Empeg Car
Encyclopedia
The Empeg Car is the first in-dash MP3
player developed. In 1998 a British
company called Empeg was formed to build the unit, which shipped the following year.
The Empeg Car was a Linux
-based unit that transferred MP3 tracks from the user's computer to the player via USB
, Ethernet
, or a serial port connection. Prices started at $1,100 US for the 4GB version and went all the way up to a $2,400 28GB unit that utilized two laptop drives (which was considered very large capacity at the time). The Empeg Car garnered quite a following and became beloved among the small group of users who bought one.
Initial production was less than 400 units, after which it was redesigned to make production cheaper and easier.
SONICblue - the former S3
company that had already acquired both the Rio
line of MP3 portables by purchasing Diamond and the Rave-MP line by purchasing Sensory Science - took notice of the unit and decided the Empeg Car would fit into its plans. On November 1 2000 Empeg was acquired by SONICblue Incorporated and the unit was renamed the Rio Car. The original British development team was rolled into the company and eventually took responsibility for all audio software development at SONICblue.
Unfortunately, SONICblue did not have a clear game plan with how to promote the Rio Car. Rio did little to market it and soon left it to languish. Despite their owners' strong devotion to the product, sales of new units were modest and on September 24, 2001 SONICblue discontinued the line. Fewer than 6000 players were ever produced.
Most of the resources, including people, code, and design work, behind the Empeg Car went into the following products:
SONICblue went bankrupt in 2003, but the Rio division was purchased by D&M Holdings
. The former Empeg employees still with Rio went on to produce the Rio Karma
, the Rio Carbon
, and several recent flash memory players. In 2005, D&M sold all of their audio player technology to SigmaTel
, including all of the Empeg technology, and all of the patents, source code, and designs related to the Rio audio players. The former Empeg employees as well as other Rio technical employees are now employed by SigmaTel at their Austin, TX offices.
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
player developed. In 1998 a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
company called Empeg was formed to build the unit, which shipped the following year.
The Empeg Car was a Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
-based unit that transferred MP3 tracks from the user's computer to the player via USB
Universal Serial Bus
USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
, Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
, or a serial port connection. Prices started at $1,100 US for the 4GB version and went all the way up to a $2,400 28GB unit that utilized two laptop drives (which was considered very large capacity at the time). The Empeg Car garnered quite a following and became beloved among the small group of users who bought one.
Initial production was less than 400 units, after which it was redesigned to make production cheaper and easier.
SONICblue - the former S3
S3 Graphics
S3 Graphics, Ltd is an American company specializing in graphics chipsets. Although they do not have the large market share that they once had, they still produce graphics accelerators for home computers under the "S3 Chrome" brand name.-History:...
company that had already acquired both the Rio
Rio (digital audio players)
Rio was the brand name of a line of digital audio players, best known for producing the "Diamond Rio" model that was the impetus for a lawsuit in 1998 by the Recording Industry Association of America...
line of MP3 portables by purchasing Diamond and the Rave-MP line by purchasing Sensory Science - took notice of the unit and decided the Empeg Car would fit into its plans. On November 1 2000 Empeg was acquired by SONICblue Incorporated and the unit was renamed the Rio Car. The original British development team was rolled into the company and eventually took responsibility for all audio software development at SONICblue.
Unfortunately, SONICblue did not have a clear game plan with how to promote the Rio Car. Rio did little to market it and soon left it to languish. Despite their owners' strong devotion to the product, sales of new units were modest and on September 24, 2001 SONICblue discontinued the line. Fewer than 6000 players were ever produced.
Most of the resources, including people, code, and design work, behind the Empeg Car went into the following products:
- Rio ReceiverRio ReceiverThe Rio Receiver was a home stereo device for playing MP3 files stored on your computer's hard drive over an Ethernet or HomePNA network. It was later rebranded and sold as the Dell Digital Audio Receiver....
- Network enabled client for streaming music off a computer to anywhere in the home - Rio Central - A home stereo component that rippedRippingRipping is the process of copying audio or video content to a hard disk, typically from removable media. The word is used to refer to all forms of media. Despite the name, neither the media nor the data is damaged after extraction....
CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s to MP3s and stored them on an internal hard drive. Supported Rio Receivers as clients. - Rio KarmaRio KarmaThe Rio Karma is a digital audio player originally made by the now defunct Rio. It was released in August 2003. It measures 2.7 × 3 × 0.9 inches and weighs 5.5 ounces . It has a 20 gigabyte hard drive...
- Portable 20gb music player
SONICblue went bankrupt in 2003, but the Rio division was purchased by D&M Holdings
D&M Holdings
D&M Holdings is a Japanese corporation that owns several audio and video brands. It was formed in 2002 from the merger of Denon and Marantz. It has acquired several other companies since that time. In 2008 it was acquired by K. K. BCJ-2, a Tokyo corporation owned by investment funds advised...
. The former Empeg employees still with Rio went on to produce the Rio Karma
Rio Karma
The Rio Karma is a digital audio player originally made by the now defunct Rio. It was released in August 2003. It measures 2.7 × 3 × 0.9 inches and weighs 5.5 ounces . It has a 20 gigabyte hard drive...
, the Rio Carbon
Rio Carbon
The Rio Carbon is a line of digital audio players that was produced by the now defunct Rio from 2004 to 2005. It was similar in size, capacity, and cost with Apple's iPod Mini which debuted earlier the same year...
, and several recent flash memory players. In 2005, D&M sold all of their audio player technology to SigmaTel
SigmaTel
SigmaTel is an electronics company located in Austin, TX, which designs mixed audio signal processors, and controller chips for multifunction peripherals. SigmaTel was Austin's largest IPO as of 2003 when it became publicly traded on NASDAQ...
, including all of the Empeg technology, and all of the patents, source code, and designs related to the Rio audio players. The former Empeg employees as well as other Rio technical employees are now employed by SigmaTel at their Austin, TX offices.
External links
- Diamond Rio Buys Car MP3 Player Company - October 2000 MP3 NewswireMP3 NewswireFounded in 1998, the same year as MP3.com, MP3 Newswire is the oldest active news site devoted to digital media technology. Notable for its series of essays that chronicled the rise of digital music and the Internet’s acrimonious relationship with the record industry, MP3 Newswire initially was...
article - empeg home page
- unofficial empeg discussion boards
- Riocar.org - Home of the empeg FAQ, and other empeg information
- MP3Mobile - Hugo Fiennes's first in car MP3 player
- Hugo Fiennes home page - (rather out of date)
- Three Years in Embedded Linux: A Talk with Hugo Fiennes and Marc Merlin - About the empeg and Rio Car (from 2001)
- From Warwick University to Apple Inc California - Article about Hugo Fiennes's Career (from 2009)