Here is the contents of an email that came from SB Support:

-----
From: "Customer Support"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 4:22 PM
Subject: RE: Re: Support issues


> Dear Valued Customer,
>
> The Rio receiver has been discontinued. There is no longer a Rio
> Receiver team and no updates will be coming.
>
>
> Ron W.
>
> TRACKING NUMBER: A00000251862-00000984978
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
>
> From:
> Sent: Saturday, Oct 13 2001 02:12 PM
> To: customersupport@sonicblue.com
> Subject: Re: Support issues
>
> 2nd time round... if we are with a human this time... please fix
> your website!
>
> and also I've discovered a bug with the Rio Receiver and the way that
> it
is
> displaying music lists.... so can you ask one of that team to contact
me...
>
> Best Regards,
>
>
-----

Comments?

Paul.


--
2xEmpeg.
1xRioReceiver.

No, just checked and the office still seems to have people in it.

The product doesn't look discontinued (in that it's on the estore and shipping) but it has been discounted by resellers which might mean something...

Hugo

Glad to hear it, but someone needs to slap the SB Support people.

Let's hope we're not about to see a EOL announcement for the receiver.

Paul.

--
2xEmpeg.
1xRioReceiver.

Now if only one of the UK resellers could get any stock

:-(

I hope the people in the office are keeping busy working on something bigger and better, but that will integrate with the Receiver !

- --
Rod, UK Mk2 64gig Red S/N.341 Empeg 2xDigital Audio Receiver - one Wireless

Ok, I've had it confirmed that the Receiver IS EOL. (From SB Euopean Mrtg Director)

There didn't appear to be an announcement that I saw.

Those of you trying to get them, may have trouble.

Paul.

--
2xEmpeg.
1xRioReceiver.

Bugger.

Someone at empeg/SonicBlue please tell me that it is EOL'd because it is being replaced by a new model...

Please don't tell me it was EOL'd due to "lack of demand", I've wanted to buy several since they first came out and despite my efforts have failed to get hold of one.

Here's the exact info from the email:

"Nick,

Couple of other things, then I'll stop bugging you.

1. Where can we actually buy these Rio Receivers? There is no mention on
the SB e-store for UK/Europe.

There are some issues with Euro e-store which I am trying to resolve here in
the US.... hopefully we will have a solution in Q1.... at the moment we are
targeting specialist retailers/e-tailers - however we are also selling
directly...

2. What do you make of the attached email, where one of your Support People
says that the Rio Receiver is discontinued?

...the Receiver as it stands is EOL... we are developing alternative thin
client devices but no announcements yet...

Regards

Nick"

--
2xEmpeg.
1xRioReceiver.

at the moment we are targeting specialist retailers/e-tailers - however we are also selling directly...

This makes no sense at all. As far as I can tell none of the UK "specialist retailers/e-tailers" have not managed to get any stock from the US for several months.

How on earth can they say that they are "also selling directly" yet also admit that they aren't available on the Euro e-store ? Does he mean there is some other way of buying them direct from SonicBlue in the UK ?

Why are SonicBlue such an awful mess ? Doesn't someone over there understand that if customers can't actually purchase their bloody products that they are not going to sell any !!!

Frustrated of Surrey...

Something else I forgot to mention. One of my work colleagues recently decided not to buy a Diamond Supra (Diamond are another part of the SonicBlue empire) modem precisely because of the fun I am having trying to buy a Rio Receiver...

It's not really suprising that the receiver has reached EOL. There has been a distinct pattern of abandonment of the product since soon after its release - poor support from Dell and Diamond/Sonic Blue, no software updates, etc.

The only regular decent support I've seen for the product has been in this forum, mostly manned by avid users like Phaigh and TFabris.

With that said, should we users band together to keep our receivers afloat by starting an EOL FAQ? It could list things like the last software versions available, links to hacks and software alternatives, etc.

-AJPaterson

The EOL announcement came as something of a surprise to me, so I checked with Tim, the product manager at Tigard. The Rio Receiver is not EOL despite what you have been told.

Tim has spoken with Support at Albany and I'll have a chat with Nick when I see him next week. The Receiver has never been officially released in Europe so Nick has a point, but the product is widely available in the USA both online and in retail.

I anticipate that the significance of the Receiver in the Rio product line will grow as we move into the new year. If anyone is coming to CES, check out booth 2927 in the Central Hall.

Rob

Do you know if there are any plans to make them available in Europe properly Rob ? I have been trying to buy several for ages and have failed miserably so far. Even if the US store started shipping internationally that would be a start. I just don't understand why they only sell them in the US, it's crazy.

I wish I knew. I've heard conflicting responses to this.

Rob

Thank god the development team is no where near as bad as the marketing team

Andy,

To be honest, I've no idea.

I honestly believe that the Receivers will become available in the UK via Insight and so-on in the very near future.

However, I don't work for SB (thank god) so I can't really add any more.

I'll point Nick to this thread and see what he thinks of it.

Paul.

--
2xEmpeg.
1xRioReceiver.

Rob,

I am *so* glad to hear you say that.

After Nicks email and the hints about the *other* product, it didn't make any sense to drop the receiver, since the 'other' product would be a bit isolated.

However, I know that there were a lot of design compromises with the Receiver (screen size, etc), so it actually sort of makes sense to kill it and do it properly.

Having said that, when I mentioned the Rio Receiver EOL to people at work, they all said - "So what's replacing it?". Normally products are dropped just before or just after a new product launch, and I'd imagine this to be the same for SB as much as Sony, etc.

Anyway, enough ranting.

Paul.

--
2xEmpeg.
1xRioReceiver.

Should that be:

"Thank god the development team are no-where near the marketing team"
?



Paul.

--
2xEmpeg.
1xRioReceiver.

AJ,

Thanks for the nice post, if you read other responses in this thread you'll see that it isn't (for the moment) EOL.

As for the FAQ, this forum should have an up-to-date FAQ - if there is anything you want added - please let Tony (tfabris) know.

Paul.

--
2xEmpeg.
1xRioReceiver.