor is 16-bit vs. 8-bit. I've shown many people identical pictures converted to these formats on my 610, and few noticed any difference at all.
The amount and volume of people upset about this whole 4.0 thing, without even knowing what Sony has planned, is what makes me sick.

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 3:52:30 PM #
Whenever I buy a product and then an upgraded product is announced, of course my pride is wounded -- I'm no longer on the 'cutting edge.' You have to keep perspective though, because the cutting edge is a moving target, and at some point you have to say

"I am still as happy with my 710c as I was a month ago. I would be even happier if I had a 760c, but that would mean that I would not have had a 710c for the last 3 months. Given the waiting period needed to obtain a 760c, I am glad I bought my 710c when I did."

And to make a purchase today -- a purchase of anything -- you have to realize that there may be a new product announced tomorrow, and you have to accept that the benefit of owning today's product now outweighs the detriment of continuing to today's product when tomorrow's product is on the shelves.

I bought a new car last year, and the dealer has no intention of giving me a discount on an 'upgrade' to this year's model. But man, I still love my car!

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 3:52:56 PM #
If this OS4.0 upgrade pisses you off, I would suggest that you do not buy a sony product. Sony innovates ALL the time, new products come out faster than any electronic companies. If you want a pda that does not change, buy a palm or handspring, the are guranteed to be the same for the next 5 years. Look at the "new" models from palm and handspring. It is not possible for an innovative company like sony to keep ALL their product lines indefinitely. In US, Sony keeps the product life span very long compared to Japan. Of course, Japanese are a different group of consumers.

As for me, I am staying with Sony to enjoy better things to come.

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 4:03:03 PM #
Just want to add that, Sony is usually the leader in innovation in that sense that they come out with new stuff and other companies will be able to replicate what they do in months, Sony will have to move on to new innovation to keep the lead.

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 6:46:16 PM #
YO...RELAX

What pisses me off is not the update, wtf?? WHAT PISSES ME OFF IS THE FACT 4 MOS. AGO I BOUGHT THIS THING FOR THE SAME PRICE OF THE NEW ONE AND NOW MY MODEL IS OLD AND OUTDATED AND THERE IS A BETTER ONE FOR THE SAME PRICE I PAID.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ROARRRRRRRRRRRRR

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 8:07:21 PM #
But that's what happens when you're an "early adopter!" You may be pissed off, but you've really got no cause. You knew what you were getting into; you knew it's limitations; now STFU.

RE: 710 Owner Here
EGarrido @ 9/18/2001 9:26:29 PM #
We can all wait for the next model, so that we won't be outdated, but by then, there will be a better model to come out four months from then. It's just the way technology is. When someone buys a tech product, they should realize that it will eventually be outdated.

It's my opinion, however, that even though this N760C has been announced, the N710C is far from outdated.

Eric Garrido

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 9:43:30 PM #
Exactly. The 710 and 760 are EXACTLY identical except for the incremental changes in OS 4.0. THIS IS NOT A BIG DEAL.

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 10:26:19 PM #
The 710 is PHYSICALLY IDENTICAL to the 760 with the exception of the OS. I own a 710 and I could give a sh** about OS 4.x. It makes no difference to me. I have a load of productive software, NONE OF WHICH CAN DISPLAY 16BIT COLOR. Those who care about 4.x need to fill that extra bitchin' time with something more productive. IMHO of course ;-)

If it is a bug fix, then upgrade should be free
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 10:42:29 PM #
I would be very surprise to see a huge charge on upgrading the software.

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/19/2001 1:33:27 AM #
hello hello, os 4.0 requires 4mb flash memory, the 710 has 2mb flash, the 760 has 4mb, get it?

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/19/2001 2:16:22 AM #
yo .. last poster .. mr. 4Mb flash on the 760 .. and only 2 Mb flash on the 710 ...

apparently u dont OWN a 710 .. because if u DID .. i would know that the 710 DOES have 4Mb flash!

http://www.sonystyle.com/vaio/clie/peg_n710c_specs.htm

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/19/2001 11:03:26 AM #
YO YOU STFU cuz I did NOT know "what I was getting into" when I bought the 710. Sony just RECENTLY announced this new 760 model, moron. If we would have known I am sure a lot of people would have held out on the 710 to get the 760 instead. But now it's too late so we got screwed. F THAT!

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/19/2001 11:42:36 AM #
Hey if U don't like getting outdated, don't buy anything. I mean, I can bet that in some months time there will be PDA's using the new 66mhz dragonball procesors, and then, the 200+mhz DragonballARM procesors, and all the users will get outdated.

RE: My Amusement For The Day
splat @ 9/20/2001 12:24:27 PM #
Thanks for that thread guys, it gave me a good laugh. All of you arguing back and forth about "you have no reason to be pissed" and "I'm so pissed at Sony!"

The best part is there is absolutely NO DIFFERENCE between the 710c and the 760c except Palm OS 4.1 (notice the old 710c pictures being used on sonystyle.com to show the 760c off).

Anyway, you guys keep posting and I'll keep laughing.

-----------
splat
splat@altavista.net

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/24/2001 12:33:02 PM #
To all of you....OS 4.x DOES NOT require 4mb of flash. I have a 3c and 3xe with 2mb flash both with a developer seeded version 4.0 rom.

RE: 710 Owner Here
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/25/2001 10:58:07 AM #
The 4.x upgrade to the 710 does make a huge difference! The screen refresh is significantly faster on the 610 (which has 4.x) as opposed to the 710 (which has 3.5). You'd have to be an idiot not to notice the difference.

Hello sunshine!

Seabird @ 9/18/2001 2:23:34 PM #
I'm glad the 760c is finally here, however, I hope Sony doesn't screw over the 710 owners by holding out on an OS upgrade.

Headphones?

SMN @ 9/18/2001 3:00:55 PM #
What I'd like to know is why Sony doesn't include those nice clip-on headphones with the separate mp3 player. I don't think those little earbuds in the picture can really compare.

Funny

sub_tex @ 9/18/2001 3:37:33 PM #
If you click on the image of the 760. the page you go to is the display for the 710.

http://www.sonystyle.com/vaio/clie/peg_n710c_glamour_01.htm

And if you choose any of the nav options while in that close up view page, the overview, specs, etc. all go to 710 pages.

Some bad webmasters at sonystyle......

Oh this is just great!

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 4:38:44 PM #
I got a 610 with OS 4.0 now the 760 has 4.1!!! I hope sony does not screw us 610 owners over this .1 upgade. GIVE IT TO US NOW!!!!!!!! WWWHHHHHAAAAAAAA.....


SHUT UP 710 owners! There is alot more you should be worrying about then a useless upgrade in the OS.

RE: Oh this is just great!
rldunn @ 9/18/2001 4:53:45 PM #
Plus, the 760 is coming with it's own backup software, and I had to pay for mine. I demand that Sony immediately refund the money I paid for JBBackup. If I had known that they were going to offer backup software in the future, I would have just suffered through data losses these past few months and not shelled out my hard earned cash.

You won't need it anyway
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 10:38:59 PM #
Correct me if I am wrong, but the only difference in the OS version is due to the fact that 4.1 is capable and responsible for making the MP3 player work.

Yell when you see OS 5.0 in months, not years...heehee

RE: Oh this is just great!
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/19/2001 1:16:33 AM #
"I demand that Sony immediately refund the money I paid for JBBackup."

Uh...last time I checked JBBackup was sold through Brayder Tech and now through HandFort. If I were you, I'd bring it up with them and not Sony. How is Sony responsible for your impatience?


"If I had known that they were going to offer backup software in the future, I would have just suffered through data losses these past few months and not shelled out my hard earned cash."

And if I would've known that Palm would sit on their technologic laurels and introduce products like the m125 and m5xx handhelds, I would've sold my shares in Palm alot sooner. By your rationale, I should complain to Palm and demand that I be refunded the money I would have made if they ran their company a bit differently.

If you're that displeased with your CLIE, then sell it. Otherwise, STFU!

RE: Oh this is just great!
EdwardGreen @ 9/19/2001 3:08:35 AM #
sense of humour byepass anyone?

-
kHiTeDev
Hooray for the ignorant
splat @ 9/19/2001 3:35:36 PM #
> SHUT UP 710 owners! There is alot more you should be > worrying about then a useless upgrade in the OS.

Either you're a moron or you don't know what you're talking about.. or maybe both.

The upgrade is NOT useless, it allows the Clie to display the 65,000 colors on screen that it is capable of. Palm OS 3.5 does not support that many colors.

So how about you keep your mouth shut until you have something worth complaining about.


-----------
splat
splat@altavista.net

RE: Oh this is just great!
rldunn @ 9/19/2001 3:45:40 PM #
"Uh...last time I checked JBBackup was sold through Brayder Tech and now through HandFort. If I were you, I'd bring it up with them and not Sony. How is Sony responsible for your impatience?"

I bet if I told you that gullible wasn't really a word in the dictionary, you'd go look it up. Relax, we're on the same side on this issue. My earlier post was just using something called sarcasm. Go look it up.


Preorder?

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 4:54:53 PM #
"It will be available from there and from retail stores in October."

If you order it from Sonystyle it says "ships within 1-3 days"

Which is it? Anyone knows?


RE: Preorder?
Seabird @ 9/18/2001 6:30:52 PM #
I just spoke with Customer Service at Sony Style and they have no 760C on hand. The site would lead one to believe it's ready to ship, however, it's a pre-order.
They expect the units to arrive next week.

So it's not here yet!

RE: Preorder?
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 8:27:09 PM #
And as memory serves me (someone please verify this), Sony does not ship preorders any sooner than they ship them to retailers. If you want to be one of the first, don't preorder.

MagicGate

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 5:37:29 PM #
How does the MagicGate technology work and does it impose any sort of copy protection scheme on mp3s of CDs you rip?

RE: MagicGate
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 6:00:34 PM #
Can you put an MP3 on a MagicGate stick? I thought they were limited to ATRAC3. Not that I have any idea what I'm talking about. If someone knows, please explain.

RE: MagicGate
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2001 6:07:37 PM #
From the website "The new CLIÉ™ handheld plays both MP3 and ATRAC3 audio files. Download music on your PC, store the audio file on Memory Stick® media*, and then enjoy your favorite music on your new CLIÉ™ handheld! "

I'd still like to know if it messes with mp3s you've already encoded or if you can use a 128MB memorystick if you've already made the investment instead of buying a new magicgate stick. Thanks.

RE: MagicGate
Ed @ 9/18/2001 6:17:37 PM #
MagicGate Memory Sticks can play both ATRAC3 files and MP3 files. They have special encryption stuff built into them to allow them to use the ATRAC3 files. Regular Memory Sticks don't have this so they can't access ATRAC3 files but, of course, they can use MP3s.

p.s. Do you like my extremely technical term, "encryption stuff "?

---
News Editor

Top View Full Comment Thread
Achtung! Only the first 50 comments are displayed within the article.
    Click here for the full story discussion page...

Account

Register Register | Login Log in
user:
pass: