You may not know an mp3 player from an mp5 player, although they are different and the number signifies some kind of technological advance over the previous model. Here is a summary of the differences:
MP3
The mp3 is the original small device that plays music and is so-called, as it signifies the MPEG I and II technology for audio layering of music. Put simply, it is a type of audio compressing, which allows for digital audio files to be transferred and played, using a small file size, but still reproducing the sound as accurately as possible. This was the first of the different media players to come out.
MP4
The mp4 player is the next advance in the technology and is an abbreviation of MPEG 4. An improvement with the mp4 digital player is that it allows you to store and stream audio and digital files, as well as storing a library of photographs or other data.
MP5 and MP6
The mp5 player and the mp6 player actually have no big advantage over the mp3 player, although they are able to decode video formats without transcoding and some other features may differ. In fact, some sources point out that the designations mp5 and mp6 are used by Chinese electronics companies to identify and market electronic devices used to store and play music.
All of these mp players work on the principle of providing the best quality, while using the smallest possible amount of data and the technology allows huge data streams to be downloaded without sacrificing quality.
How Your Computer Sees It
As far as your computer is concerned, there are just the two different formats, mp3 and mp4 and you can usually designate which you want to use.
Different devices use different file name extensions, for example the iPhone uses the m4r extension for its ringtones, and iTunes uses m4a and m4b. The m4b extension allows the listener to resume at the place they stopped at; the m4a does not.
The Future
Many mp5 players are able to offer advanced video capture, and color displays and extra flash memory are becoming more popular features.
The mp5 players are also starting to include such extras as audio recording capability, game apps, a radio tuner and a stop watch. Mp6 players also offer Internet connection options, as well as these features.
Increasingly, as the mp3 player is improved, each new model tends to offer different media sources, including the Internet, downloading music, and various apps. The trend seems to be towards having as many user needs as possible all in one device.
The Apple iPhone is a good example of this trend, and the device allows face to face phone conversations, as well as doing everything the traditional multimedia player does.
The next generation of mp5 player is sure to be better, faster and more sophisticated, with new gadgets and features. A new design is the wristband mp3 player which offers an array of useful apps and Bluetooth technology. With advances being made almost daily, there seems no end to what the mp5 player is capable of.