RNWK--RealJukebox Extends Leadership in Digital Music Portability More than 20 Portable Music Device Manufacturers Announce Support for RealJukebox 2 Consumers Receive Unrivaled Choice and Convenience in Taking Their Personal Music Collections on the Go
PR NEWSWIRE - May 22, 2000 04:00
SEATTLE, May 22, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- RealNetworks(R), Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK) today announced that RealJukebox(TM), the world's most popular jukebox software, is extending its leadership in digital music portability by enabling consumers to take music beyond the PC with seamless support for the widest range of portable digital music devices from more than 20 manufacturers. RealNetworks also announced the RealJukebox 2 SDK, which allows device manufacturers to integrate portable music players and peripherals with over 34 million unique registered RealJukebox users. With shipping support for 5 portable music devices (S3's Diamond Rio 300 and Rio 500, RCA Lyra, Philips Rush, Creative Nomad), and over 20 device manufacturers announcing support for RealJukebox 2, RealJukebox has the broadest industry support of digital entertainment products and players by a wide margin. RealJukebox 2 is available for free download at www.real.com, and the RealJukebox 2 SDK is available for free download at www.realnetworks.com/devzone/.
"We are pleased to be teaming with the leading portable device companies to provide users with the most convenient and flexible music experience available today," said Richard Brownrigg, General Manager, RealJukebox, RealNetworks, Inc. "Now more than 34 million registered RealJukebox users have the freedom to enjoy their digital music collections anywhere they go."
More than 20 portable music device manufacturers today announced their support for RealJukebox 2 including: Artec, AudioVox, C-one Tech, Cybercomp, Digital-3, e.digital, Empeq, Frontier Labs, Hyun Won, i2GO, Imeron, Kaser, Maxtech, NETVOX, New Korea Media, NTK Computer, Nuvocom, Pine Technologies, RomeMP3.com, S3, Varovision and Yuan. These manufacturers join those that have previously announced support for RealJukebox with the following portable music players: Diamond Rio 300 and Rio 500, RCA Lyra, Philips Rush, Creative Nomad, Samsung Yepp, Innogear Minijam (for Palm OS), and Sony Vaio Music Clip.
"We've designed our Rio portable players to make playing digital music simple," said Mike Reed, director of marketing for S3's Rio Audio Group. "Our support of RealJukebox takes simplicity and portability of digital music to the next level. Now both RealJukebox and Rio users can combine the world's most popular software and hardware for a great digital music experience."
Portable digital music players have several benefits over traditional music playback devices. Unlike a CD player, portable digital players have no moving parts, which means that users will not experience skipping during sports activities like skateboarding, bicycling, and jogging. Additional convenience factors include the typically smaller device size, as well as the ability to store custom playlists that combine songs from various artists and albums. RealJukebox and the RealJukebox 2 SDK enable deep integration with portable digital music players, including the following key features:
-- Quick and easy transfer of songs and playlists to a portable device with a single mouse click. -- A device-specific, customized user interface within RealJukebox that allows control and status display of the device playlist, playlist order, available memory and interactive control of all device configuration options and capabilities. -- Compatibility with any device-specific format by automatically converting digital music files during transfer. -- Efficient use of device storage space by reducing file size during transfer. This enables users to put more music on their devices, extending listening time. -- Preservation of music copyrights by following SDMI guidelines and transferring only those files that allow portable device support. -- Support for storage devices such as SmartMedia, compact flash, Sony memory stick, and communication via parallel and USB ports.
About RealJukebox
RealJukebox, with over 34 million unique registered users, is the market-leading digital media jukebox software that enables users to easily record their personal CD collections to a PC hard disk, find and download Internet music, and manage their personal music collections on their PCs. RealJukebox 2 takes the consumer digital media experience forward with new features such as:
-- New Web-oriented interface that makes RealJukebox easier to navigate and personalize. -- Integrated online Artist Guide that displays album art, artist biographies, and recommendations for similar artists. -- Enhanced skins that enable a wide range of personalization including displaying album art, lyrics, and links to additional online artist information. -- AutoPlaylist lets users easily create customized mixes for hours of music enjoyment. -- The ability to create custom CDs and print CD art and lyrics to create professional-looking products. -- CrossFade, which acts as an automatic DJ to mix songs together without breaks between tracks. -- RealJukebox has the broadest support for popular entertainment formats and Digital Rights Management Solutions (DRMs), including announced support for: MP3, RealAudio(R), RealVideo(R), AT&T's a2b music, IBM's EMMS, Liquid Audio, Mjuice, Windows Media Audio (download only), Sony Atrac3 and OpenMG, and UMG/InterTrust.
About RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc., based in Seattle, is the recognized leader in media delivery on the Internet. It develops and markets software products and services designed to enable users of personal computers and consumer electronic devices to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia services using the Web. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks consumer software on the Internet at real.com. RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located on the Internet at realnetworks.com.
NOTE: RealJukebox, RealAudio, RealVideo and RealNetworks are trademarks or registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc. All other companies or products listed herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE RealNetworks, Inc.
CONTACT: Kari Day, 206-674-2358, or karid@real.com, or David Brotherton, 206-892-6561, or dbrotherton@real.com, both of RealNetworks, Inc. /Company News On-Call: prnewswire.com or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 119814
URL: realnetworks.com |
