The most controversial piece of hardware being displayed at Diamond was the Rio PMP 300, a portable MP3 player. Last week the Recording Industry Association of America filed a suit against Diamond for encouraging users to "traffic in unlicensed music recordings on the Internet". Industry analysts have called the lawsuit a smoke screen to protect the large recording studios from any competition, and has nothing to do with piracy or artist rights. While no official statement was given, a Diamond spokeswoman told Sharky Extreme that they're not worried about the lawsuit and that the Rio will ship on schedule.

Instead of outsourcing the job to the likes of Sony or Aiwa, Diamond took on the feat of designing and manufacturing the Rio on their own. The Rio is extremely light and compact, and can be slipped into a pocket without running the risk of being complimented for one's manhood. Because it's a completely digital product, the Rio has no moving parts, and thus becomes ideal to bring along while performing exercise, be that a brisk walk in the park or a mad sprint from the piracy police.

The Rio comes with 32MB of flash memory, which translates to half an hour's worth of listening time. For those of you who demand more, Diamond will be releasing 16 and 32MB flash memory modules for an added 15 and 30 minutes of playtime respectively.

Despite their recent troubles, including a third quarter loss and a rash of lawsuits, Diamond's upcoming products places the company in a very favorable position for the Christmas buying season. Sharky Extreme looks forward to bringing you full and in-depth reviews of all the products previewed here.

· Diamond Monster Fusion Preview Part 1
· Diamond Monster Fusion Preview Part 2
· Diamond Stealth II G460 Review
· Diamond Monster 3D 2 Review
· Diamond Monster Sound MX200
· Diamond Viper V550 Review
· Inside Look @ Diamond