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They are probably making lots of money from bored housewifes playing "casual" games -- not from the Real software that was once their core product.

They sued Microsoft ages ago, settled in 2005 for 76mln and bought several online gaming sites from the cash.

Microsoft and RealNetworks Resolve Antitrust Case
Gamehouse

As title says, Real has a nice streaming server called Real Helix and a producer (tool that creates the stream and sends it to the server for other people to view from server) called Real Producer.

There is a free version for both Real Server and Real Producer Basic.

Here's the page:
http://www.realnetworks.com/products/free_trial.html.

I believe you're not allowed to use the software commercially. As you use it for school and for noncommercial purposes you should be fine.
It may also be worth to send an email to Real because they may have discounts for educational licenses.
Anyway, Real Producer is about 100$

You just have to install the server on any computer with good network card because that's the computer that all classrooms will download the stream from. Your stream will be about 200-300KB/s for each user but you can change it as you want, for better or lower quality.

You install Real Producer on a somewhat powerful (a Core2Duo will be enough) computer with a TV tuner. Start the software, select the tv tuner as video and audio input, configure where to upload the stream and the bitrate and you're all set.

There are tutorials to help you on Real's website.

I've done this broadcasting football games at 80+ people in a college dormitory, on a 100mbps network so it definitely works.

Another alternative (though I didn't test this) would be to use an open source Flash streaming server like Red5 ( http://osflash.org/red5 ) and use the free Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder 3 ( http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/flashmediaencoder/ ) to record and send the stream to the Flash server.

You can't change how things work. These are the same type of guys who didn't bother with multiplatform server/client structure which would allow them to stream even to iPhone today.

Stuff like these: http://www.realnetworks.com/products/media_delivery.html

Some kind of "money under table" going on as usual. Do you think the old Windows Media only streamers/embedders used it because it was the best option available? Now Flash took over and Silverlight tries the same trick to gain ground. It has nothing to do with the technology, it has something to do with integrity of people choosing these technologies.

The issue with Silverlight is, it is not a true multiplatform thing, being x86 Mac only gives a very good clue about what it is.It comes from the very same company who doesn't say "NOT FOR INTEL MACS or ANYTHING HIGHER THAN 2003 OS X" in their "Windows Media Player for OS X" page resulting in huge amount of stability/performance loss. They still keep that damn thing available so unsuspecting Windows Switchers will download and rape their browsing and OS stability. If you have a buggy/outdated/not compiled for your CPU plugin on OS X, God help you since every single browser (even including Webkit framework using ordinary apps) will load it.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx?pid=Mactopia_WMP&fid=1E974157-5031-4AC6-840A-6E07547B6AEB#viewer

Do you see anything about being PPC only, not updated there? If I told you it sometimes makes to top 10 of Apple Downloads (since they submitted!), you can imagine the degree of situation.

I am running PowerPC and Silverlight 2 is not available to my CPU. If it was, I would seriously think twice about using/installing it.

Yeah, isn't it irony that Real happens to open source their player, too?

Oh wait... that was years ago. You couldn't be expected to remember such things...

"So they should say Windows, Mac and Linux? Or should that be Windows, Mac, Linux and FreeBSD? Or Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD and my toy OS that I wrote in CS class?"

http://www.helixcommunity.org/
http://www.real.com/linux (FreeBSD runs it too)
http://www.realnetworks.com/industries/mobile/prod ucts/player/index.html
http://www.real.com/mac/

Solaris/AIX and other variants exist but huge URLs. I am not even talking about Videolan and how easy to make a custom Videolan player with DRM of my choice.

Point is: If you are actually a media player/server making company, you try to reach ALL available environments. If you are a division of a giant OS monopoly company, you try to alienate all competing OSes and platforms and may even get support from unsuspecting users.

"4th Quarter Music revenue was $33.6 million, a 21% increase over the fourth quarter of 2005".

From the Real Networks Website http://investor.realnetworks.com/releasedetail.cfm ?ReleaseID=229983.

So Rhapsody is doing $130m a year. Not bad. That means 1 million subscribers paying $120 a year. Apple has sold on average 10 songs to each ipod owner. Looks like Rhapsody is going after the high end, high yield niche market, which is usually Apple's game.

You mean something like the Nokia N800, which comes with Opera and Flash, works with a wide range of bluetooth GPS units, including Navicore and TomTom, and has a freely available Rhapsody client?

But I don't know anyone who likes anything real does at all. I mean, they used to be a playering in streaming media, but we all know
...buffering...
...buffering...
...buffering...
how well that turned out: Microsoft and Apple ate their painfully bloated spyware's lunch.

So, market is Real a leader in? What do they make that everyone doesn't hate?

Crow T. Trollbot

Real is competing with Quicktime. They have solutions for Quicktime. They had a working (and free!) Real export plugin which functioned perfectly until Quicktime 7 shipped and Apple changed things as usual :)

It still works with QT 6.x+10.3.9 combination http://www.realnetworks.com/products/realexport/in dex.html

Microsoft Windows Media Player for OS X was a Carbon based product. It was going nowhere with Mactel announced, it was already having problems with Tiger and so on. So, MS made a clever choice by globally licensing flip4mac basic player.

On the other hand, Realplayer 11 OS X is a perfectly optimised universal binary which has some qualities like simplicity and stability. It uses Quicktime frameworks already to display whatever Quicktime can. They coded it totally respecting OS X guidelines linking it to system frameworks.

Besides all, they have 2.5 million paying for content subscribers, add some other content providers too. I agree it is not "player" anymore but if it is "paid content", there is DRM involved. Nobody can "do" others DRM yet. For example while MS globally licensed product, flip4mac can't show DRM content.

I suspect WMP for OS X ever did but anyway,it is a different issue.

Great news for Linux and open source developers. Today Real announced it has added a fundamental patent for certain streaming media technology to its portfolio of patented innovations in digital media AND is automatically licensing the patented technology via its OSI-certified open source license for Helix DNA software, as Real has done with its other digital media patents embodied within Helix DNA Software. The recently-issued "Click-to-Stream" patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,985,932) covers the core methods used when a user selects a link to stream audio-visual content. The patent covers Real's groundbreaking technology innovations dating back to November 1994, four months before the introduction of RealAudio, which forever changed the Web by bringing streaming audio to the Internet for the first time. Real is indeed serious about open source software.

Click-to-Stream joins the portfolio of over 35 patents related to digital media, many that are available to Helix DNA Software licensees. As many of you know, over 50 commercial and open source companies, including Nokia, Linspire, Motorola, Novell, Real, Red Hat, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Sun Microsystems, Trolltech and Xandros, have licensed Helix DNA software and its patented technology to build media-enabled products.

So what about the GPL license you ask? Yes, the Helix DNA Client (the FOSS media framework which supports any format and any operating system) is licensed under the GPL license. And what about patents under the GPL? As you may know, the proposed draft 3.0 of GPL contains an express patent license, whereas the current version of GPL being used by Real (version 2.0) does not contain a patent license. There is broad and public discussion about whether and to what extent an implicit patent license is or is not granted under the GPL, and if so, what the scope of such a license would be. Real's concerns regarding the uncertain nature of such an implied license has led Real to expressly disclaim any implied patent license under its GPL license grant, and to encourage Open Source developers who desire an express patent license from Real to take a license from Real under the RealNetworks Public Source License. For those who nevertheless prefer to use the code under the GPL, we assure you that Real has no plans to pursue any abiding GPL licensee of the Helix DNA Client software - We fully encourage open source software innovation and the collaboration among our licensees.

Here is the actual announcement: http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/releases

Here is the licensing FAQ https://helixcommunity.org/content/faq-licenses

Kevin Foreman,
GM, Real

When was the last time clueless real networks bashing earned you karma? It still works I think.

Get rid of karma whoring and check http://www.realnetworks.com/ to have a clue what they talk about, why it matters and what they warn the Linux against.

https://helixcommunity.org/ (They provide a free,opensource, full feature player/server)

and

http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/index.ht ml (see how they do lately)

and

http://www.real.com/freeplayer/?rppr=rnwk (see platforms)

But you will get +5 for posting "anti real player bs" and my post will fade -1 eventually. Not that I care.

Realplayer is not adware, especially after 10. It was never adware , just annoying.

Helix Project (open source leg of real networks) announced 50 million Symbian S60 installations and 100.000 registered members to their site

https://helixcommunity.org/

They are building an empire on Mobile media. No need to panic, all "standards based"

Realnetworks have more than 2 MILLION PAYING subscribers.
http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/releases /2006/q405results_8r16Js.html

Also a funny fact is, most of the large content providers may use windows media (MS exclusive deals etc) but the media is served via Helix/Real servers in fact. :)

Are they sure it wasn't the spooky commercials they were playing on late night TV a while back? Those things still give me the creeps.

They can't be as bad as Rhapsody's crack-addled spokesman. He sounds like he's torn between channeling the OxyClean guy and wandering off the stage to shoot himself. If you haven't seen it, it's on Real's press page.

Ahem, bad news...

"Video Support
NBCOlympics.com video can be viewed in Windows Media Player 6 or higher on a PC.

Playlist Support
The playlist auto advance functionality is supported in Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher for Windows. It is not supported on a Mac."

Good news is, I suspect even if Akamai network can handle that crap named "windows media server", also as windows media backwards format does not have "fallback support" like Real or Quicktime does, a nightmare for clients is on the way.

Funny is, I suspect Akamai will be using Helix Server on their huge network, aka real server to stream windows media. :) Yes it can stream windows media.

Here is the thing they will probably use:
http://www.realnetworks.com/products/media_deliver y.html

That's not the story with Real's "Harmony".

What happened was that Real reverse engineered the FairPlay copy protection, which basically uses a iPod-specific key to decrypt a song specific key that was encrypted with the iPod specific key (all encrypted songs from ITMS are the same).

So this lets them translate copy protected content from their format to the FairPlay (still copy protected) format.

Here's their press release from 2004: http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/releases /2004/harmony.html

And here's proof that they're still doing it today: http://music.guide.real.com/musicstoredevices

-- Terry

Because it's not Rhapsody's fault that Apple won't license their DRM technology.

If Real wanted you to be able to play Rhapsody music on iPods they would license Helix DRM to Apple, not the other way around (oh and does Rhapsody still use Listen.com's WMA format?). RealPlayer already uses the QuickTime libraries and is thus capable of playing FairPlay encrypted M4As/AACs. This is why "Harmony" was so ill-conceived and ill-recieved (legalities aside, Harmony benefits Real with nearly no benefit to Apple; letting iTunes users access Rhapsody on the other hand opens up Real's market to iPods, opens up Real's market to Mac users, both of which are "closed" to Rhapsody right now, and provides Apple with one more selling point for the iPod/iTunes combo -- subscription music). Real doesn't have to license/break/decieve FairPlay to get Rhapsody on the iPod, they just have to strike a deal with Apple (and get Helix DRM in iPod firmware or in iTunes). As far as I know, all the news has been Glaser begging/threatening Jobs in open and private email to 'open the iPod' ("or we'll go to our enemy Microsoft") not to support Helix and not to license FairPlay to them.

For more info:
http://www.realnetworks.com/products/drm/
http://news.com.com/Reals%20Glaser%20exhorts%20App le%20to%20open%20iPod/2100-1025_3-5177914.html?tag =nl
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/21/drm_company_v ows_to_.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairPlay

Not DRM that the iPod can read. Apple's DRM can only be used by ITMS, they have refused to licence it to third parties. Weren't they trying to legislate against Rhapsody (or something like that?) for selling DRMed content that the iPod could play?

Yes, that would be Real Networks, which owns Rhapsody. Real apparently reverse-engineered Apple's FairPlay DRM without licensing it from Apple (because Apple wouldn't license it to them), and Apple wasn't happy.

http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/index.ht ml --> They do real fine in their business,especially portable market lately.

https://helixcommunity.org/ --> They offer open source multimedia platform for free and they respect whatever OS you use including FreeBSD.

http://www.realnetworks.com/company/privacy/ --> They have well documented privacy.

Universal, decided formats are mpeg 4 and its part, h264. MPEG 2 is very fine if you have 10mbit connection to internet. The most "complete" mpeg4 implementation I have seen (which is amazingly free) is 3ivx , its not a divx wannabe, its the mpeg 4 codec.

Nothing on win32 since windows 2000 can make a BSOD since they run in their protected space.

If Real networks died before iPod, you would be playing wma and wmv (IF microsoft allowed now but its a different story.

But keep hating them including 2002 (or 2001?) software brands from Real such as "realone", you will have your +5

http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/index.ht ml --> They do real fine in their business,especially portable market lately.

https://helixcommunity.org/ --> They offer open source multimedia platform for free and they respect whatever OS you use including FreeBSD.

http://www.realnetworks.com/company/privacy/ --> They have well documented privacy.

Universal, decided formats are mpeg 4 and its part, h264. MPEG 2 is very fine if you have 10mbit connection to internet. The most "complete" mpeg4 implementation I have seen (which is amazingly free) is 3ivx , its not a divx wannabe, its the mpeg 4 codec.

Nothing on win32 since windows 2000 can make a BSOD since they run in their protected space.

If Real networks died before iPod, you would be playing wma and wmv (IF microsoft allowed now but its a different story.

But keep hating them including 2002 (or 2001?) software brands from Real such as "realone", you will have your +5

They bought Rhapsody.

I personally bring up Rhapsody, too, anytime people spit on RealNetworks because Rhapsody IS a really good tool. But it wasn't developed in-house.

The press release with details of the deal is here.

Why doesn't RealPlayer sue them for Windows Media Player?

They did... http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/releases /2003/dec18.html

For Windows, it's actually RealPlayer Enterprise:
http://www.realnetworks.com/products/rpe/index.htm l

No ads, crapware, etc. (i.e. any of the usual junk that makes Real products suck: http://www.avmaria.com/images/real_buffering.jpg )
heh, heh...

Also, since it's a Real Networks product/codecs there are no incompatibility issues which sometimes arise with Real Alternative.

Back in 2004 there was this little noticed press release on their website: REALNETWORKS MERGES REALPLAYER AND MUSIC SERVICES TEAMS INTO SINGLE BUSINESS UNIT. I bet what they're announcing tomorrow is the fruits of their labor, a single program that combines the single-track buy idea with the subscription music idea, into one program and hopefully does it well. Napster does it now, but their subscription program has so many different restrictions on it it's really annoying (eg "buy track only" or "buy album only" and such).

Obviously the "digital music revolution" thing is a lot of hype, but a combined program would be far more effective than what they've got now, so long as it works well and isn't bloated to hell. Also, it'd be nice if they took this opportunity to upgrade the audio quality on the Rhapsody stream files to something like 160 or 192 AAC/RA10 instead of the 128WMA they use right now (the actual pay per track music store uses 192 AAC)

I know lots of people from Real Networks reads slashdot and submit stories including the boss :)

I wonder why on earth those companies still use rv8 while realvideo 10 (mpeg4 like) and realaudio 10 (aac like) exist?

I see the url is rbn (real broadcast system) which makes me more surprised.

To see what you miss if it was rv 10, check:
http://www.realnetworks.com/products/codecs/realvi deo.html

I totally agree.. To some extent you CAN stream to certain cellphones now, such as ones that can run Real Player (I believe) from Nokia. Also, the Treo 600 can stream SHOUTcast. I've never had one of these devices to try it for myself, but I think it's possible.

I set up my own SHOUTcast server over my crappy DSL and use it to stream all my music so I can listen at work... I (and others) can request songs over instant messenger.. I would love to be able to listen to my shizznit in the car or anywhere using my phone. Sign me up.

...and from the article:
The site gets maybe 100 visitors per day.

Helix Server - Basic
Simple 5-stream free server allowing you to stream RealAudio 10 and RealVideo 10

Err... Free as in not costly?

Disclaimer - I work for RealNetworks on Helix Player / RealPlayer for linux

RealVideo 10 is definitely worth a look. There are players for Mac, Windows, Linux desktop, Linux Embedded, and Symbian. People can create additional players for new platforms in the Helix Community. RealAudio 10 comes in several flavours, including lossless and multichannel.

The producer apps page may be a good place to start if you want to try out the encoder.

I wonder if Real are positioning themselves to get their client distributed with distributions.

Yes, we are.

Rob Lanphier
Development Support Manager
RealNetworks

I wonder if Real are positioning themselves to get their client distributed with distributions.

Yes, we are.

Rob Lanphier
Development Support Manager
RealNetworks

I wonder if Real are positioning themselves to get their client distributed with distributions.

Yes, we are.

Rob Lanphier
Development Support Manager
RealNetworks

Real Player for Enterprise has "no product registration" (you just "register" - fake info is OK - for the download). It has no in-player ads or anything else. Only for Win NT/XP/2K.

I haven't seen any labels praising Real's behavior, you'll have to provide support for that claim.

"Interoperability of devices and jukebox software is one of the biggest challenges for today's music consumer," said Thomas Hesse, Chief Strategic Officer and Head of Global Digital Business, BMG. "RealNetworks' Harmony Technology is the first to address this issue by giving the consumer flexibility and choice."

"EMI's goal is to allow consumers to access our music on as many legitimate platforms as possible, and seamlessly, across a range of devices. RealNetworks' Harmony Technology will make it easier for consumers to enjoy their digital music in a truly flexible way," said Ted Cohen, SVP Digital Development and Distribution, EMI Music.

As for contracts, you're simply wrong. If Apple allows others to mess with their model, then the labels will lose confidence in their ability to protect their media and they won't renew, it's that simple. Real's contracts are irrelevant, as this is about Apple stopping Real from screwing with their device.

As for the lists, Apple has 7 (8) and the Rio offers 6. So, the list is longer for Apple. As I stated before, they have the most support for any device out there. I don't see what your point was there.

The problem from Real's perspective is that they couldn't negotiate a deal to get their own DRM onto the iPod.

Apple does allow others to use their DRM. They've worked out contracts with HP and Motorola already.

The future is all about DRM and whose is going to be used the most.

Glaser wants the Real DRM to be used somewhere, anywhere.

Real markets an encoding card called the Osprey (the -500 DV is the top-of-the-line that they sell) that apparently will convert NTSC or even DV signals into streaming video for web distribution.

Cost? $895. Seems trivial for the transmission. If you use VNC or something customized from VNC (ah, the beauty of open source) to change the channels remotely, you've got your high-quality server for under $1000.

I'm not too sure about signing, but you can create your own real content in iMovie with this plugin. You can also create content with the free version of RealProducer. A better question would be why would you want to create a store based on a streaming format when you could sell mp3/ogg/mp4 etc.?

What about this?

Obviously biased, coming from Real... but many of the points contained within are true. However, the question still stands... why hasn't the industry moved to a single format, be it MPEG-4 or anything else...?

Harmony!=FairPlay
apple could keep upgrading Fairplay [just like yahoo and msn keep upgrading their authentication scheme
of their IMs to keep away third-party IM's like gaim and trillian]...
would Harmony keep up with Fairplay just as well ?.

I recently downloaded Free Real Player Enterprise (argh, what a mouthful), which doesn't _seem_ to have any spyware at all:

http://www.realnetworks.com/products/rpe/index.htm l

btw, i put bogus personal info into the form and it did not require me to reply to an email in order to download the product.

ok, a proper link...

http://www.realnetworks.com/products/rpe/index.htm l

btw, i put bogus personal info into the form and it did not require me to reply to an email in order to download the product.

Hahah... Real Networks, complaining about Apple's DRM while they are working on their own? Nice job!

I still don't understand all of this DRM stuff... if someone wants to pirate an AAC file, or a Real Networks Helix file, all they have to do is PLAY it and record the output coming out of their soundcard. Plug a soundcard's OUT to a soundcard's IN and record a non-DRM WAV file. Who do they think they're fooling?

According to the CNET article, the system will "change the song into Windows Media format if necessary," so in that case it sounds like it's doing a transparent reencode of the track, which isn't much different from burning it to CD and reripping it yourself, except they slap on some Microsoft DRM for you.

If you've got a palm OS 5 machine, it sounds like it'll stay as a Helix DRMed file, since those PDAs already had a native realplayer.

For the ipod: "Harmony also will automatically change songs into an iPod-compatible format. But because Apple has not licensed its FairPlay copy-protection software to anyone, RealNetworks executives said its engineers had to re-create their own version in their labs in order to make the device play them back."

Considering that Real and Apple players already used AAC to begin with, as long as they don't do any reencoding those players will probably have the best quality. That all depends though; seeing as how Real already knows how to manipulate itunes into letting realplayer play ITMS files, this might succeed by manipulating QT/itunes into reripping the original AAC file, though I doubt it; that would take too much time and I don't even know if it's possible.

Here's RealNetworks press release about this system (called Harmony). They also announced that a public beta version of RealPlayer 10.5, which contains this technology, will be available here tomorrow (Tuesday).

No, it's not "doomed to fail" any more than MySQL is "doomed to fail" (which switched from LGPL to GPL, IIRC). Having a means of charging for making proprietary applications means that all people who modify/augment and distribute also contribute one way or another. Either they contribute by making their application open source (adding to the ecosystem), or they contribute financially by licensing the code. In any case, they help perpetuate the platform.

It sucks that we have to compete on so many fronts, but we've been doing it for 9 years in the face of many, many pundits talking about how we're "doomed to fail".

We've gotten tremendous traction in the embedded software space. Many, many, many handset makers have licensed Helix for use in their devices. We have a strong lead in the nascent Linux mobile space with our deal with Motorola. With our announcements today, we're making a great start into the Linux desktop space.

Rob Lanphier
Development Support Manager
RealNetworks

No, it's not "doomed to fail" any more than MySQL is "doomed to fail" (which switched from LGPL to GPL, IIRC). Having a means of charging for making proprietary applications means that all people who modify/augment and distribute also contribute one way or another. Either they contribute by making their application open source (adding to the ecosystem), or they contribute financially by licensing the code. In any case, they help perpetuate the platform.

It sucks that we have to compete on so many fronts, but we've been doing it for 9 years in the face of many, many pundits talking about how we're "doomed to fail".

We've gotten tremendous traction in the embedded software space. Many, many, many handset makers have licensed Helix for use in their devices. We have a strong lead in the nascent Linux mobile space with our deal with Motorola. With our announcements today, we're making a great start into the Linux desktop space.

Rob Lanphier
Development Support Manager
RealNetworks

No, it's not "doomed to fail" any more than MySQL is "doomed to fail" (which switched from LGPL to GPL, IIRC). Having a means of charging for making proprietary applications means that all people who modify/augment and distribute also contribute one way or another. Either they contribute by making their application open source (adding to the ecosystem), or they contribute financially by licensing the code. In any case, they help perpetuate the platform.

It sucks that we have to compete on so many fronts, but we've been doing it for 9 years in the face of many, many pundits talking about how we're "doomed to fail".

We've gotten tremendous traction in the embedded software space. Many, many, many handset makers have licensed Helix for use in their devices. We have a strong lead in the nascent Linux mobile space with our deal with Motorola. With our announcements today, we're making a great start into the Linux desktop space.

Rob Lanphier
Development Support Manager
RealNetworks

No, it's not "doomed to fail" any more than MySQL is "doomed to fail" (which switched from LGPL to GPL, IIRC). Having a means of charging for making proprietary applications means that all people who modify/augment and distribute also contribute one way or another. Either they contribute by making their application open source (adding to the ecosystem), or they contribute financially by licensing the code. In any case, they help perpetuate the platform.

It sucks that we have to compete on so many fronts, but we've been doing it for 9 years in the face of many, many pundits talking about how we're "doomed to fail".

We've gotten tremendous traction in the embedded software space. Many, many, many handset makers have licensed Helix for use in their devices. We have a strong lead in the nascent Linux mobile space with our deal with Motorola. With our announcements today, we're making a great start into the Linux desktop space.

Rob Lanphier
Development Support Manager
RealNetworks

Read a Description of Helix DRM before you pull out your debugger(s) and download the Helix server software. Feel free to let us know if you find any bounds that aren't checked or opportunities to send Real some malformed packets.