Portable Media Device and Method for Presenting Viewing Content During Travel

Abstract

A portable media device for use in cooperation with passenger entertainment systems installed in vehicles, such as automobiles and aircraft, and methods for manufacturing and using same. The portable media device is configured to communicate with one or more content sources, which provide viewing content and which may be proximate to, and/or remote from, the portable media device. Preferably being configured to wirelessly communicate with the content sources, the portable media device can select content from any available content source and can download and present the selected content in any conventional manner. The selected content can be streamed to the portable media device for contemporaneous presentation and/or stored by the portable media device for viewing at any time, including after disembarking the vehicle once travel is completed. As desired, the portable media device likewise can be configured to transmit appropriate upload content to the content sources.

1 . A device management system for portable media devices, comprising:
 a portable media device for presenting selected viewing content selected from viewing content stored on a device memory system of said portable media device, said portable media device having a device identification system for providing device identification data including device status information for said portable media device;   a device management database system for maintaining a historical record for said portable media device, said device management database system updating said historical record in accordance with said device identification data and providing at least one device configuration instruction for configuring said portable media device for future use; and   a device management interface system for providing said device identification data received from said portable media device to said device management database system, said device management interface system updating said viewing content stored on said device memory system and updating said device status information stored by said device identification system each in accordance with said at least one device configuration instruction received from said device management database system.