Communication Devices in The 21st Century

Fun Packed Entertainment Now In Your Palm

Audio, video and images are combined in a portable media player. MP3 is the most common audio format used in them. Many of them might also support other audio formats as the Windows Media Audio, WAV and the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC). Usually LCD or the OLED screen is used to display images and video. The most common format used is the JPEG format although file formats as the TIFF, PNG and GIF formats might also be supported to view images. MPEG-4 video format is the most common format used in these players. They may also be able to use video formats such the AVI as well as the Windows Media Video (WMV) formats. USB cables are used to transfer audio as well as video files between the computer and the players or the portable digital assistants (PDAs).

Data storage is carried out with the use of microdrive and flash memory besides the hard drive. The capacity to store data is lesser with flash memory based devices as compared to the others. The maximum storage is limited up to a 32GB. It is the hard drive portable devices that offer highest data storage with the maximum being 320 GB. External devices such as memory CompactFlash Secure Digital card and Sticks can be used to increase the storage capacity. Many players as well as PDAs come with this facility. The screen has a size of up to 7 inches while the resolutions are a comfortable WVGA. The depth of the color normally is between 16-bit to 24-bit. Touchscreen technology is increasingly being integrated into these portable devices.

Many companies now offer digital audio players, portable video players, digital video recorders and personal digital assistants. The major portable media players are Philips’ Philips Gogear SA6185 8GB , Scandisk’s Sansa Fuze and Sansa view, Apple’s iPod series, Creative Labs with their Zen series, Sony’s Walkman series, and Samsung’s Samsung T10 and Samsung P2.

The functions of portable media player have been incorporated into a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) which is a handheld computer. Beginning with the simple digital diary in the 1980s it has evolved steadily to becoming what is now called as a palmtop computer. It incorporates the functions of the portable media player. Key functions of the computer have been added further. It is sleek and compact in the size of the palm which makes it extremely convenient to carry around. It acts as a media player, web browser and mobile phone. Wi-Fi or Wireless Wide-Area Networks enable many PDAs to access the Internet, intranet or extranets.

and is filed under Other Communications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.