MP3 is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg, with support from other digital scientists in other countries. Originally defined as the third audio format of the MPEG-1 standard, it was retained and further extended—defining additional bit rates and support for more audio channels—as the third audio format of the subsequent MPEG-2 standard. A third version, known as MPEG-2.5—extended to better support lower bit rates—is commonly implemented but is not a recognized standard.
Windows Media Audio (WMA) is a series of audio codecs and their corresponding audio coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is a proprietary technology that forms part of the Windows Media framework. WMA consists of four distinct codecs. The original WMA codec, known simply as WMA, was conceived as a competitor to the popular MP3 and RealAudio codecs. WMA Pro, a newer and more advanced codec, supports multichannel and high-resolution audio. A lossless codec, WMA Lossless, compresses audio data without loss of audio fidelity. WMA Voice, targeted at voice content, applies compression using a range of low bit rates. Microsoft has also developed a digital container format called Advanced Systems Format to store audio encoded by WMA.
Speex is an audio compression codec specifically tuned for the reproduction of human speech and also a free software speech codec that may be used on voice over IP applications and podcasts. It is based on the code excited linear prediction speech coding algorithm. Its creators claim Speex to be free of any patent restrictions and it is licensed under the revised (3-clause) BSD license. It may be used with the Ogg container format or directly transmitted over UDP/RTP. It may also be used with the FLV container format.
ZEN is a series of portable media players designed and manufactured by Creative Technology Limited from 2004 to 2011. The players evolved from the NOMAD brand through the NOMAD Jukebox series of music players, with the first separate "ZEN" branded models released in 2004. The last Creative Zen player, X-Fi3, was released at the end of 2011.
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 compact disc (CD), Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), Blu-ray Disc (BD), flash memory, microdrive, SD cards or hard drive; most earlier PMPs used physical media, but modern players mostly use flash memory. In contrast, analogue portable audio players play music from non-digital media that use analogue media, such as cassette tapes or vinyl records.
The O2 Xda brand was a range of Windows Mobile PDA phones, marketed by O2, developed by O2 Asia and manufactured by multiple OEMs (mainly HTC, Quanta and Arima). The first model was released in June 2002. The last models came to market in 2008. The "X" represents convergence of voice and information/data within one product; the "DA" stands for "Digital Assistant", as in PDA. The name of XDA Developers is derived from it.
DTS, Inc. is an American company. DTS company makes multichannel audio technologies for film and video. Based in Calabasas, California, the company introduced its DTS technology in 1993 as a competitor to Dolby Laboratories, incorporating DTS in the film Jurassic Park (1993). The DTS product is used in surround sound formats for both commercial/theatrical and consumer-grade applications. It was known as The Digital Experience until 1995. DTS licenses its technologies to consumer electronics manufacturers.
iAUDIO is the brand name for a range of portable media players produced by Korean consumer electronics and software corporation Cowon Systems, Inc.
Squeezebox is a family of network music players. The original device was the SliMP3, introduced in 2001 by Slim Devices. It had an Ethernet interface and played MP3 music files from a media server. The first Squeezebox was released two years later and was followed by several more models. Slim Devices was acquired by Logitech in 2006.
Yepp was Samsung Electronics' digital audio player brand until Samsung decided to retire most of their family brands in February 2011. From then on, their MP3 players were simply branded "Samsung" worldwide until they discontinued all of them in late 2013. The brand included a wide range of hard-drive based as well as flash-memory based players. The name is claimed to be an acronym for "young, energetic, passionate person".
The Gigabeat was a line of digital media players by Toshiba.
Zune was a brand of digital media products and services that was marketed by Microsoft from November 2006 until it was discontinued in June 2012. Zune consisted of a line of portable media players, a music subscription service known as Zune Music Pass plus Zune Marketplace for music, TV and movies, streaming services for the Xbox 360 game console, and the Zune software media player for Windows PCs which also acted as desktop sync software for Windows Phone.
The following comparison of portable media players compares general and technical information for notable digital playback devices.
Netgear's Digital Entertainer line of products are digital media players that can pull multimedia content from home computers to the typical audio/video entertainment center. There are three products in the line, the EVA700, the HD EVA8000 and the current EVA9150 Digital Entertainer Elite. All support high definition video, the EVA700 via component output up to 1080i and the EVA8000/EVA9000 up to 1080p with both component and HDMI connectors. All models support audio, video, image and streaming audio and video formats and can be networked via wired and wireless Ethernet. The EVA700 is Intel Viiv certified.
The Motorola Q9c was a smartphone first released in 2007. Initially released as an upgrade to Motorola's Q Series, the Q9C contained a Windows Mobile 6 operating system, push email and instant messaging capabilities, a 1.3 megapixel camera, stereo sound, as well as Bluetooth and GPS navigation.
Nokia 6220 classic is a Symbian OS mobile phone announced by Nokia on 11 February 2008. It is notable for featuring a Xenon flash for its 5-megapixel camera, similar to Nokia N82 and often considered as a "budget" version of the N82. Despite its compact size, it offers features comparable to the Nseries lineup, though it lacks Wi-Fi and a 3.5 mm audio jack, probably to cut design and production costs.
The Zune HD is a portable media player in the Zune product family released on September 15, 2009, by Microsoft. It was a direct competitor with Apple's iPod Touch series of mobile devices. It was initially released in 16 and 32 GB capacities. A 64 GB version was released on April 9, 2010. It has a touchscreen interface for navigation and included Wi-Fi for synchronization, access to the Zune Marketplace and Web browsing.
The Walkman X series is a portable music player designed and released by Sony in Japan in 2009. It was marketed as a high-end, internet-enabled model in the Walkman digital player family in 2009. The model debuted in Japan in April 2009, and then became available in North America, Europe, China and also other regions. The Walkman X series was the first Walkman device to feature a touch screen and S-Master digital amplifier technologies.
Nokia X3-00, is a multimedia-oriented mobile phone produced by Nokia. It comes with stereo-wide speakers, built-in FM radio with RDS, a standard 3.5 mm audio jack, media player and 3.2 megapixel camera. The phone runs under the Series 40 software platform. It was announced in September 2009 and later released in December 2009 worldwide.
The Nokia X2-00 is the first low budget phone in the Xseries line from Nokia. This single SIM phone was announced in April 2010 and was released 3 months later in July 2010. It runs on Series 40 and comes with many pre-installed games and also supports messaging and data-connections.
