Diamond Multimedia Spins Off RioPort as a Digital Audio Subsidiary

Diamond Multimedia is spinning its digital audio business into a wholly owned subsidiary called RioPort, and the new company laid out its entire platform today in one burst of announcements. The pieces: the RioPort.com content and services portal, the Rio Audio Manager software that moves and manages music from the Internet down to the playback device, new Rio-branded portable player designs, and strategic alliances with digital audio content and security technology providers. Everything is designed to work together as a secure pipeline for audio over the Internet, and the company expects the full platform to be deployed in August.

David Watkins, previously vice president and general manager of Diamond’s Multimedia Division, takes over as RioPort’s president. The whole venture stands on the success of the original Rio PMP300 MP3 player, and the next-generation Rio 500 was announced the same day.