Rio (digital audio players)

Rio was the brand name of a line of digital audio players, best known for producing the "Diamond Rio" model that was the impetus for a lawsuit in 1998 by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[1]^[2] That lawsuit eventually failed,^[1] leading the way for the portable digital music industry to take off.

Rio was originally a brand of Diamond Multimedia, which merged with S3 Graphics in 1999. The resulting company was renamed SONICblue. On March 21, 2003, SONICblue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and then sold off its main product lines; Rio was sold to Japanese firm D&M Holdings, forming part of their Digital Networks North America subsidiary.

Like other competitors in the digital audio player business, such as Microsoft's Zune, the Rio brand was unable to compete effectively against Apple's dominant iPod series of audio players.^[3] In August 2005, D&M Holdings announced the discontinuation of its production of audio players, after it had licensed its digital audio software technology to chipmaker SigmaTel the month before.^[4]

Products[]

Rio PMP300

Rio 500

Rio 800

Rio su40

The Rio Chiba with 256 MB built in storage and SD Card expansion.

The Rio Forge with 256 MB built in storage and SD Card expansion.

Rio USA (portable audio players)

Rio PMP300, the second MP3 player and the first that was commercially successful
Rio 500
(incl. 800 Extreme)
Rio Car (aka Empeg Car)
Rio Riot
Rio Karma
Rio Nitrus (incl. Nitrus-S)
Rio Carbon (incl. Carbon Pearl)
Rio ce2100
Rio ce2110
Rio Forge
Rio se510

Rio USA (home audio players)

(aka HSX-109)
Rio Receiver

Rio Japan

(OEM BeatSounds EVR150)
(OEM A-MAX Technology PA30A)
(OEM i-BEAD i-BEAD100)
(OEM AVC Technology Si-100)
(OEM i-BEAD i-BEAD200)
(OEM M-CODY MX-100)
(OEM M-CODY MX-250)
(OEM AVC Technology)
(OEM AVC Technology)
(OEM AVC Technology)
(OEM Foster)

Rio OEM models

References[]

^ ^a ^b Hart-Davis, Guy; Rhonda Holmes (2001). MP3 Complete. San Francisco: Sybex. p. 613. ISBN 0-7821-2899-8.
^ Sandler, Adam (1998-10-12). "RIAA sues to stop Rio sales". Variety. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
^ Turi, Jon (12 April 2014). "Gadget Rewind 2004: Rio Carbon". Engadget. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
^ "D&M Holdings Inc. to Exit Mass-Market Portable Digital Audio Player Business" (Press release). D&M Holdings Inc. 2005-08-26. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2008-04-17.

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[mp3-1] Hart-Davis, Guy; Rhonda Holmes (2001). MP3 Complete. San Francisco: Sybex. p. 613. ISBN 0-7821-2899-8.

[2] Sandler, Adam (1998-10-12). "RIAA sues to stop Rio sales". Variety. Retrieved 2020-07-09.

[3] Turi, Jon (12 April 2014). "Gadget Rewind 2004: Rio Carbon". Engadget. Retrieved 13 April 2014.

[4] "D&M Holdings Inc. to Exit Mass-Market Portable Digital Audio Player Business" (Press release). D&M Holdings Inc. 2005-08-26. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2008-04-17.

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