Sony has long been a leader in the portable music player category. Ever since they came out with their venerable Sony Walkman radio, they have been the company to watch. Even though there are now some contenders to the throne, Sony's dedication to excellence has ensured that they remain a viable force in this rapidly changing field.

Sony's Network is their latest Walkman offering, and it comes with a variety of bells and whistles. For example, this tiny portable music player has a high capacity lithium ion battery that gives it a full 40 hours of play time. The Network Walkman has a 20 gigabyte storage capacity that translates into about 13,000 songs depending on which format you use.

One interesting new feature that the Network Walkman has is what Sony calls a bi-directional LCD display. This simply means that you can switch the LCD screen so that it displays horizontally or vertically. This makes it easier to read your screen if you have the Network attached to a belt clip, or simply sitting horizontally. The LCD screen itself measures a full 1.5 inches diagonally, and it has seven lines of backlit graphics.

Another practical feature of the Network Sony MP3 player is its anti-skip technology. The Network has been designed to protect against both vertical and horizontal shocks so that there are no interruptions to your music listening pleasure. The Sony Network Walkman is available in one of three colors: silver, black, or red.