Content information as spoken audio

#1. Field

#This disclosure relates to portable audio devices, more particularly to presentation of information about audio tracks to users.

#2. Background

#The invention may be best understood by reading the disclosure with reference to the drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a portable audio device, in accordance with the invention.

#FIG. 2 shows an alternative embodiment of a portable audio device connected with a host, in accordance with the invention.

#As shown in FIG. 1, one embodiment of a portable audio device includes a player 10, a remote 12, and a speaker 14, embodied here as headphones 26. In this particular embodiment, the player also includes a display 18 and control buttons 20. The control buttons 22 on the remote essentially mimic the functions of the control on the player, but allow the user to access the functions without having to reach the player itself. This may be convenient if the user has clipped the player somewhere that it is not easily accessible, such as the back of the user's waistband, etc.

#Generally, the player could be seen as a translator, translating the audio data into audio signals that are then presented to the user. The player, typically through the controller 17, which may be anything from a general-purpose processor, a limited function controller, to an ASIC or dedicated integrated circuit, accesses the audio data files and converts them into audio signals. The audio signals are then sent to a speaker 14, which presents the audio signals to the user.

#Inside the player are stored audio data files, such as MP3 (Moving Pictures Experts Group, audio layer 3) music files, audio books, or even files recorded by the user. In this embodiment, these files are stored in audio data store 16. One advantage of digital audio player is their ability to access and present extended data associated with each file. For example, an MP3 track may have extended data associated with it that includes the artists, the CD from which that track came, the play time, the year recorded, etc. It may also include user-generated information, such as a category, genre, play lists in which that track appears, user rating, etc. The extended information may be located in the same store as the audio data files, or separately. The controller 17 would then be responsible to access the extended data store to determine if there is extended data for a particular track and then convert it to display signals.