Patent ID: 7930478

Claim:
A playback apparatus for playing back an audio sequence from a portable semiconductor memory card, the playback apparatus comprising: a card connecting unit configured to be connected with the portable semiconductor memory card in a detachable manner, and then read the audio sequence and resume information from the portable semiconductor memory card, the audio sequence having a plurality of audio objects arranged therein, the resume information having first position information and second position information, the first position information indicating a first resume position that was set in advance via a user operation to a portion of the audio sequence from which playback thereof is to be resumed after a latest playback of the audio sequence is interrupted, and the second position information indicating a second resume position that was automatically set when the latest playback of the audio sequence had been interrupted, and that indicates a portion of the audio sequence from which playback thereof is to be resumed after the interruption of the latest playback; a receiving unit operable to identify one of a first playback operation, a second playback operation, and a flag setting operation from a user operation, the first playback operation specifying one of the audio objects and requesting the playback of the specified audio object, the second playback operation requesting the playback of the audio sequence without specifying any of the audio objects, and the flag setting operation specifying one of the first position information and the second position information; a storage unit operable to store a flag specifying either of the first position information and the second position information; a setting unit operable to set the flag when the receiving unit has identified the flag setting operation so that the flag specifies the first position information or the second position information, whichever is specified by the flag setting operation; and a playback unit operable to play back the specified audio object when the receiving unit has identified the first playback operation, and operable to read the resume information from the portable semiconductor memory card when the receiving unit has identified the second playback operation, and then play back the audio sequence, starting from the first resume position or the second resume position, whichever is specified by the flag.