Not Fade Away: Sony Looks to Revive Walkman Brand With Z Series Android Device

Coming to Japan in December: Sony's just-unveiled Android-powered mobile entertainment player, which is being brought to market with a familiar brand name.

The Walkman Z series, a rival to the iPod touch (looks like a smartphone but doesn't feature call functionality), will be available exclusively in Japan starting December 10th, a week before the PlayStation Vita launches in the market. 

Sony's Walkman line is still a decent seller in Japan, where it introduced the Walkman X, a video player, in 2007, but the company wants to re-energize the iconic brand, which also graces Sony Ericsson's Android-powered smartphone. 

The Walkman device that started it all, Sony's groundbreaking (for the time) cassette tape player, was retired last October. As Interbrand's Jennifer Bassett commented at the time, "the Walkman was the key link in setting course the trend towards customization and our increasingly mobile culture. And let's not forget the device's contribution to building 'Brand Japan' at the time – fostering its reputation for creating quality, compact electronics."

Here's how Sony announced the Walkman Z this week: