Rio Riot and Lyra Personal Jukebox

dschuetz writes: "SONICblue has the new Rio Riot up on their home page. It looks to me like an iPod killer -- 20 GB hard drive, very nice interface (better than Apple's), built-in FM tuner, powerful "DJ" functions, Lithium Ion batteries. And, at $399, it's priced competitively. The only question is -- how big is this thing? SONICblue has lots of other great systems out there, like the ReplayTV and Rio Receiver (which runs Linux), so the possibilities for hacking and otherwise extending this device are very good." Another submitter sends: "MP3 Newswire has a story on the RCA LYRA Personal Jukebox, a 20GB MP3/mp3PRO player that is the first portable to use the updated digital music compression scheme co-developed by its parent company Thompson. The new Lyra sells for $299. In related news, SonicBlue has released its first jukebox style player, also a 20GB unit called the Rio Riot that sells for $399. Both articles have pictures of the new players."

Looks good, but...

[cosmicg]

I'm holding out for the inclusion of "Amplitude Modulation" technology. I read a preview of it in the July 1899 issue of American Electrician-- it looks like it will be *the* format for christian and sports talk broadcasts.

Yesss! An iPod Killler!

[phloda]

I did a quick comparison of the old iPod to Sonic Blue's new Rio RIOT. Although tech specs are still forthcoming, the Flash technology tour of the Rio RIOT made it easy to tell that this is absolutely an iPod killer.

old iPod: One Boring Scroll Wheel, 5 buttons

Rio RIOT: Scroll Wheel, Game-Boy Pointer, and five buttons, including two on the left side for volume!

old iPod: IE1394 (what issat?)

Rio RIOT: USB! Everyone has it! Soon it will be five times as fast with USB2 technology!

old iPod: looks like a zippo, sized like pack of cigarrettes

Rio RIOT: ergonomically styled like Game Boy Advance, in sleek charcoal plastique!

old iPod: select by artist, album, or manual playlist

Rio RIOT: intellegent audio wizard detects your favorites and plays them back for you!

old iPod: made by Apple, a company going out of business

Rio RIOT: produced by Sonic Blue, a recognized leader in MP3 technology!

I think the message is clear. Sonic Blue has an iPod killer on it's hands with the Rio RIOT. Thank you Slashdot for letting us know quick!

Re:USB it too slow, wah!!! Wah!!

[90XDoubleSide]

How many of you who are complaining about the USB interface on the Rio Riot still use 10 megabit ethernet

A lot of the people who have iPods with FireWire transfer probably also have a Power Mac, so they have 1000BASE-T ethernet ;)

Re:Stop worrying about USB...

[Sloppy]

Take a look at most "pee-cee"s today, how many have Firewire? Most people don't have Firewire, they do have usb though.

When I look at my machines here, and also think about what I've got at work, it's pretty clear: these portable players need SCSI interfaces. ;-)

Re:Your Wife

[Geek In Training]

Mrs Palmer? and her 5 daughters?

Fifth grade called, they want their joke back. :)

"It looks to me like an iPod killer"

[Lars T.]

Yeah, it looks big and heavy, it can probably destroy an iPod with one blow.

It's too big

[Anonymous Coward]

It's hard to tell from the photo, but I have it on good authority that the unit is approximately 2 feet by 6 feet. The display is very visible at that size, but it will be difficult to take it in the car or to the gym.