since the rio car has been discontinued, i would like to know if there are plans on new, similar projects. yes, i read the faq but there are only statements about the future sofware development. what about the hardware development? are there any concrete plans to produce a rio car like piece of hardware in the future? or is this really the end and i have to buy one via ebay to be able to use the advantages of open source in my car?

actually i can't believe that no manufacturer out there might be interested in producing a rio car clone. or are there patent problems, so that it is legally impossible to let someone else produce something based on the rio car?

There has been talk that the empeg guys are developing an OEM ICE product for someone. So you might see something in the future very similar to the empeg, but with someone else's label on it. It might be another ICE manufacturer, like Pioneer, or it might be an auto manufacturer. I'm sure they'll let us know as soon as they can.

*drool*

Though a next generation empeg sure would be nice, I doubt that it will be as hackable as the 'original' Empeg is now.
I doubt this even more if some third party ICE manufacturer is going to produce it.

Maybe this is a good time to say what _for me_ would be the ultimate Empeg :

For me, the ultimate empeg would consist out of two units : an in-dash unit and a harddisk unit mountable in the trunk.
The in-dash unit would contain :
* a tuner
*a CD-player (yeah, yeah, I know) : to play that odd mixed CD, or maybe even to rip the tracks of Cd's and to put them on the HD of the trunk mounted unit. (though I would still prefer to do this via PC)
*a hi-res diplay like that new sony unit
*a removable faceplate (with illuminated buttons)
This unit would be of no use without the trunk-mounted unit.

The trunk-mounted harddisk unit would be the actual empeg. It would contain all the logic and the storage. It would interface with the in-dash unit, BUT could also interface with any other car-stereo as a cd-changer emulator (kinda like the Phatbox). This would be for people that don't need such an in-dash unit or who simply can't install one because their car stereo is built into their dashboard and they don't want to rip their dashboard apart. Of course, to get the "full Empeg experience" you'd have to use the two units combined.

The trunk mounted unit should be removable from a tray, and combined with the detachable faceplate of the in-dash unit (that can be clicked onto it), the unit can be taken indoors the be connected to a PC. Do do this it should have the option of 100Base-T ethernet (cabled or wireless), Firewire or USB 2.0. Is should also have cinch, SpDif and Toslink connectors on the back so the unit can be connected to a home stereo system. (analog or digital). To top it all off it should have voice recognition.

Of course it would still use laptop harddisks, use the great Empeg OS and feature the great Empeg hackability.

That's about it. Now, I know such a unit will probably never exist, but I can dream can't I ?

I think you may have described two distinct products there.

Rob

Yes, but the combination would be awesome! Like the best of Empeg / Neo / Phatbox and every other car mp3 player that has existed up to date all combined into one product.

I'm not naive, I don't believe I'll ever see such a product. Still...

Yes, but it would push up the complexity/cost of a product that could otherwise be very inexpensive (the trunk version).

Rob

To my knowledge, Sony is releasing a similar product for car use. Their product will allow you to rip your CDs right there in the car. Its the Sony MEX-HD1..

Here is a Link to their product.

Again, its similar in idea but not the perfect match as the Rio Car. But for some, it will do nicely.

I know. I do realise that, especially considering how much the Empeg cost you guys to develop.
This is the exact reason why I'm saying I don't believe I'll ever see such a product.

I know that the mp3 car audio market is still a very small market and will continue to be so until mp3 finally catches on to the 'big audience'. This 'big audience' being the people that don't use pc's besides for their work or that like music but are not freaky enough to actually want to learn everything that gets involved in encoding a good quality mp3. (your HSX109 unit is a good start for that). Maybe then they'll understand the advantages of a harddisk type unit with a nifty OS in the car.
For now, I (sadly) don't see that many people trading in their car-cd player for an mp3 player. 'Cause you've got to hand it to cd players : you put in a Cd and it plays. Can't get much simpler than that.

if it is from sony then it could well be that it uses drm or something similar. also i doubt that they will use something that will be user-hackable based on an open source kernel. and i don't want an mp3-device in my car that is only able to make what the manufacturer intended it for. not after i've seen the rio car.

so my question was meant more like this: are there plans to build an worthy successor to the rio car? something that has the same functionality and an open source os?

if i just wanted a device that can play mp3 i would buy a neo car jukebox