SONICblue Launches the Rio Riot; New PC and Mac-Ready Rio Riot Player Holds 5,000 Songs in an Easy-to-Use, Highly Portable Design

Business Wire, Jan 8, 2002

Business Editors & Entertainment/High-Tech Writers

CES 2002

Booth No. 2927

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SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2002

Expanding its digital audio leadership into new market categories, SONICblue(TM) (Nasdaq:SBLU) today unveiled its first hard drive-based portable music player -- the Rio Riot(TM). Designed to store an entire music collection, the Rio Riot is built around a 20GB hard-drive that holds more than 5,000 songs or 400 CDs(1) worth of high-quality, digital music.

Making your music accessible and easy to manage, the Rio Riot integrates SONICblue's newly developed Rio LogicTrack(TM) user interface, the category's largest backlit display and a sleek, ergonomic design. The Rio Riot also includes an integrated FM tuner, long-life rechargeable batteries and innovative new music management software from MoodLogic.

"To date, the most common feedback we've received regarding high capacity players is that the ability to store lots of music is great, but totally useless if you can't find the music you want to hear, when you want to hear it," said David Huffman, vice president of audio product marketing, SONICblue. "With the launch of the Rio Riot, we believe we've given users the best of both worlds, delivering thousands of songs in an intuitive and easy to use system."

About the Rio Riot

Combining a sleek, highly portable design with a high capacity hard disk drive and an intuitive user interface, the Rio Riot meets the most demanding needs of today's music lover. Key features of the Rio Riot include:

-- Powerful 20GB hard disk drive stores more than 5,000 songs or 400 CDs --
placing your entire music collection at your fingertips.

-- Exclusive Rio LogiTrack interface makes it incredibly easy to find, sort and
play your favorite songs. Components of the Rio LogiTrack interface include:

-- Ergonomic scroll wheel and dedicated, one-touch buttons and play controls
keep your navigation consistent and interactive.

-- Visual-menu system makes it easy to sort through thousands of songs by
track, artist, album, year, genre and favorites.

-- Exclusive Rio DJ(TM) playlist creator knows your music as well as you do and
generates custom playlists of new music, songs by year or decade and favorites.


-- Integrated FM tuner with presets allows you to search out new music and stay
current on what's being played over the airwaves.

-- Rechargeable Lithium Ion battery delivers more than 10 hours worth of
playback for long-lasting music on the go.

-- Category's largest, backlit, high-resolution display (240 x160) brings the
LogiTrack visual-menu system to life with a clear, crisp view of your music and
control options.

-- Bundled MoodLogic personal music management software cleans up ID3 tag
information, generates and shares one-click playlists based on music tastes,
auto classifies music and recommends songs.

-- 16 MB SDRAM Buffer stores your music in memory and stops the hard drive from
spinning during playback -- delivering up to 12 minutes of electronic skip
protection, while also saving battery life and speeding up navigation.

-- Quality Accessory Package includes a set of comfortable, over-the-head Rio
headphones and a custom carrying case that lets you view and access the unit
while providing protection.

-- Bundled RealJukebox(R) and iTunes(TM) music management software ensures that
your Rio Riot is PC or Mac compatible out of the box.

-- MP3 and WMA playback lets you listen to the most common file formats and is
upgradeable to other emerging digital standards through software releases.
SONICblue also plans to add support for the Audible spoken audio content
service into the Rio Riot in a future release.

The first of many new Rio audio products for SONICblue in 2002, the Rio Riot will be showcased in SONICblue's product display at this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. SONICblue's CES display can be found at booth no. 2927 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Pricing and Availability

The Rio Riot ($399.95 MSRP) is available for preorder on SONICblue's eStore (www.sonicblue.com) and will be available toward the end of February in North American retail outlets. For more information on purchasing a Rio Riot, including detailed product specifications, please visit SONICblue's website (www.SONICblue.com).

About SONICblue Incorporated

SONICblue is a leader in the converging Internet, digital media, entertainment and consumer electronics markets. Working with partners that include some of the biggest brands in consumer electronics, SONICblue creates and markets products that let consumers enjoy all the benefits of a digital home and connected lifestyle. SONICblue holds significant financial assets, global marketing capabilities and a focused technology portfolio that includes Rio(R) digital audio players; ProGear(TM) Information Appliances; ReplayTV(R) personal television technology and software solutions; and Go-Video(R) Dual-Deck(TM) VCRs and integrated DVD VCRs.