The Stereobelt, developed by Andreas Pavel.

The Stereobelt was the first portable personal stereo audio cassette player. The personal stereo is the term given to a Portable audio player using an audiocassette player. The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a Magnetic tape sound ^[1] It was invented in 1972 by the German-Brazilian Andreas Pavel. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as Brazilians ( brasileiros in Portuguese) are all people born in Brazil Andreas Pavel (born in 1945) is a German-Brazilian Inventor who is the 'father' of the portable Personal stereo cassette player better known The Stereobelt was the ancestor of the Walkman and modern-day personal audio devices such as the iPod. Walkman is a popular Sony Brand used to market its portable audio and Video players iPod is a popular brand of Portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Inc

A former television executive and book editor, Pavel invented the Stereobelt to "add a soundtrack to real life" by allowing the user to play high-fidelity music through headphones while participating in daily activities. High fidelity or hi-fi reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts ( Audiophiles to refer to high-quality reproduction Headphones (also known as earphones, earbuds, stereophones, headsets) are a pair of small Loudspeakers or less commonly a single

The initial test of the device took place in February 1972 in St. Moritz, Switzerland, when Pavel pushed the play button to start the song "Push Push" by Herbie Mann and Duane Allman. St Moritz ( German: Sankt Moritz, Romansh: San Murezzan) is an exclusive resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Herbert Jay Solomon ( April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003) better known as Herbie Mann, was an American Jazz Howard Duane Allman (November 20 1946 – October 29 1971 was an American, Lead guitarist of the Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band Pavel experienced a "floating" sensation as he listened to the music and watched the mountain snow fall, realizing that his new device could provide "the means to multiply the aesthetic potential of any situation. "

Pavel approached electronics manufacturers such as ITT, Grundig, Yamaha and Philips with his invention, but the companies felt the public would never wear headphones in public for listening to music. Grundig AG is a German manufacturer of Consumer electronics for home entertainment Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV ( Royal Philips Electronics Inc.

Frustrated with his lack of progress, and learning that it was important to protect his idea, Pavel finally filed a patent for the Stereobelt in Italy in 1977, followed by patent applications in the U. A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an S. , Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan by the end of 1978.

Sony began selling the very similar Walkman personal stereo in 1979. is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest Media conglomerates with Walkman is a popular Sony Brand used to market its portable audio and Video players In negotiations that began in 1980 and ended in 1986, Sony agreed to pay Pavel limited royalties for the sales of certain Walkman models sold in his home country of Germany only.

A second round of legal battles between Pavel and Sony that began in 1989 in Great Britain ended when the case was dismissed in 1996, leaving Pavel to pay more than $3 million in court costs.

Finally in 2003, with Pavel threatening to file infringement lawsuits in the other territories where he holds patents, Sony agreed to settle out of court. The settlement was reported to be a cash payment of over $10,000,000 and ongoing royalties of the sale of certain Walkman models.

Footnotes

References

• International Herald Tribune: Portable stereo's creator got his due, eventually (Accessed on Dec 17, 2007)
• Sony pays millions to inventor in Walkman dispute (Accessed on Aug 23, 2007)
• U.S. Patent No. 4,412,106, covering the Stereobelt.