wow, man that Pearl looks nice!!! I will definately get one.
I kinda have a feeling we wont see this unit before Christmas or so..
I hope im wrong though and still on track for release.
Im also so tired of all of these players boasting these 10-11 hour battery life times, misleading people, not stating that your mp3's gotta be encoded at 64kb, which is a joke.
Rob, can you shed any light on how long the battery life is?
I noticed the screen is pretty big, and backlit.
Excellent design, looks so sharp! man i cant wait to order one!
brian

I'd be willing to bet my life that its out well before Christmas - its too big a market to lose out on for another year to iPOD. I'll guess August - October time.

It should ship way sooner than Christmas - late summer would be more the target. Stated battery life for our products is based on mid volume 128K MP3, which is a reasonable and fairly common criteria. Obviously you won't get the same battery life if you play 256K Ogg files at full volume the whole time.

We haven't announced the battery life for Pearl yet, however - unofficially - I believe it will be substantially greater than the iPod. The iPod is extremely thin because of its tiny battery, but I think we'll have the better trade off of form factor vs capacity and battery life.

Rob

Rob-

If you can say (I don't recall seeing it previously), what is the PC/Pearl data connection type (USB2, firewire etc)?

-Zeke

I remember reading USB 2

what is the PC/Pearl data connection type

USB 2.0 or 100Mbit Ethernet. One of the Ethernet features is being developed by a well known contributer to the empeg software community, but I couldn't possibly say any more

Rob

That's perfect. I'm sold!

-Zeke

The Lord has many gifts.

im drooling now.. ill take the pearl form factor/battery life over less battery life any day.
man, i cant wait.

Rob,
I just wanted to say that that thing looks really cool! I'm sure the software is great too, knowing you guys.

Looks great, Rob! I had forgotten it supports OGG Vorbis. When you guys have a webpage for the Pearl, you should definately get it posted on Slashdot (remember to unplug your coffee maker and plug in your extra webservers). Every story about a new MP3 player always gets 50 bajillion posts to the tune of "Unless it supports OGG, I won't buy it". You guys can give them a big steaming cup of STFU.

Of course you'll also get the posts wanting a color screen, video player, integrated handheld computer, video games, mobile phone, hand lotion dispenser, convert into gas-powered scooter, etc.

Of course you'll also get the posts wanting a color screen, video player, integrated handheld computer, video games, mobile phone, hand lotion dispenser, convert into gas-powered scooter, etc.

You forgot GPS.

Rob is that early summer date for the US? Could you *guess* at a UK release?

I can't even guess at a UK release, as I'm not in the loop with the sales folks on this (too busy developing the products!). Whether it means anything or not, we have been told to go ahead and localise the software for our usual European languages (plus Japanese) in time for release 1.0.

Rob

we have been told to go ahead and localise the software for our usual European languages (plus Japanese) in time for release 1.0.

So, who is doing Croatian translation?

Seriously, this is the first time I saw the thing, and I can't stop drooling. And, you say, 3.0 SW is the baseline? Fantastic!

Every story about a new MP3 player always gets 50 bajillion posts to the tune of "Unless it supports OGG, I won't buy it". You guys can give them a big steaming cup of STFU.

I won't stop the normal "why would you want to spend that much money on it ? I could build one myself for 50 cents" posts...

What? You mean I can't make one from a mini-ITX motherboard and a few rolls of duck tape? It's like that "amazing" video sniffer that was on there recently. Turns out it was the guts of a receiver duck taped to a portable TV and battery...

To be honest, actually reading the comments on a slashdot story is useless half the time. You get about 50 first posts, around 30 useful comments and around 300 trolls. I'm glad that the empeg BBS actually has a non zero signal to noise ratio:)

Anyway, must go to sleep. It's like 2:15am here. Unfortunately my next door neighbour is having some party or something and it's driving me nuts. They're all having a big sing along but it's in Greek so I've got no clue what they're going on about!

- Trevor

To be honest, actually reading the comments on a slashdot story is useless half the time. You get about 50 first posts, around 30 useful comments and around 300 trolls. I'm glad that the empeg BBS actually has a non zero signal to noise ratio:)

And the scary part, people now PAY to read Slashdot stories 20 minutes early. So that instead of being two days out of date, the stories are 1 day, 23 hours, and 40 minutes out of date.

The funny thing is, (and I know Tom wouldn't even consider it) I would gladly pay Slashdot's subscription rates (and then some) if, in some alternate dimension, this BBS were subscription-based. I know many others would do the same.

Funny how things work like that.

I could come up with a payment rate, if you'd like.

I want one....
Since sonic blue is gone, where will Rio products be sold from?, new website? Will it allow international ordering?

I'd rather order it from US than UK, as our US exchange rate is healthier I'm in NZ...

You'll probably have to find a US retailer willing to ship to NZ. There will be a new US eStore at www.rioaudio.com but I don't think the shipping policies will change. I would expect the UK store to close entirely as SONICblue's European sales office turned out the lights today (they were not acquired by DNNA).

I suspect that international sales will start to come online drawing on existing D&M channels but I don't know how soon.

Rob

I'm a latecomer to this thread ... This picture looks much much cooler than the first one you posted a couple months ago. The orange buttons won't be missed.

Are the physical dimensions still the same as shown in http://empeg.comms.net/files/133662-ipodcompare.jpg ?

ms

The dimensions haven't changed.

The first docks arrived here today - very cute! You get line level audio out of the dock, as well as Ethernet, USB and power in.

Rob

a well known contributor, huh ....

fascinating ....

Do we get to see pictures of the dock, or have we pushed our luck already?

I'll check with marketing. If they're happy I'll post a photo or two.

Rob

They were happy.

This player is missing it's blue thumb wheel thingy but you get the idea.

..and the rear, with coke can for scale.

Please don't repost those pics anywhere else. I got special permission to post them to the empeg BBS.

Rob

so Rio Karma is Pearl's real name?