<s>
The	O
Empeg	B-Application
Car	I-Application
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
in-car	O
MP3	B-Application
players	O
developed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originating	O
in	O
a	O
personal	O
project	O
to	O
build	O
an	O
in-car	O
system	O
that	O
could	O
perform	O
MP3	B-Application
playback	O
in	O
software	O
,	O
a	O
British	O
company	O
called	O
Empeg	B-Application
was	O
formed	O
in	O
July	O
1998	O
to	O
build	O
a	O
commercial	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
concept	O
,	O
this	O
becoming	O
available	O
for	O
sale	O
in	O
August	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
original	O
project	O
employed	O
an	O
embedded	O
PC	O
board	O
from	O
Advantech	O
running	O
a	O
Linux-based	O
operating	O
system	O
,	O
employing	O
a	O
150MHz	O
Cyrix	O
processor	O
that	O
was	O
later	O
upgraded	O
to	O
a	O
166MHz	O
Pentium	O
,	O
the	O
Empeg	B-Application
Car	I-Application
was	O
built	O
around	O
a	O
system	O
employing	O
a	O
StrongARM	B-Device
processor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Transfer	O
of	O
MP3	B-Application
tracks	I-Application
to	O
the	O
player	O
was	O
facilitated	O
by	O
the	O
provision	O
of	O
USB	B-Protocol
,	O
Ethernet	O
,	O
and	O
serial	O
port	O
connections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Empeg	B-Application
Car	I-Application
garnered	O
quite	O
a	O
following	O
and	O
became	O
beloved	O
among	O
the	O
small	O
group	O
of	O
users	O
who	O
bought	O
one	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SONICblue	O
-	O
the	O
former	O
S3	O
company	O
that	O
had	O
already	O
acquired	O
both	O
the	O
Rio	O
line	O
of	O
MP3	B-Application
portables	O
by	O
purchasing	O
Diamond	O
and	O
the	O
Rave-MP	O
line	O
by	O
purchasing	O
Sensory	O
Science	O
-	O
took	O
notice	O
of	O
the	O
unit	O
and	O
decided	O
the	O
Empeg	B-Application
Car	I-Application
would	O
fit	O
into	O
its	O
plans	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
November	O
1	O
,	O
2000	O
Empeg	B-Application
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
SONICblue	O
Incorporated	O
and	O
the	O
unit	O
was	O
renamed	O
the	O
Rio	B-Application
Car	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unfortunately	O
,	O
SONICblue	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
clear	O
game	O
plan	O
with	O
how	O
to	O
promote	O
the	O
Rio	B-Application
Car	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
of	O
the	O
resources	O
,	O
including	O
people	O
,	O
code	O
,	O
and	O
design	O
work	O
,	O
behind	O
the	O
Empeg	B-Application
Car	I-Application
went	O
into	O
the	O
following	O
products	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Rio	O
Central	O
-	O
A	O
home	O
stereo	O
component	O
that	O
ripped	O
CDs	O
to	O
MP3s	B-Application
and	O
stored	O
them	O
on	O
an	O
internal	O
hard	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Supported	O
Rio	B-Application
Receivers	I-Application
as	O
clients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
former	O
Empeg	B-Application
employees	O
still	O
with	O
Rio	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
produce	O
the	O
Rio	O
Karma	O
,	O
the	O
Rio	O
Carbon	O
,	O
and	O
several	O
recent	O
flash	O
memory	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2005	O
,	O
D&M	O
sold	O
all	O
of	O
their	O
audio	O
player	O
technology	O
to	O
SigmaTel	O
,	O
including	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
Empeg	B-Application
technology	O
,	O
and	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
patents	O
,	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
and	O
designs	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
Rio	O
audio	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
former	O
Empeg	B-Application
employees	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
other	O
Rio	O
technical	O
employees	O
are	O
now	O
employed	O
by	O
SigmaTel	O
at	O
their	O
Austin	O
,	O
TX	O
offices	O
.	O
</s>
