Personal Media Device

Article Outline

Introduction; Types of Personal Media Players; Consumer Issues

Introduction

Personal Media Device or Portable Media Device, handheld electronic device that plays sound and video recordings stored as digital multimedia files. Other functions and features offered by personal media devices (PMDs) may include displaying and storing photographs, access to over-the-air radio or television broadcasts, wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) access, text messaging, e-books, electronic games, video and audio recording capability, and cellular telephone access. Media files can be downloaded from personal computers or other devices that have access to the Internet or the ability to record digital media files. PMDs usually have a built-in hard drive (microdrive) or a solid-state flash memory. They can run on batteries or be plugged into a power source.

Personal media devices have become a growing segment of the home electronics market, particularly MP3 players. The trend is for more types of portable electronic devices to have multimedia features. Newer models of cell phones, portable game systems, and even digital cameras also have media playback capabilities, as do some personal digital assistants. The go-anywhere convenience and on-demand entertainment made possible with these devices have made them a welcome addition to the lives of many people.

Types of Personal Media Players

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MP3 Players

MP3 players are designed primarily for listening to recorded music or audio material such as podcasts, usually downloaded as files created or stored on a personal computer. Some players can also show video on a display screen. They are lightweight devices that can be held in a single hand. Many can be carried easily in a shirt pocket or strapped to an arm. Earbuds or headphones allow for private listening. MP3 players can also be plugged into speakers or other audio equipment for full sound playback. Additional capabilities include off-air radio and viewing photographs or lists of email addresses or notes. Accessories such as microphones can allow MP3 players to make voice recordings.

The development of the MP3 format allowed music to be recorded in compressed digital form, requiring much less memory to store or bandwidth to download than a musical track from a CD in regular uncompressed form. The first use of MP3 format was on personal computers, allowing music and other audio files to be easily sent and downloaded over the Internet. The invention of the portable MP3 player in 1998 meant large numbers of music tracks could be stored on a small, lightweight device. MP3 players were much less bulky than portable cassette-tape players or portable CD players and did not require transporting tapes or CDs. MP3 players that used a small hard drive to store files could hold hundreds of hours of music. Music was typically downloaded to the player using a personal computer.

Apple Inc. introduced the iPod in 2001. The iPod had a hard drive and could hold thousands of songs or display thousands of digital photographs. A user accessed the menu by touching parts of a click wheel rather than by using a keypad or switches. The iPod’s capacity, convenience, and simple design made it a major success with consumers. Later designs included a larger display screen to allow video files to be viewed and more compact iPods (iPod shuffle and iPod nano) that use flash memory instead of a hard drive. Microsoft introduced its own MP3 player called Zune in 2005.

Portable Multimedia Players

Portable multimedia players (PMPs)—also called personal media players, portable video players, and video jukeboxes—are primarily designed for viewing video. They typically have a larger display screen than MP3 players and are held in two hands. Some models, however, are the size of MP3 players and have smaller screens. PMPs use hard drives or flash drives, and have LCD or OLED display screens. Features available include playing recorded audio and video in a number of formats, game playing, photo storage, e-book readers, off-air TV and radio broadcasts, Wi-Fi Internet connection, and video and radio recording capabilities. The first PMP was introduced in 2002 by the French company Archos.

Multimedia Cell Phones

Handheld mobile cellular telephones have gained enormous popularity since their introduction in the 1980s. Models have become smaller and lighter as more features have been added. Camera phones were introduced in the late 1990s, allowing users to take and send photos and later video. Computer components such as hard drives or flash drives have allowed cell phones to play and receive many types of multimedia, and perform some computer functions.