That's it! Fuse is the muvo-style one.

Seems like we're chatting to each other. Hehe.

And everyone is wondering why the folks @ empeg are too busy to get a beta of 3.0 ready for the car player...

Yeah, how DARE they say it's a Digitalway product (the guys who make those cheapo MPIO flash players)? Probably don't have "Digital Networks North America" in their database yet....

So, to recap for a left-right challenged geek like me, from the top and proceeding clockwise, we have:
1. Karma (40GB HDD)
2. Chiba
3. Fuse
4. Cali.

And actually not pictured at all are the new, 1.5GB Cornice SE based units, the Nitrus Urban or Eigen Executive?

Do we have confirmation from Cambridge?

Did I miss this before, so Karma will have PC-syncronization.... Sweet!!! Hrmm.... maybe one day for our Empegs too!

Wow I find it really cool that they are releasing their whole new line of digital audio players at once

Yeah and you wonder why V3 is taking a while

Rob

And everyone is wondering why the folks @ empeg are too busy to get a beta of 3.0 ready for the car player.

OK Rob, read the rest of the thread before responding.. doh..

Remember, Sleep is a "Good Thing"...

I just saw a new VW commercial. Thought ya'll might be interested.

Rob what stores in the U.S. wil carry the Karma?
Best Buy, Circuit City, Good Guys.....?

I guess Im wondering who I should call up first!

How about the Rio website or are they not going to sell it ?

> How about the Rio website or are they not going to sell it ?

You REALLY don't want to buy it directly from Rio. Their direct sales people have their heads firmly implanted up...well, you know. Trust me, pay more if you have to, but avoid buying from them direct.

I have had nothing but great service buying striaght thru sonic blue.

Maybe you were lucky. Go back and read some of the horror stories from the Empeg firesale.

Yeah I know about their bad reputation but I did'nt have a problem when I ordered my rio central.

new VW commercial

Cassette adapter, wires all over the place - ick!

/Michael

Go back and read some of the horror stories from the Empeg firesale.

That was a different company, and in any case it was out sourced in those days. If you haven't noticed, things like the Rio website, support site, customer care and so forth have suddenly got rather good!

Rob

And don't forget the orange-squeezer-jammed-into-the-cupholder car mount for the little bugger. That's elegant!

In reply to:

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If you haven't noticed, things like the Rio website, support site, customer care and so forth have suddenly got rather good!

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Oh, I hadn't noticed, because the only Rio thing I have is the Empeg. Ok cool, I'll take your word that they have changed though. Never mind.

This might be a dumb question but..

Is the battery in the Karma removable? And how long do you think the unit will last before the battery dies? (like dies, not runs out of juice, but dies)

I think modern batteries last 500 charges before they stop holding their charge. Thats if you look after them well.

I'd also guess that you would be able to replace them easy enough.

Thanks, and bump. So how long will it be till they're released? Or were Amazon and J&R just putting them up way too early?

No definite date, but its been hinted at September/October-ish. (If I've interpreted the clues correctly!)

not sure there's anything new here, but I thought I'd post it:

http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/007993.php#007993

Nope, nothing new, but I like seeing other sites report on it.

They forgot the Eigen and Nitrus though.

This might not be important but I just realized that the retail prices for these quite possibly can be $500 for the 40 GB and $400 for the 20 GB. Amazon usually sells new products for somewhat cheaper I guess to take in all the competition first (since they are one of the largest online stores anyway). It was $500 at J&R for the 40 GB one, so yeah, that's probably it.

Hmm I hope Amazon gets the 20 GB one also and sells it for cheaper on release, because I do not know if I would need that much.

Oh the 20 GB version is coming out first anyway. Amazon might as well those off because I'm starting to drool too much.

Interesting that Amazon has dummy pages up for almost all of Rio's new stuff (even incl. Eigen & Nitrus!):

Amazon.com link

The sole exception: Rio Karma 20GB. I'll bet the real page for it is imminent.

edit - Trimmed URL down to avoid scrolling the thread - Drakino

Er yeah, that's how I found out the names, I guess I forgot to mention that here.

Can we get some boxshots? Boxes are cool. Hehe.