It appears that the war is on for the minds and pocketbooks of the American music lover. According to a Reuters report, Sony is preparing to launch an advertising attack that highlights its new Walkman digital music player.

Sonyis new line of portable, personal digital music players are being seen as the first true competition against Appleis iPod, and there have been some words between the two companies about how Sony is portraying the capabilities of its new players against those of the iPod.

According to the article, Sony intends to double its advertising budget, and the ad campaign will highlight other Sony products as well. From the article:

Sony Electronics, the North American sales arm of Japanis Sony Corp. has focused its advertising on four key product lines, including its spruced up Walkman digital music player which aims to take a bite out of Apple Computeris market-leading iPod.

"It is the largest single campaign that Sonyis ever put together in the United States," Mark Viken, senior vice president of corporate marketing, told Reuters.

"Weire doubling spending from last year in total, and we are integrating our activities so they look and feel as if they are coming from one Sony," he said, without providing dollar figures.

Thereis more information in the full article at Reuters News.