Linux would probably not be the first choice of OS for a power critical application. You wouldn't believe the stuff the Riot does to maximise battery life.

The player uses the same USB connector as all Rio portables since the 600. It comes with a USB cable. As with the empeg, this is a slave port so there's no chance of plugging a keyboard into it!

"SDMI Compatible" - have you seen an approved standard that I've missed? It is WMA DRM compatible, though, which only affects WMA DRM content.

Real Jukebox ships with the product, that doesn't mean it won't work with other applications (present and future).

Rob