fish1050
Headphoneus Supremus
To me that is one of the biggest problems with Android based DAP's. You almost need to keep releasing new models just to support newer versions of Android. Each new Android version seems to increase the hardware requirements forcing manufacturers to keep raising the price to cover the cost of the upgraded hardware.I think you misunderstood, the battery will be the limiting factor on the lifespan of the device.
It's a custom android setup too, so I have no idea what would happen if you tried it get it upgraded to 12 or whatever. It would probably break stuff.
I will live and die with my A55 and I have my trusty Shanling Q1 on standby as a backup. Shanling claims the MTouch Linux based DAP's are not "dead" but no word on when or if a Q1 replacement or another model will be coming any time soon.
The IFA show is coming soon in September and Sony usually has a big presence but I doubt any new walkman models or updates are in the offing. Hope I am wrong but the walkmanblogspot hasn't posted any walkman updates since the firmware updates last November for the android DAP's.