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So, any news or updates on the Rio-SigmaTel-D&M Holdings situation?
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LiQuiD_FuSioN 2010-02-03, 10:59 #1
User title: RiOld Pro
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Subject: So, any news or updates on the Rio-SigmaTel-D&M Holdings situation?
The last update was in 2005 I believe, right? Anything new come about post-acquisition?

I'm sure the hopes for any kind of Rio Karma successor is probably dead and gone. We can only hope that Rio comes back reincarnated somehow I suppose. Is that the general idea shared by everyone now?
peter 2010-02-04, 05:00 #2
User title: Former Rio Developer
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Sigmatel was bought by Freescale, stripped and scuttled. If you didn't get a Karma, or a Trekstor Vibez, when you could, you're stuck with Ipods now. No VC would fund a business-plan that starts off "We're going to compete head-on with Apple".

Peter
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flattop100 2010-02-04, 07:56 #3
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Ugh, just did some reading on Wikipedia on SigmaTel and and Freescale. What a tragic waste of some neat hardware and software. RIP Karma et al.
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Peregrine 2010-02-04, 09:08 #4
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In reply to post #2
So where did you land, Peter? Hope things are well with you.
I rock a lawsuit when I'm going to court, a white suit when I'm getting divorced
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dapreview 2011-05-15, 22:45 #5
Member since Dec 2006 · 80 posts · Location: Lenexa, KS
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In reply to post #3
if you really want to read some depressing/old news, see here what could have been...

http://www.dapreview.net/comment.php?comment.news.2813

"Besides the Avalon, Hugo gave us more details about the Opal. This was going to be a high-end, audiophile-grade player that would be the undisputed master of sound quality. It was to be the same size and design as the Cubic, but would have an seperate subsystem exlusively for high-end audio which could be switched on and off. When you wanted the best sound quality, you could flip a switch and it would activate a seperate DAC and amplifier... at 96Khz/24bit resolution. Other nifty features included 802.11b WEP/WPA, ability to stream media to other devices, and TV output. This required some kind of crazy 8-layer PCB, stacked thick with chips, pushing the price to somewhere between $ 400-500. A $ 50 dock accessory was going to have optical outputs and 3 different colored LEDs, each pulsing to different frequency ranges during playback (bass, mid, treble)."
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flattop100 2011-05-31, 07:59 #6
User title: Aural Fixation
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Hey, this is interesting - Hugo's gotten around a bit in the years since Karma:http://www.linkedin.com/profile/v…?id=959196&authTyp…

After Sigmatel, he was at Apple and Google, and says he's founding something new!

Fingers crossed, although what it could be at this point remains to be seen...
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CAPS LOCK IS LIKE CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL.
<crunchyfrog> Get off my yard.
You have to be on your toes at a ninja funeral.
People hate failed potential an order of magnitude more than they hate mediocrity.
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dapreview 2011-10-23, 22:33 #7
Member since Dec 2006 · 80 posts · Location: Lenexa, KS
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Woh.

Current: Founder at Not telling, yet!
"Working on something very, very cool..."


Hugo, arise and bring forth Opal! Forever we await its second coming.
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