Rio Japan has announced that they will make a new Rio, which doesn't have much that's so special about it, except that it comes with some portable speakers that have an integrated subwoofer. The speakers are actually not that much larger than the player itself, so I think this is pretty nifty. It's like a tiny little boombox.

Rio Japan announced the "Rio SU40" MP3/WMA player with a USB connector o­n the 25th. A 256MB model will go o­n sale in the bottom part of April, and a 512MB model will go o­n sale in the middle of May. Both of them are Open Price, but the Rio eStore has the 256MB model listed for 29,190 yen, and the 512MB model is listed for 41,790 yen.

This model is an upgrade from the "Rio SU30" released in June of 2003 - improvements this time around include direct MP3 encoding via the line-in jack. There are three body colors available - silver, black, and red.

Playback of MP3, WMA, WAV, and ASF file is supported, and the bitrates supported are, for mp3, 8-320kbps, and for WMA, 32-192kbps. o­n the player is a 7 color backlit LCD display with a resolution of 128 x 34 dots. ID3 tags are supported, and the display of Japanese characters is also supported. Users may transfer and playback entire folders as well. Up to 256 folders, at a maximum of 12 levels, are recognized.

There are 10 preset equalizer settings, such as Normal, Classic, Jazz, Pop, Rock, eXtreme BASS, Techno, Dance, Live, Reggae, as well as 5 band equalizers. SRS WOW functions are included. With a slide-type USB connector, the player can be connected directly to a PCs port, and be mounted as USB storage.

Also included are functions to record from the FM tuner and voice recorder to MP3. Also supported is MP3 direct encoding via the Line-In port. Users may choose from six bitrates between 32 and 128kbps.

With the internal 400mAh capacity lithium ion internal battery, the continuous playback time o­n the Rio is approximately 14 hours. The external dimensions are 32.8 x 94.7 x 18mm, and it weighs 38g (with battery). Earphones and a neckstrap are included.

Included with the player are portable two way speakers with a built in subwoofer, called "Rio LIVE mini." When powered from an AC adapter, the Rio LIVE minis will output 2 channels at 250mW each, and the subwoofer will be 900mW. When operating by battery, the speakers will output at 45mW each, and the subwoofer at 140mW. The external dimensions of the speakers are 86.4 x 32.4 x 26.1mm, and weigh 100g.

Input to the speakers comes from a stereo mini plug connector. Apart from a normal AC adapter supplying power, the speakers can also use 2x 1400mAh capacity gumstick NiMh batteries. Another feature is that they can be powered from the USB port when connected to a PC. Continuous playback time when using batteries is about 4 hours.

The Rio LIVE mini speakers will also go o­n sale individually in the middle of May.






Inspired by:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20040325/rio.htm

Press Release:
http://www.rioaudio.jp/company/pressrelease/2004/023_SU40.html

Product Information:
http://www.rioaudio.jp/products/riosu40.html