1. An electronic device comprising: a plurality of resources that include a plurality speakers and a plurality of audio signal processing modules; and memory in which are stored an operating system that includes a category mapping table, a mode mapping table, and a plurality of applications that include a web browser and an entertainment player for music or video, wherein the category mapping table maps a first category identifier to a first subset of the resources, and a second category identifier to a second, different subset of the resources, wherein the mode mapping table maps a first mode identifier to a first group of settings that include one or more of analog gain level, audio sample rate, an audio signal processing function, or which of one or more of the speakers to use for transmitting audio output, and a second mode identifier to a second, different group of settings that include one or more of analog gain level, audio sample rate, an audio signal processing function, or identification of one or more of the speakers to use for transmitting audio output, and wherein the operating system receives from one of the applications a selected category identifier and a selected mode identifier, in response to which the operating system a) allocates to the application the subset of the resources that are mapped to the selected category identifier, and b) applies the settings that are associated with the selected mode identifier to the allocated subset.