Sony will next week launch its latest Flash-based digital audio player, if online retailers' listings of the as-yet-unannounced Walkman NWS700 series devices are anything to go by.

The pitch for the product line will centre on its inclusion of "noise-cancelling" headphones, a three-line colour display and 1-4GB of storage capacity.

Actually, we suspect they're noise-suppressing 'phones rather than noise-cancelling. The earphones are listed as "high-value EX headphones". Sony already has EX-labelled 'phones: they rely on blocking out unwanted sounds rather than actively zapping them.

Still, it seems hard to justify the listed £180 price - more than £50 more than a 4GB iPod Nano - if that's the case. There's an FM tuner on board too. Maybe Sony will indeed ship active headphones with the product. We'll just have to wait until 9 October, when the product is due to launch.

Sony is apparently readying purple, pink and black versions of the player, in capacities of 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB. The 2GB models are said to cost £130, the 1GB versions £100. ®