#250264 - 23/02/2005 20:04
Who owns the Empeg design?
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member
Registered: 24/09/2003
Posts: 148
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---[from empeg.com]---
As you may be aware, the Rio division of SONICblue was recently sold at auction. The new owners decided not to purchase the car player support operation which remains with SONICblue, and as a result will be discontinued at the end of this month (May 2003).
---[end from empeg.com]---
So sonicblue went bankrupt, someone bought Rio, and some other divisions, but declined on the Empeg. So who currently owns the Empeg design?
It seems that with a few updates, and savage price reduction, this could sell quite a bit better today. Plus, if sold as a platform, there is already an open-source OS for it (hijack).
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#250265 - 23/02/2005 20:09
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: geeknerd]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
So sonicblue went bankrupt, someone bought Rio, and some other divisions, but declined on the Empeg. So who currently owns the Empeg design?
DNNA do I believe. Most of the empeg team now work for them.
Quote:
It seems that with a few updates, and savage price reduction, this could sell quite a bit better today.
Savage price reduction? That already happened back in the fire sale days...
Quote:
Plus, if sold as a platform, there is already an open-source OS for it (hijack).
It runs Linux to be specific. Mark has patched it to support extra functionality and fix various bugs regarding the player but it's not a seperate OS. Even if you didn't have the existing port, creating a new one isn't particularly difficult for ARM platforms. What IS hard however is the player. The empeg team have invested several years of time in writing it and large portions of the code are still used in new products.
Basically, look else where. Barring any surprise annoucements, the player and design aren't going to be released or purchased for a low price.
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#250266 - 23/02/2005 20:13
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: geeknerd]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
Quote:
The new owners decided not to purchase the car player support operation
So sonicblue went bankrupt, someone bought Rio, and some other divisions, but declined on the Empeg. So who currently owns the Empeg design?
No, they declined on the support operation. The car player is theirs, they just didn't want to support it.
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Bitt Faulk
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#250267 - 23/02/2005 20:51
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: tman]
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member
Registered: 24/09/2003
Posts: 148
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----Quote:
Savage price reduction? That already happened back in the fire sale days...
----
Sure, but that, I'm sure, was a closeout sale of existing stock. Likely they took a loss on those sales. If they made a profit, and they stopped selling them, well, that wouldn't make much sense then, would it? Perhaps I should have said "savage price AND cost reduction".
-----Quote:
Basically, look else where. Barring any surprise annoucements, the player and design aren't going to be released or purchased for a low price.
------
I'm not looking to buy the design. I was just thinking that I'd like to purchase a unit, but not one that has been out and abused for 4 years. Perhaps a question more to the point is: Is there any chance of DNNA or whoever updating the empeg and starting up production again? But I think that I know the answer to that...
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#250268 - 23/02/2005 20:52
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: geeknerd]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Slim to none. And, as they say, Slim just left town.
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Bitt Faulk
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#250270 - 23/02/2005 21:39
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: AudunE]
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member
Registered: 24/09/2003
Posts: 148
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Quote:
There are units out there which have never been installed. I have bought 3 units the last 4months, one "abused" and two "new" 
Are you picking these up on Ebay? Is someone on here hiding a stockpile of empegs under their bed?
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#250271 - 23/02/2005 21:41
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: geeknerd]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 15/08/2000
Posts: 4859
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Many people bought spare units when SonicBlue was selling them out. (double meaning intended) Some of these players have been sitting in storage, with original packaging, for years. Check out the For Sale forum, and you will see a few like that.
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Paul Grzelak
200GB with 48MB RAM, Illuminated Buttons and Digital Outputs
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#250272 - 24/02/2005 05:09
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: geeknerd]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
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Quote:
Is someone on here hiding a stockpile of empegs under their bed?
That "Is someone" should be plural. If I could justify the additional expense, I'd certainly have more than one.
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#250274 - 24/02/2005 07:47
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: bonzi]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Most of us are, more or less.
My spare is sitting next to my PC, where I'm occasionally using it for developing a C# upload application.
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-- roger
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#250275 - 24/02/2005 07:48
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: geeknerd]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
----Quote:
Er, you want to be using [ quote ] and [ /quote ] around the text -- see this.
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-- roger
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#250276 - 24/02/2005 09:39
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: Roger]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
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My spare lives next to my main PC so SWMBO can listen to tunes when I'm out - and it adds more blinkenlichts to my computer room:-)
_________________________
Rory
MkIIa, blue lit buttons, memory upgrade, 1Tb in Subaru Forester STi
MkII, 240Gb in Mark Lord dock
MkII, 80Gb SSD in dock
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#250277 - 24/02/2005 09:50
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: geeknerd]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
Is someone on here hiding a stockpile of empegs under their bed?
I just make sure Nempegs == Nvehicles.
OK, not true - haven't figured out a way to have an empeg on the motorbike. And the Mk I is shared between 2 of the land rovers. But to rectify the situation, I would have to get *more* empegs... Uh oh...
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#250278 - 24/02/2005 11:54
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: frog51]
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addict
Registered: 24/08/1999
Posts: 564
Loc: TX
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I pulled my spare out of the cupboard last weekend and threw V3-8 onto it. Love that cross-fading. I might even install one in my truck - one day. Ok... who am I kidding.......... 
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the chewtoy for the dog of Life
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#250279 - 24/02/2005 20:08
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: julf]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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haven't figured out a way to have an empeg on the motorbikeAwww, c'mon. If I can do this, then a motorcycle should be a no-brainer.  tanstaafl.
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"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#250280 - 24/02/2005 22:07
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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enthusiast
Registered: 27/09/1999
Posts: 200
Loc: Berkeley, CA
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I still wonder about that photograph, Doug. I mean, an empeg on a bicycle is within reason, but the lime green Bricklin is a sure sign the picture's a fake.
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-Zandr
Mk.IIa #010101243 currently getting a 500GB SSD. More spares in the shed.
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#250281 - 25/02/2005 08:00
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
Awww, c'mon. If I can do this, then a motorcycle should be a no-brainer.
Well, at least you have a fairing. I don't. I don't think the empeg would react very favorably to rainwater - and tons of dead bugs 
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#250282 - 26/02/2005 03:34
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: julf]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
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Quote:
I don't think the empeg would react very favorably to rainwater - and tons of dead bugs
No problem.
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#250283 - 28/02/2005 04:34
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: geeknerd]
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new poster
Registered: 27/10/2004
Posts: 15
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Quote:
I was just thinking that I'd like to purchase a unit, but not one that has been out and abused for 4 years.
I don't think it's quite the concern you make it out to be. First off, my biggest concern with the empeg was the HD. What happens in case it dies? Well, now that I've been an empeg owner for a few months now, my reading on the unit has shown me that the HD dying is almost a non-issue. If it dies, you just load the disk-tools flash image onto the player, it fdisks and formats the drive, you flash back the OS of choice (2.0 final or 3a8) and start rocking again.
Looking at the rest of the hardware, vibration is basically a non-issue with SMD components. If stuff in the empeg were going to "shake loose", odds are your car would quit working long before the empeg would - the ECM, which is usually located in the engine compartment, would be not-as-well-insulated against shock as the empeg is in the dashboard.
Line-level output is very easy on audio components. Since the empeg doesn't have an onboard amplifier, the odds of it losing it's ability to play audio within its useful lifetime are nearly nill. Someone with experience with the empeg design could chime in, but I believe that component-wise, the empeg would be fine if it played music 24x7x365 from the day it rolled off the assembly line.
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#250284 - 28/02/2005 15:28
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: TerryMathews]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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#250285 - 28/02/2005 15:41
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: tfabris]
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new poster
Registered: 27/10/2004
Posts: 15
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Quote:
Yeah, what he said.
Backed up by the FAQ Master, what greater honor can there be? 
BTW, is your avatar a picture of yourself?
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#250286 - 28/02/2005 16:06
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: TerryMathews]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Yeah. I know it's kind of non-standard to actually have a portrait for an avatar. But here's my thinking: As an example, I've never met Tony C in person and I still picture him as one of the characters from "Office Space". I figure if we ever run into each other at an empeg meet or something, I wouldn't recognize him and there'd be that whole cognitive dissonance thing. So since I go to empeg meets and such, I figured it would be a good idea to save others that dilemma and just put a real pic there.
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#250287 - 28/02/2005 16:12
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Yeah. I did the same thing. 
_________________________
Bitt Faulk
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#250288 - 28/02/2005 16:16
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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#250289 - 28/02/2005 19:03
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: wfaulk]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1866
Loc: Austin
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#250290 - 28/02/2005 21:44
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: tfabris]
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addict
Registered: 08/08/2001
Posts: 452
Loc: NZ
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Heh if I ever go to a meet don't see me as an empeg window sticker :P
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#250291 - 28/02/2005 22:41
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: RobotCaleb]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 08/02/2002
Posts: 3411
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Me four.
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Mk2a 60GB Blue. Serial 030102962
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#250292 - 01/03/2005 01:39
Re: Who owns the Empeg design?
[Re: genixia]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/08/2000
Posts: 3826
Loc: SLC, UT, USA
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Ditto! Though i'm not chawing on my usual bit of hay in that shot.
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