A multimedia device and a method for controlling the same are disclosed. A method for controlling a multimedia device, which includes an area based touch sensor, comprises the steps of recognizing at least one of a palm and a finger of a user through a touch sensor; determining at least one of a shape and a size of a touched area in accordance with the recognized result of the touch sensor; accessing a specific function stored in a memory module in accordance with the determined result; and outputting at least one of video data and audio data corresponding to the accessed specific function, wherein the determining step includes detecting the touched area and deciding whether the current touched area is a palm, on the basis of the detected touched area.