And so Sony is at it again with their latest ‘iPod killer’ according to this article from BetaNews. As I glance at their latest attempt, I think they need to try again and start with designers that understand the North American market a little better. In English…the current device is really ugly.

Sony showed off the latest addition to its line of Walkman digital music players Wednesday, the NW-HD5. While it is the fifth hard drive player to be released by the company, it will be the first to see worldwide distribution.

One major difference, however, is in the design. Unlike Sony’s previous units, the NW-HD5 is designed to stand upright, similar to Apple’s iPod. Users will have the option to use the player on its side if they wish.

Also, the circular controls on Sony’s previous players have now been replaced with nine buttons, which appear similar to gaming controls.

The NW-HD5 supports MP3 and Sony’s proprietary ATRAC3 formats, as well as Windows Media and WAV files. The capacity, as with previous models, will remain at 20GB, enough to hold 10,000 songs. [Read the rest]