The sleek-looking player has a 2.8-inch WQVGA OLED screen, FM radio, TV-out, digital noise cancelling and is beautifully thin: just 7.2mm. Oh, and it only weighs 62g. Unlike the failed X-Series, the A has no touch screen or Wi-Fi.

Along with standard codec support, there’s also new drag and drop feature that auto-transcodes video from your computer. And in Japan at least, the player comes with premium MDR-EX300SL earphones.

No word on availability yet, but if the recent S and E series Walkmans are any gauge, the wait won’t be long after it hits Japan. Pricing there will be: 16GB (Y24,000; $US226), 32GB (Y30,000; $US332), and (Y40,000; $US443).

Enough to tempt you away from the more powerful $US280 32GB Zune HD or $US400 64GB iPod touch? I just don’t know about those Mickey Mouse like controls myself…[Sony Japan (translated) via Akihabara News]