Portable media player

A portable media player (PMP) or digital audio player (DAP) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. The data is typically stored on a CD, DVD, flash memory, microdrive, or hard drive. In contrast, analog portable audio players play music from non-digital media such as cassette tapes, or records.

Often mobile digital audio players are marketed and sold as "portable MP3 players", even if they also support other file formats and media types. Increasing sales of smartphones and tablet computers have led to a decline in sales of portable media players, leading to some devices being phased out, though flagship devices like the Apple iPod and Sony Walkman are still in production. Portable DVD players are still manufactured by brands across the world.

This article focuses on portable devices that have the main function of playing media.

History

The immediate predecessor in the market place of the digital audio player was the portable CD player and prior to that, the personal stereo.

MP3 player

An MP3 player is an electronic device that can play digital audio files. The term 'MP3 player' is a misnomer, as most players play more than the MP3 file format. A more accurate, but less utilized term is DAP (Digital Audio Player).

Since the MP3 format is widely used, almost all players can play that format. In addition, there are many other digital audio formats. Some formats are proprietary, such as MP3, Windows Media Audio (WMA), and Advanced Audio Codec (AAC). Some of these formats also may incorporate digital rights management (DRM), such as WMA DRM, which are often part of paid download sites. Other formats are patent-free or otherwise open, such as Vorbis, FLAC, and Speex (all part of the Ogg open multimedia project).

History

The world's first MP3 player was SaeHan Information Systems's MPMan F10, a 32MB portable, launched in South Korea in March 1998. As a local distributor, Eiger Labs introduced this first MP3 Player on the American market in the summer of 1998. It was a very basic unit and wasn't user expandable, though owners could upgrade the memory to 64MB by sending the player back to Eiger Labs with a check for $69.00 + $7.95 shipping.