RealNetworks and Texas Instruments announced on Monday that they are developing a multimedia chip designed for mobile devices that would include the core of RealNetworks' RealPlayer Mobile player. The player, already used as a separate application in Nokia's 9210 Communicator, is designed for Symbian platform and allows users to watch and listen RealAudio and RealVideo files and streams.
Only competing product currently available is Microsoft's Windows Media Player which is available for PocketPC devices, most notably Compaq's and HP's PDAs. But PDA markets pale in comparision to mobile phone markets -- worldwide, PDA sales are measured in millions and tens of millions, but mobile phone markets are measured in hundreds of millions. Symbian is an operating system based on Psion's EPOC32 operating system and it is supported by all the major mobile phone manufacturers, including Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia.
