Petteri Pyyny
7 Jan 2004 13:27
RealNetworks has launched a new version of its widely-spread multimedia player, RealPlayer. The new version, RealPlayer 10 includes support for AAC audio and for Real's latest video codec, RealVideo 10.
But the biggest news is definitely the fact that now Real is competing directly against Apple; RealPlayer 10 has integrated music store built into it, exactly like Apple's iTunes has. RealPlayer Music Store (very original, as Apple's music store is called iTunes Music Store) offers a selection of 300,000 songs for $0.99 each. RealPlayer also supports variety of formats and is capable of playing iTunes' tracks as well (after all, they're DRM-equipped AAC tracks as well).
So, nothing dramatic really, but all the signs are telling us that by the end of the year 2004, we'll see some winners and tons of losers in this legal music download hoobla that has quite clear resemblance to the dotcom bubble years in late 1990s.
Source: News.com