Just been reading about the new Rio S10 and S30 at www.sonicblue.com
and I note in the fine print/tech specs this comment:

In reply to:

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New Rio Music Manager software for easy music transfers to your player

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Is the 'new' Rio Music manager software related to Emplode?

There is also this comment on the Press Release about the Rio S10 (and S30):

Rio Music Manager Software makes transferring files to the Rio S10 easier than ever


I note that this software is different from (i.e. not a OEM version of) ITunes or as those are included but listed as seperate items e.g:

In reply to:

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Packaged with RealOne™ and iTunes™ software to organize your music

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If its not your software, what is this software based on if not Emplode?
And who in SB wrote it, given you guys ARE the Audio software group for SB right?

Any comments Rob, Hugo?

Note:
I also note this comment in the Press Release (my emphasis):

today unveiled the first players in Rio’s new line of portable digital music players, the Rio® S10 and S30S sport player

Is the start of release of the new products Rob sort of hinted at that the guys had been involved with recently?

I seem to recall one of the guys saying something along the lines that they were the only audio software developers left in the company. So if there's new audio software coming out, what you are saying would make sense... HMMMM...

I wish someone would make a portable player that accepts compact flash.

My friend has the Nex-II. He loves it. I've used it a couple times. It feels well built.

I guess I can talk about this stuff now!

Rio Music Manager is kind of Emplode-Lite (perhaps "Emplode-Consumer-Friendly" is more accurate). It provides a fast and convenient interface for loading content onto the device, and will be of interest to those that dislike the third party applications that we support. This release is just a taste of what's to come.

Note that the S10 and S30S firmware was written in Cambridge. We think it's the best firmware so far on a device of this size, but obviously it doesn't have much in common with the car player. You'll see many more Rio products from the Cambridge guys over the next several months.

Rob

Compact flash won't fit in players as small as these, and the hardware cost is greater also. MMC and SD cards are quite inexpensive and widely available - and very small!

Rob

Interesting.

when I read the specs of the S10 and S30S I wondered if the software [firmware] in the unit was also done by you guys.
The UI looks pretty neat. So does the Blue display. Hmm, I can think of another portable mp3 device that could use a display& UI like that.

what sort of processor do the S10 & S30 have in them? Strongarm or something else?

Also, when you say "This release is just a taste of what's to come" do you mean the Rio Music Manager [Emplode lite]? or the audio products or both?
[and don't just say "yes" :-) ]

I must admit the S10/S30 look like portable devices that at first glance I might actually buy - a bit like the Empeg when I first saw it].
- I like the idea of SD or MMC upgradability as this means you can buy this from anywhere these days no need for special [Rio only] upgrades cards.

Presumably the stated firmware upgradability is implemented in the Rio Music Manager software in a similar way to firmware upgrades for the empeg/rioCar?

I must admit the S10/S30 look like portable devices that at first glance I might actually buy...

Personally, I think that the S30 is going to usurp my iPod as the player that I take to the gym. Of course, I won't have to buy mine .

In reply to:

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Personally, I think that the S30 is going to usurp my iPod as the player that I take to the gym

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Hmm, what makes you say that [apart from being loyal to the prodicts you help create - which is not to be ignored either]?

I would have thought that the iPods ability to store more music would be more useful, than the 3 hour or so playback in the S30.

Perhaps you have a more rigourous gym routine tha some of us and thus the solid-state nature of a MMC/SD playback device is a deciding factor?

I would also imagine that the lower cost [and possibly weight] of the S30 may also contribute - lower weight is obvious if you wear it while exercising, although strapping some really heavy early Rio players around your wrists and ankles could be a way of adding the extra level of difficulty to your workout.

Lower cost - well if you drop it or it gets dropped or stolen, then its cheaper to replace than a iPod. And of course, if the company gives you one for free then that helps too when it comes to replace it.

Interesting to see also that you have a iPod, so I expect maybe some future Rio products might outdo the iPod in some areas - no doubt the UI for one.

Hmm, what makes you say that?

The weight mainly -- using the iPod on an armband is not great. I'm not too bothered about the hard disk vs. solid state, but it is definitely a factor.

...apart from being loyal to the prodicts you help create...

If someone else brings out something better than what we're doing, then I won't feel any guilt in buying the other product. Witness the iPod.

Besides, I can always claim that I'm keeping an eye on the competition .

I would have thought that the iPods ability to store more music would be more useful...

The S30 will hold plenty of music -- my workout is generally not longer than about an hour.

WHEN WILL IT WORK FOR THE RIOT?!?! =]

It should work for all current (and many past) Rio products in the not-too-distant future.

Rob

I meant Rio Music Manager.

Of course there will be lots of new audio products as well.

Rob

Emplode Lite == Empeg Protocol?

Thank Jebus! Kelly's music selection on the Riot has remained stagnant for months... i simply refuse to reload music match or real One or whatever the hell it was that we used before. What a nightmare.

Thanks for the update Rob!

> Just been reading about the new Rio S10 and S30 at www.sonicblue.com

Jeez, why would RIO release yet another solid state mp3 player, there are a million out there already. Hell, Rio itself has 9 different current models already. You'd think the market is completely saturated by now.

":Please note that the S10 model does not offer a FM tuner feature. This feature is available for the S30S, S35S, and S50 models."

So, what's the deal with the S35 and the S50? It would appear both are going to have 128 megs built in, but there's got to be some other difference bween the 35 and 50, eh?

Matthew

No.

Jeez, why would RIO release yet another solid state mp3 player

Do you think it could be because we sell a vast quantity of them? We are the original flash player brand, and remain the market leader to this day.

You'd think the market is completely saturated by now.

You would be wrong.

Rob

Someone slipped up - the S35S and S50 aren't announced yet. They're different models in the same range, with some feature differentiation. Should be out soon.

Rob

Solid state is the future...once we can get gigabyte+ size memory at affordable rates it is going to be very hard to sell anything *but* a solid state device. How long will that take? 5 years? It makes perfect sense for Rio/Empeg to keep designing these things. Practice makes perfect. I'm sure that the lesser of their current range will be retired soon.

Benefits of SS over HD:
1) Lower power consumption.
2) More reliable at lower temperatures (no more "No HD found" during winter!!)
3) More reliable in the presence of heat, vibration and magnetic fields.
4) More reliable generally - IIRC flash will generally hold it's contents for upwards of ten years, and has a lifespan of in the order of 100,000 write cycles.
5) Smaller.
6) Lighter.

One of my best friends who is currently visiting from England has one of the Panasonic SD card mp3 players. Lovely bit of gear - uses 1 AAA cell, tiny etc.., but still plenty of room for improvement, especially in the UI area.

As for market saturation....who are you trying to kid? Outside of this board, I only know of 3 of my friends who have portable mp3 players. The majority of the population are *just* wising up to them.

>> You'd think the market is completely saturated by now.
>You would be wrong.

Ok, ok, consider me chastised. It is just that I would rather see more work being done into bigger capacity portable devices. But if you say that is where the money is, I understand why Rio keeps making them, if not necessarily understanding why people keep buying them.

People buy them because:

1. You can't get a hard disk player that cheap
2. You can't get a hard disk player that small

Rob

Are you guys still developing harddisk players (a la iPod?)

I'm asking this because I'm on the verge of buying an iPod, and I woud hate it if you guys released a player the week after that's equally good (and probably better) and has equal storing capabilities.

I don't need to know when it's going to be released, just -if- you're still developing such a thing or if you're putting all your efforts into solid-state players right now. Pretty please?

Like they could tell you even if they wanted to. Sheesh.

They currently have the Riot, which is the current closest competitor to the iPod. Yes, it's bigger.

As far as flash players are concerned... I am dreaming of the day when you can get gigs of capacity onto a CF or SmartMedia card. Then, players like the Rio S30 will be particularly cool because you can just put your 10gig SmartMedia card in there...

Hey, if you don't ask...

Yeah, I agree. And we're getting there, albeit slowly. What's the largest Smartmedia-alike solid state memory card available now anyway? 1gig?

We've finished off flash players for the moment. So:

- we're still working on audio players, being the audio team
- we're not working on flash players

You'll have to draw your own conclusions

Hugo

The CPU is from the Sigmatel D-Major line. Nasty CPU core (motorola 56k) but you can't beat it for high integration, size, power consumption, etc.

Hugo

If anyone wants a better look at the UI, see the manual PDF:

<a href="ftp://ftp.diamondmm.com/pub/rio/RioS/" target="_blank">ftp://ftp.diamondmm.com/pub/rio/RioS/</a>

It's also got pictures of the Rio Music Manager application.

...and if anyone is wondering who "Fear of falling" are, it was the band that Steve (the co-founder of empeg) was guitarist in in the early 80s.

Hugo

...and if anyone is wondering who "Fear of falling" are, it was the band that Steve (the co-founder of empeg) was guitarist in in the early 80s.

So I have a Christmas card signed by an 80s rocker?

It's still on my fridge by the way.