Rio adds long battery life MP3 players to its Award-Winning lineup

August 4, 2004

Rio Audio, the original company behind the MP3 player has released
its new line-up of MP3 players.
This includes a large capacity Rio Carbon and a lower capacity Rio Forge
series. All players feature a long
20+ Hours of battery life, distinctive look, a touch sensiive directional pad
for easier navigation and playback and PC/MAC support.

Rio's
Carbon features a large 5GB for its compact size, 80 hours of good quality
128kbps MP3 capacity (160 hours for medium quality 64kbps WMA). It also features USB 2.0 support and a
20+ hour rechargable battery.

The Rio
Forge comes in three capacities - 128MB, 256MB and 512MB. Unlike many other Flash based MP3
players, the Rio Forge features SD/MMC memory card support to extend its
capacity. It features a large
easy-to-read LCD screen, FM radio Tuner, radio recording support (256MB/512MB
models only), USB 2.0 support and up to 20 hours playback from a standard AAA battery.

Longer Lasting Battery Life and Distinctive Designs Truly Set These Players Apart

Maintaining its tradition of creating new and innovative MP3 players, Rio today announced four new additions to its award-winning MP3 lineup -- the Rio Carbon 5GB(1) ($ 249), Rio Forge 512MB ($ 199), Rio Forge 256MB ($ 169), and Rio Forge 128MB ($ 139).

The four new players, all with tested battery lives of up to 20 plus hours, are designed with a combination of stylish metallic sheens, bright LED backlight displays and refined ergonomic designs that provide a distinctive look and feel to fit a variety of lifestyles. This next generation of Rio MP3 players all feature a new touch sensitive directional pad for simple and intuitive navigation and playback control.

"In daily conversations with our customers, battery
life is often mentioned as a key feature they appreciate about Rio
players. We our proud to say that our new players, Rio Carbon and Rio
Forge have been engineered to deliver up to 20 hours or more on a single
charge or AAA battery," said Hugh Cooney, president of Rio Audio. "This
keeps our customers focused on listening enjoyment rather than spending
time recharging their device."

While the Rio carbon seems to lack a few features such as FM Radio and
recording support, the Rio Forge 256MB and 512MB models seems to feature almost
everything one could want from a small compact player. Very few MP3 players come with memory
expansion slots, which could make users think twice before choosing a lower
capacity model. However with the
Rio forge series, if someone ends up buying a 256MB model
and finds out that this capacity is to small, then simply pop in an SD or
MMC card and the capacity is increased.

Radio
support is also useful for checking up on the news, weather, sport or other
programmes that cannot be obtained beforehand as audio tracks. Finally, its standard AAA battery
support means one is not stuck looking out for a power outlet should their
player's battery run flat.

Source: Music Industry News Network