Highly portable media device

A portable electronic device, the portable electronic device, comprising:

• a housing in a form of an elongated stick;
• a battery within the housing;
• a peripheral bus connector extending out an end of the housing and being configured to insert into a peripheral port of a host computing device;
• a non-volatile electronic memory device disposed within the housing and configured to store data including media assets;
• a multi-position switch configured to switch positions between at least:
• (i) an off position, (ii) a continuous playback mode position for media playback in a continuous media playback mode, and (iii) a shuffle playback mode position for media playback in a shuffle media playback mode;
• a media module disposed within the housing and operable to:
• access the non-volatile electronic memory device to retrieve the media data therefrom
• playback the media data so that (i) the media assets are to be played back in the continuous media playback mode when the multi-position switch is in the continuous playback mode position, and (ii) the media assets are to be played back in the shuffle media playback mode when the multi-position switch is in the shuffle playback mode position, wherein in the continuous media playback mode the media assets are to be played back according to a first order, and in the shuffle media playback mode the media assets are to be played back according to a second order, the second order being different than the first order, and
• wherein the portable electronic device is capable of operating as a removable storage device when connected to the host computing device, and is capable of operating as a media device by using the battery when disconnected from the host computing device.

A media player, comprising:

• a non-volatile memory operable to store a plurality of digital media assets;
• a multi-position switch configured to allow a user of the media player to select a selected media play mode by switching the multi-position switch between at least:
• (i) an off position, (ii) a continuous mode position for presentation of media in a continuous media presentation mode, and (iii) a shuffle mode position for presentation of media in a shuffle media presentation mode;
• a media player control interface operable to enable the user of the media player to select at least one of the media assets to be presented;
• and
• a controller operatively connected to the memory, the multi-position switch and the media player control interface, the controller operable to present the selected at least one media asset and a next media asset in accordance with the selected media play mode so that (i) the media assets are to be presented in the continuous media presentation mode when the multi-position switch is in the continuous mode position, and (ii) the media assets are to be presented in the shuffle media presentation mode when the multi-position switch is in the shuffle mode position, wherein in the continuous media presentation mode the media assets are to be presented according to a first order, and in the shuffle media presentation mode the media assets are to be presented according to a second order, the second order being different than the first order.

A handheld portable electronic device in a form of an elongated stick configured to plug into a peripheral port of a host computing system, the handheld portable electronic device comprising:

• a Flash memory drive for storing data including media assets;
• a USB connector configured to connect to the host computing system;
• a media module configured to present media in accordance with a plurality of media presentation modes on the portable electronic device, wherein the plurality of media presentation modes includes a continuous media presentation mode and a shuffle media presentation mode, wherein in the continuous media presentation mode the media assets are to be presented according to a first order, and in the shuffle media presentation mode the media assets are to be presented according to a second order, the second order being different than the first order;
• an on-board battery configured to provide power to the media module;
• and
• an I/O system including a sliding switch configured to switch between at least:
• an off position and the plurality of media presentation modes of the media module.

A portable electronic device, the portable electronic device comprising:

• memory configured to store media data;
• a peripheral bus connector configured to directly connect the portable electronic device to a port of a host device;
• and
• a sliding multi-position switch configured to switch positions between at least:
• (i) an off position, (ii) a continuous playback mode position for media playback in a continuous media playback mode, and (iii) a shuffle playback mode position for media playback in a shuffle media playback mode;
• a controller operable to:
• control playback of the media assets so that (i) the media assets are to be played back in the continuous media playback mode when the multi-position switch is in the continuous playback mode position, and (ii) the media assets are to be played back in the shuffle media playback mode when the multi-position switch is in the shuffle playback mode position, wherein in the continuous media playback mode the media assets are to be played back according to a first order, and in the shuffle media play mode the media assets are to be played back according to a second order, the second order being different than the first order.