Tuesday, Jul 23, 2002
Real introduces new media software
By Dawn C. Chmielewski
Mercury News
In a bold attempt to reassert itself as a leader in streaming media, RealNetworks Monday unveiled new software for delivering audio and video over the
Internet, and pledged to lay bare the underlying code for others to fine-tune.
The unveiling of the software called Helix comes as RealNetworks, which invented ``streaming'' software with its Real Audio player eight years ago, is
losing market share to Microsoft and its Windows Media Player integrated in the Windows operating system.
The software, which resides on server computers that send information to multiple users simultaneously -- can stream any type of media across the
Internet, whether it's packaged in RealNetworks' own RealAudio/RealVideo format, or any of 55 rival formats, including Apple's QuickTime and
Microsoft's Windows Media Player. That results in savings for corporations, said RealNetworks founder and Chief Executive Rob Glaser. Until now,
companies have incurred the expense of running separate pieces of hardware to distribute the same content to different consumer desktops, Glaser said.
RealNetworks said it would, over the next 60 days, release the underlying source code -- software DNA for the Helix platform -- so that independent
developers like Sun Microsystems, Lindows and PalmSource can create applications for the new platform.
``This is a really big deal,'' said Michael Gartenberg, research director for Jupiter Research in New York. Jupiter sells research to the technology
industry. ``It's not hype for Real to say that this announcement is as important to them going forward, as was the introduction of Real Audio when the
company was first started.''
Gartenberg said RealNetworks is challenging Microsoft's dominance in the server space -- by offering a product that RealNetworks claims serves data
400 percent faster than Windows 2000. And embracing the ``open source'' approach to software development positions RealNetworks to extend its platform
to the coming generation of smart phones, PDAs and the other intelligent devices of tomorrow.
``If I were in Redmond right now, I'd be hearing screaming,'' said Richard Doherty, president of Envisioneering, a market research group in Seaford,
N.Y., referring to Microsoft's headquarters.
For the record, the folks at Microsoft are hardly raising their voices. Microsoft notes that seven out of 10 corporations use Windows Media, and an
increasing number of consumers do, too. It's a factor even RealNetworks acknowledges in its Helix announcement.
``One of the interesting things is Real has admitted the importance of supporting Windows Media as a critical thing in their product,'' said Michael
Aldridge, lead product manager for the Windows digital media division. ``They recognize -- if it's not explicit -- that it's important. That we're
becoming the leading technology for companies who use streaming.''
The latest statistics from Jupiter Research show RealNetworks' RealOne Player had a 29.1 percent share of media players while Microsoft's Windows
Media Player held a 28.2 percent share. Apple's QuickTime player was a distant third, with 12.2 percent.
RealNetworks has also fallen prey to weakness in the telecommunications sector, reporting a loss of nearly $1.6 million for the quarter ended June 30,
amid declining revenue in sales of its core software.
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Contact Dawn C. Chmielewski at [42]dchmielewski at sjmercury.com or (800) 643-1902.
--
Janina Sajka, Director
Technology Research and Development
Governmental Relations Group
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
Email: janina at afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175
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