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With holidays approaching and long journeys ahead, travel gadgets are flying off the shelves. So it should come as no surprise that Sony has announced a new PMP.

Aimed at a young generation, the Sony Walkman E450 Video MP3 player comes with a 2in, 240 x 320 screen. Choose from 4GB, 8GB and 16GB versions in a range of funky colours: pink, blue, green, red and black.

With support for the usual audio formats, the device also handles AVC, H.264, MPEG 4 and WMV video.

As with many modern PMPs, the E450 is able to analyse a music collection and categorise the library into several channels. The player comes with Sony's DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine), which, the company claimed, restores frequencies lost in an MP3 rip to recreate the feel of a CD.

The big thing here, though, is battery life. According to Sony, the E450 offers up to 50 hours' music playback or ten hours of video viewing. Plenty of life to keep you in beats on a flight to Australia, for example. It takes roughly three hours to charge.

There's also a karaoke mode, supporting the .LRC lyrics format and displaying words on the screen alongside your music. Vocal levels are automatically adjusted to match the backing track and if vocals are already present, they can be lowered.

We can't think of anything worse for a long journey, but if hearing your child whine away JLS songs in the back of the car appeals to you, then at least the option is there.

As usual with Sony, pricing and availability is unclear at this stage but should be made public soon. The E450 series goes on sale in August. ®

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