Media device power management techniques

1. A system for use with a media player configured to playback audio and/or video (AV) content, wherein playback includes at least one of decoding and/or rendering the AV content, the system comprising:

a sensor configured to detect a stimulus relevant to an AV consumption indicator and to output a first signal including data about the stimulus;

an analysis module configured to receive the first signal and to determine if a user of the media player is actually consuming the AV content based on the first signal, and to compare the AV consumption indicator against a hierarchy of AV consumption indicators within a context of the detected stimulus so as to assign a preference or greater significance to the AV consumption indicator over other AV consumption indicators; and

a control module configured to output a control signal to the media player, the control signal for stopping or starting playback of the AV content based on output from the analysis module;

wherein the AV consumption indicator is selected from the group consisting of operation of a mute function, adjustment of a playback volume level, determination of whether the user is talking aloud, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold intensity level, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold duration, identification of a biometric/physiological cue pertaining to the user, identification of a visual cue pertaining to the user, and communication with an external device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a microphone, and wherein determination of whether the user is talking aloud involves at least one of voice identification, detection of multiple voices, word recognition, and/or tonal recognition.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control signal includes an instruction for the media player:

to start and/or stop tracking an elapsed time at which decoding and/or rendering of the AV content was stopped; and

to continue, stop, and/or resume streaming AV content.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the output from the analysis module includes an instruction for the control module to either output the control signal or to output no signal.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising the media player.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control signal includes an instruction for the media player to at least one of:

continue decoding and/or rendering AV content;

stop decoding and/or rendering AV content; and/or

resume decoding and/or rendering AV content.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control signal includes an instruction for the media player to at least one of:

start tracking an elapsed time at which decoding and/or rendering of the AV content was stopped; and/or

stop tracking the elapsed time at which decoding and/or rendering of the AV content was stopped.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control signal includes an instruction for the media player to at least one of:

continue downloading AV content;

stop downloading AV content; and/or

resume downloading AV content.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control signal includes an instruction for the media player to at least one of:

continue streaming AV content;

stop streaming AV content; and/or

resume streaming AV content.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control signal includes an instruction for the media player to at least one of:

start tracking a byte location at which decoding and/or rendering of the AV content was stopped; and/or

stop tracking the byte location at which decoding and/or rendering of the AV content was stopped.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the AV content comprises audio only.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is part of a portable computing device.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the portable computing device comprises at least one of a mobile phone, a portable media player, a tablet, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, and/or a subnotebook computer.

14. The system of claim 12 further comprising at least one of a speaker configured to engage an ear of a user and/or a display.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes a process for operating an electronic device with audio and/or video (AV) processing and/or playback capabilities to be carried out, the process comprising:

enabling decoding and/or rendering of AV content;

analyzing one or more AV consumption indicators, wherein the one or more AV consumption indicators are selected from the group consisting of operation of a mute function, adjustment of a playback volume level, determination of whether the user is talking aloud, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold intensity level, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold duration, identification of a biometric/physiological cue pertaining to the user, identification of a visual cue pertaining to the user, and communication with an external device, and wherein analyzing includes comparing the one or more AV consumption indicators against a hierarchy of AV consumption indicators within a context of a detected stimulus so as to assign a preference or greater significance to the AV consumption indicator over other AV consumption indicators; and

determining, based on analysis of the one or more AV consumption indicators, whether a user is actually consuming decoded and/or rendered AV content.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein if the user is actually consuming decoded and/or rendered AV content, the process further comprises:

continuing decoding and/or rendering the AV content.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein if the user is not actually consuming decoded and/or rendered AV content, the process further comprises:

stopping decoding and/or rendering of AV content.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 , the process further comprising:

tracking an elapsed time at which decoding and/or rendering of AV content was stopped.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , the process further comprising:

analyzing one or more AV consumption indicators; and

determining, based on analysis of the one or more AV consumption indicators, whether the user at least one of wishes to resume consuming decoded and/or rendered AV content and/or is able to resume consuming decoded and/or rendered AV content.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein if the user at least one of wishes to resume consuming the decoded and/or rendered AV content and/or is able to resume consuming decoded and/or rendered AV content, the process further comprises:

resuming decoding and/or rendering of AV content at the elapsed time.

21. An electronic device comprising:

a media player configured to decode and/or render audio and/or video (AV) content; and

a monitor communicatively coupled with the media player, wherein the monitor is configured to:

analyze an AV consumption indicator to determine whether a user is actually consuming decoded and/or rendered AV content, wherein analysis includes comparison of the AV consumption indicator against a hierarchy of AV consumption indicators within a context of a detected stimulus so as to assign a preference or greater significance to the AV consumption indicator over other AV consumption indicators; and

output a control signal to the media player based on analysis of the AV consumption indicator, wherein the control signal causes the media player to adjust its decoding and/or rendering of AV content;

wherein the AV consumption indicator is selected from the group consisting of operation of a mute function, adjustment of a playback volume level, determination of whether the user is talking aloud, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold intensity level, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold duration, identification of a biometric/physiological cue pertaining to the user, identification of a visual cue pertaining to the user, and communication with an external device.