Patent ID: 7773854

Claim:
A player comprising: a plurality of sources, at least one of the sources being a removable medium on which audio or video content can be recorded, the player being configured to both record audio or video content onto the removable medium and reproduce audio or video content from the same removable medium, the player further being configured to accept manual loading of the removable medium into the player; a selecting unit for selecting a current output source from among the plurality of sources, the current output source being the source of audio or video content currently being reproduced by the player; a detecting unit for detecting whether the removable medium has been manually loaded into the player by a user; and a switching unit configured to, if no recording request has been entered, automatically switch the current output source of audio or video content currently being reproduced by the player to the removable medium when the detecting unit detects that the removable medium has been manually loaded into the player such that audio or video previously recorded on the removable medium is automatically played back by the player, wherein, upon a user request to record audio or video information onto the removable medium, the detecting unit determines whether or not the removable medium is already manually loaded in the player, and if the removable medium is already manually loaded, the player is configured to begin recording audio or video content from the current output source of audio or video content currently being reproduced by the player onto the removable medium without further user input; if the removable medium is not already manually loaded, the player is configured to enter a standby state, the standby state imposing a switching restriction that prevents the player from automatically switching the current output source of audio or video content currently being reproduced by the player to the removable medium when the detecting unit detects that the removable medium has been manually loaded into the player; and if the detecting unit detects that the removable medium is subsequently manually loaded into the player, audio or video content from the current output source currently being reproduced by the player is automatically recorded onto the removable medium without further user input, whereby when the removable medium is manually loaded into the player after the entry of the record request, audio or video content from the current output source currently being reproduced by the player is then recorded onto the removable medium as requested by the user without another manually entered record request.