Well, the new S-Series is essentially a slam-dunk at this point with this uncovered listing of the device at materiel.net, a French-based entertainment retailer. The full specifications of the S-Series Walkman are an attractive update the series and confirms to our initial leak. The 8gb Sony NWZ-S544 (129 and 16gb Sony NWZ-S545 with a 16:9 (320 x 240, 262k colors) 2.4 inch QVGA LCD screen feature built-in stereo speakers on the front of the player to share or enjoy music out loud. Sony says 42 h Audio and 6.5 H Video battery life, but we all know that means at 128kbps music quality.

The player is drag n’ drop, which is nothing new for Sony but still great – it also boasts compatibility with iTunes and Windows Media Player as usual. FM radio (with 30 presets) strengthens the appeal and codec support includes mp3, WMA, and AAC. Video quality is up to 30fps and can play back the usual formats like H264/AVC, MP4 and WMV. Sony has also included voice recording with a built-in microphone. I’m almost wondering if they should add a microphone port and make a the future Minidisc hybrid. The earphones included with the new S-Series aren’t too hot, and we didn’t spot any mention of digital amplifier, clear bass and so forth but I’m sure Sony is just trying to offer a competitively priced music/video player with good functionality.

Thanks LG1, Ascariss and Dark Side for their help with this information.