Portable media player

A battery-powered handheld device that stores or streams digital media for playback. It combines portable controls and a screen or audio output with software for organizing and playing media.

Digital audio player: A portable device designed chiefly to store or stream digital audio for playback. Audio-only players are the simplest and most widespread form of portable media player.
Sony Walkman: A Sony brand of portable audio players launched with the TPS-L2 cassette player in 1979. The Walkman established the personal, headphone-based listening format later adopted by digital players.
iPod Classic: An iPod model line that used a hard drive to store large music libraries. Its capacity suited users who wanted extensive collections available without streaming.
iTunes Store: Apple's online media store, launched in 2003, that sold digital music and other media. Its integration with the iPod helped establish legal paid downloads as a music distribution model.
MP3: A lossy audio coding format that reduces file size by discarding sound information judged less perceptible. MP3 helped make large music libraries practical on devices with limited storage.
Compact cassette: A magnetic tape format introduced by Philips in 1963 for recording and playback. Cassette players made portable music libraries possible before digital storage.
iPod touch: A touchscreen iPod model with Wi-Fi, apps, and features derived from the iPhone. It expanded the portable player into a general-purpose connected media device.
Digital music distribution: The delivery of recorded music as digital files or streams through electronic networks. Portable players connected personal listening to a rapidly expanding market for digital music.
Audio codec: A method or software for encoding and decoding digital audio. Codecs determine which audio formats a player can store and play.
Discman: Sony's brand name for its portable compact disc players, introduced in 1984. Portable CD players brought high-quality digital audio to handheld playback.

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