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Playaway is a brand of portable media players designed for circulation in libraries by Playaway Products, LLC, based in Solon, Ohio. [1] The format is used in institutional lending, such as in public and school libraries. Playaway's library Web site states that it is currently available in over 25,000 schools and libraries. The devices have also been used by the United States military to give troops access to audiobooks overseas. [2]
Penguin Random House acquired Playaway in 2023. [3]
Playaway is a solid-state prerecorded audio player introduced in 2005 and redesigned in 2016. About the size of a deck of playing cards and weighing 2 ounces (57 g), it can store up to 80 hours of audio. As of March 2010, the audiobooks are all produced in high-definition audio. [4]
The digital content (audiobook or music compilation) is preloaded at the factory and cannot be changed or copied by the end user. A 3.5 mm stereo jack provides output to earphones or an external amplifier. Playaway Light was explicitly designed to use the most commonly available cassette adaptors and FM transmitters. [5] Power is provided by a changeable 1.5V AAA cell, which the manufacturer claims allows it to operate approximately 20 hours before battery depletion, 30 hours for the newer versions. There are about 15,000 titles on Playaway, generally priced in line with the publisher's suggested library pricing for the CD equivalent. As of 2013, the newest Playaway versions feature HD Audio and high-definition sound. These new units enable users to lock the keypad and slow down reading speed. [5] In 2016, Playaway added a backlit LCD screen with more details and simplified the button layout.
Wonderbook is a print book with an audio player permanently attached to the inside cover. It includes a "read-along mode" for reading along with the print book, as well as a "learning mode" which asks questions about the book. [6] There is also a "Sing-Along" storybook version. [7]
Playaway Launchpad is a modified Android tablet pre-loaded with games and other educational apps. Each tablet comes pre-loaded with several apps that have a shared subject. There is no way for end users to add or remove apps. [8]
Playaway View was a portable video player. The content was pre-loaded and could not be modified by the end user. Selections included popular movies and television shows for children and adults, documentaries, and educational content. Children's books could be played in a moving picture style with narration. They have been discontinued in favor of Launchpad.
Windows Media Player is the first media player and media library application that Microsoft developed to play audio and video on personal computers. It has been a component of the Microsoft Windows operating system, including Windows 9x, Windows NT, Pocket PC, and Windows Mobile. Microsoft also released editions of Windows Media Player for classic Mac OS, Mac OS X, and Solaris, but has since discontinued them.
An application program is a computer program designed to carry out a specific task other than one relating to the operation of the computer itself, typically to be used by end-users. Word processors, media players, and accounting software are examples. The collective noun "application software" refers to all applications collectively. The other principal classifications of software are system software, relating to the operation of the computer, and utility software ("utilities").
Rhythmbox is a free and open-source audio player software, tag editor and music organizer for digital audio files on Linux and Unix-like systems.
Novation Digital Music Systems Ltd. is a British musical equipment manufacturer, founded in 1992 by Ian Jannaway and Mark Thompson as Novation Electronic Music Systems. Today the company specializes in MIDI controllers with and without keyboards, both analog and virtual analog performance synthesizers, grid-based performance controllers, and audio interfaces. At present, Novation products are primarily manufactured in China.
Kodi is a free and open-source media player and technology convergence software application developed by the Kodi Foundation, a non-profit technology consortium. Kodi is available for multiple operating systems and hardware platforms, with a software 10-foot user interface for use with televisions and remote controls. It allows users to play and view most streaming media, such as videos, music, podcasts, and videos from the Internet, as well as all common digital media files from local and network storage media, or TV gateway viewer.
A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone, tablet, PDA to handheld game console, portable media player or graphing calculator, with and without network availability. The earliest known game on a mobile phone was a Tetris variant on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device from 1994.
An audiobook is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Audible is an American online audiobook and podcast service that allows users to purchase and stream audiobooks and other forms of spoken word content. This content can be purchased individually or under a subscription model where the user receives "credits" that can be redeemed for content monthly and receive access to a curated on-demand library of content. Audible is the United States' largest audiobook producer and retailer. The service is owned by Audible, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.
Saregama India Ltd., formerly known as The Gramophone Company of India Ltd., is India's oldest music label company, owned by the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group of companies. The company is listed on the NSE and the BSE with its head office located in Kolkata and other offices in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. Apart from music, Saregama also produces films under the brand name Yoodlee Films and multi-language television content. Saregama also retails a music-based hardware platform called Carvaan.
The Sansa e200 series is a portable media player developed by SanDisk and released on January 5, 2006. The device is available in four capacities of Flash memory: 2 GB (e250), 4 GB (e260), 6 GB (e270), and 8 GB (e280). All players have a 1.8-inch, TFT LCD display with a resolution of 176 by 220 pixels. Certain files, if not in a format accepted by the player's original firmware, must first be converted with the Sansa Media Converter Windows software. This will convert images to bitmap format (.bmp) and videos to MJPEG, for v1 models. On v2 players it will convert videos to DivX and simply resize images. It is not possible to simply copy videos to the device, even if they seem to be in the correct format; trying to access them displays an error message.
A digital media player is a type of consumer electronics device designed for the storage, playback, or viewing of digital media content. They are typically designed to be integrated into a home cinema configuration, and attached to a television or AV receiver or both.
OverDrive, Inc. is a worldwide digital distributor of ebooks, audiobooks, online magazines and streaming video titles. The company provides digital rights management and download fulfillment services for publishers, public libraries, K–12 schools, colleges, universities, corporations, legal industries, and formerly retailers.
OverDrive Media Console was a proprietary, freeware application developed by OverDrive, Inc. for use with its digital distribution services for libraries, schools, and retailers. The application enables users to access audiobooks, eBooks, periodicals, and videos borrowed from libraries and schools—or purchased from booksellers—on devices running Android, BlackBerry, iOS (iPad/iPhone/iPod), and Windows, including Mac and Windows desktop and laptop computers.
TuneIn is a global audio streaming service providing news, radio, sports, music, and podcasts to over 75 million monthly active users.
A digital copy is a commercially distributed computer file containing a media product such as a film or music album. The term contrasts this computer file with the physical copy with which the digital copy is usually offered as part of a bundle. It allows the disc's purchaser to acquire a single copy of the film on a digital device such as a personal computer, smartphone, tablet computer, or digital media player, and view it on those devices without requiring access to the physical media. "Digital copy" is also commonly referred to as "Digital HD".
Apple Books is an e-book reading and store application by Apple Inc. for its iOS, iPadOS and macOS operating systems and devices. It was announced, under the name iBooks, in conjunction with the iPad on January 27, 2010, and was released for the iPhone and iPod Touch in mid-2010, as part of the iOS 4 update. Initially, iBooks was not pre-loaded onto iOS devices, but users could install it free of charge from the iTunes App Store. With the release of iOS 8, it became an integrated app. On June 10, 2013, at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Craig Federighi announced that iBooks would also be provided with OS X Mavericks in Fall 2013.
The Nook Color is a tablet computer/e-reader that was marketed by Barnes & Noble. A 7-inch (18 cm) tablet with multitouch touchscreen input, it is the first device in the Nook line to feature a full-color screen. The device is designed for viewing of books, newspapers, magazines, and children's picture books. A limited number of the children's books available for the Nook Color include interactive animations and the option to have a professional voice actor read the story. It was announced on 26 October 2010 and shipped on 16 November 2010. Nook Color became available at the introductory price of US$249. In December 2011, with the release of the Nook Tablet, it lowered to US$169. On 12 August 2012, the price lowered to US$149. On 4 November 2012, the price was further lowered to US$139. The tablet ran on Android.
Sideloading describes the process of transferring files between two local devices, in particular between a personal computer and a mobile device such as a mobile phone, smartphone, PDA, tablet, portable media player or e-reader.