New Walkmans have "memory stick"

On the 20th anniversary of the launch of Sony Walkman,

the Japanese consumer giant this week unveiled its next-generation Walkman

systems, products that will include a so-called "memory stick"

that can store MP3-based music that consumers can download from Web sites

and play back on the new devices.

Consumers will also be able to store music from compact discs onto a PC

hard drive and then transfer the music on to the memory sticks, which are

the size of a stick of chewing gum. The sticks can also be plugged into

other Sony products, including digital and vide cameras and laptop

computer so consumers can move data around between a wide variety of

devices.

The new Walkmans will compete with the highly popular Rio from Diamond

Multimedia Systems in San Jose, which has been available since last

November. Matsushita Electric has also announced plans for an Internet

music player to be in stores this Christmas season.