On Wednesday Sony celebrated 30 years of the Walkman, as did many consumers. First released in 1979, the tape playing music player cost £120 in the UK and originally named Stowaway. In Australia it was known as FreeStyle and as Soundabout in the US. Japan had the name of Walkman which caught on around the world and become the known name for the device. Within the first two months 30,000 were sold and over a decade 50 million were purchased.

30 years on and Sony are still producing music players taking advantage of today’s technology. But also taking advantage of today’s technology and learning from the past, Apple are dominating the portable music market. With over 210 million iPods sold over the last eight years, Sony has strong competition. The Walkman brand can be found on many devices though, from the original tape playing Walkman through to digital MP3 players and even using the Walkman brand on Sony Ericsson phones. Over the 30 years, 385 million Walkman devices have been sold.

To celebrate 30 years of the Walkman, Sony are releasing the Walkman X today, July 3rd. The portable music player is available in 16GB and 32GB versions. TheWalkman X will also include built in WiFi as well as a 3″ touch screen display. Unlike other MP3 players with touch screens, Sony will be taking advantage of the OLED technology and using that for the touch display. Pricing will start at $299.99 (£169.99).

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Sorry guys, but the rumor of the Xperia X2 being announced today aren’t true. At the CommunicAsia in Singapore, Sony Ericsson gave a recap on their recently announced handsets. The company went over the specs of the Satio, previously known as Idou, the all in one entertainment phone, as well as the two gaming phones, Yari and Aino.

Sony Ericsson revealed that the handsets are due to be released in early Q4 for the Asia Pacific region. Consumers in that area who pick up the handsets will also get exclusive content. Three movies and music videos are included with the Satio and Aino, which the user can chose from a movie catalogue of around 300 titles. Prince of Persia and Asphalt Road will also be bundled with Satio. Yari on the other hand, users will be able to download three games from a list of around 100 games. Seems like Satio users will be getting the best deal though, even if the price is sure to be higher for the handset.

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We’ve seen photos of the upcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia X2, as well as read of leaked specs, but no official word from Sony Ericsson yet. While tomorrow, Wednesday 17th June, could change all that. An invite has been sent out for a press event in Singapore and leaked. While the invitation hints more at it’s Entertainment Unlimited series which includes the Satio, aka Idou, there’s rumours flying around that the event could also unviel official information on the Xperia X2.

Sony Ericsson have announced that Q4 will see the launch of 3 new handsets. The first handset, the Satio, is the official name of the Idou. As previously reported, it will feature an impressive 12 mega pixel camera which offers the Cyber-Shot side of the phone, while combining the phone with the Walkman experience. Also included is GPS and Wifi, as well as featuring a touch screen. The Satio is to be a smartphone and will run Symbian S60 5th Edition OS.

The other two handsets announced, Yari and Aino, are both gaming orientated phones making the Aino the closest we’re going to get to a Playstation phone (for now anyway lets hope). The Aino allows connectivity between the phone and a Sony PS3 as well as PC. Sony Remote Play will also be included on the handset, which is already found on the popular Sony PSP. The phone will also feature an 8.1 megapixel camera, a 3 inch touchscreen and GPS.

Yari on the other hand, doesn’t connect to any consoles, but it does feature gesture based technology. It will work similarly to the Nintendo Wii remote, allowing you to move, control and box in games. A less impressive camera on this handset at 5 megapixels, but still good enough to take great pictures.

The all encompassed upcoming phone from Sony Ericsson, the Idou, has been photographed more by the folks over at Planete Nokia. The photos show the Idou in more angles, as well as the stylus and with the phone turned on. The touch screen 12 megapixel phone runs on the Symbian OS and will be released in the second half of 2009.

After the recent announcement from Sony Ericsson about the Idou, Ubergizmo – who shared the news –  have had a chance to snap some photos of the upcoming device.

The Idou, as it’s currently called, may when it’s released go by a different name according to the screenshots. Further information about the Idou has also been released, including information about the shipping date. It is expected to be released within the second half of 2009. As well as it’s impressive screen size, it’s also confirmed that the screen is actually a touch screen, allowing ease of use when it comes to the multimedia features.