A wireless device, system and method for receiving and playing multimedia
files streamed from a multimedia server over a wireless telecommunications
network. A desired multimedia file is selected from one or more multimedia
files stored in the multimedia server, which server is operatively
connected to the wireless telecommunications network. Successive blocks of
data from the desired multimedia file are streamed over the wireless
telecommunications network in a digitized and compressed format and
received by the wireless telecommunications device. The received blocks of
data from the streamed multimedia file are temporarily stored in a buffer
in the wireless device, decoded and decompressed, and successively played
through an audio and/or video output in the wireless device. The wireless
device monitors the blocks of data stored in the buffer and signals the
wireless telecommunications network to increase the rate that the data
blocks are transmitted over the wireless network in the event that the
data stored in the buffer falls below a minimum threshold level.
