RealPlayer Blog

New RealPlayer is Now Available

By Matt Spragins, Director of Product, RealPlayer

The new RealPlayer beta is now available for download.

Please visit http://www.realplayer.com to download the new RealPlayer.

After using it, please come back and give us your feedback.

Response to Rafat Ali’s Open Questions to Rob Glaser

by Rob Glaser

Last week, Rafat Ali posted a number of questions to me on his site (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-dh-some-open-questions-to-rob-glaser/).  Here are my responses (for ease of reading, I’ve included the original questions below verbatim).

Rafat Ali: Just because a piece of streaming online video doesn’t have a DRM protecting it, doesn’t mean it is not copyrighted. How do you address that?

Rob Glaser: The new RealPlayer is just like a VCR, a DVR, or a photocopier: It knows nothing about whether or not a piece of content is copyrighted.  Like these earlier video players, the new RealPlayer facilitates many legal and appropriate uses, for instance downloading public domain content and content for which the owner has given permission.

Rafat Ali:  1.5 million RealPlayer downloads daily? Really? Where is the growth coming from, and what's the real breakdown in terms of growth subscribers?

Rob Glaser:  We don't breakdown these numbers, but as your question implies, there is growth in many parts of the world.  In 2006 we had the largest number of RealPlayer downloads in history.  We're hoping that the new RealPlayer helps make 2007 even more successful.  We also think people will use the new RealPlayer even more than they’ve used previous versions. Others seem to agree. (for instance http://www.abiresearch.com/blog/digital_home_blog/368).

Rafat Ali: What’s the future of RealVideo and RealAudio format? No major media company is planning anything new with those formats, and in fact tons are moving away from it....why should we care about the new RealPlayer when we are not even using any of those formats?

Rob Glaser: Formats are important, but delivering great products to consumers is even more important.   RealPlayer is a multi-format player that adds value to content in many formats, including Real, Windows Media, QuickTime, and Flash.  That said, Real remains committed to developing world-class codecs for content providers.   Indeed, we have some interesting format-related products in the pipeline, but that’s for another day….

Rafat Ali: Sharing in the new player: you mean we install the new RP11, need to download the video first (say from YouTube), wait for that, then play it in RP11, then share from that software, and then the friend at the other end gets an e-mail linking back to the original online source? Why not just use YouTube’s (or any other site’s) sharing functionality to share it, and that’s 50 times faster.

Rob Glaser:  This is not about replacing the on-line experience YouTube and others offer; it is about giving consumers more control over their web video experience.  The new RealPlayer gives the users lots of control over Internet video -- watching it offline, burning it to CD or DVDs, storing it in a library, etc.   Sharing content links directly from the RealPlayer library can be really useful.  A number of people who’ve tested the pre-beta have told me that they love watching a few seconds of a video on a web site, then using RealPlayer to download a copy for later viewing.  Then if they like it they go ahead and share the link with friends.

Rafat Ali: What’s to prevent YouTube and others to offer the download functionality? They will when they can do it legally.

Rob Glaser: RealPlayer enables downloading across thousands of sites on the entire Web.  Two weeks ago I was in Japan and Korea and I tried it on a few major local video sites.   Guess what – it just worked!   

Because the new RealPlayer is not limited to a single site or format, it’s far more valuable to consumers than something that's limited to one Web site or format. The new RealPlayer makes downloading easier for site designers and for consumers, thanks to the simple one-click feature built right into RealPlayer.

Rafat Ali: In the end, RealNetworks has more fundamental issues to address than a software update here and there. Yes there’s the games part, yes there’s Rhapsody, but the format war was lost by Real a few years ago. Microsoft money can only carry them so far.

Rob Glaser: With all due respect Rafat, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.  Our first quarter revenue was $129.5 million, an increase of 50% from last year. We’re very focused on continuing to develop new products and services that deliver great digital entertainment experiences to consumers.  Based on the initial reaction to the new RealPlayer as well as the continuing success of our other products (including the ones you mention), we think we’re on the right track.

CEO Rob Glaser on the new RealPlayer.

Read Rob's blog at http://voices.allthingsd.com/ on the new RealPlayer: The World Isn't Flat

Matt Spragins, Director of Product, RealPlayer

Installations Gone Awry

By Ben Rotholtz, General Manager, Web Services & Syndication

Previous versions of the RealPlayer delivered uneven experiences over the years for some consumers.  “Uneven,” ah, that’s so ‘PC’ -- must be a Seattle thing. Let’s be blunt, “Uneven” is too kind for some of the loops and hurdles that got in the way of the very basic value-proposition of RealPlayer: “Let me play.” Consumers just wanted the unimpeded ability to play a clip they found on the Internet, not wade through an installation sequence that just lingered on-and-on.

It may have seemed like some malicious plot on our part to wreck the consumer experience of what was fundamentally a very useful piece of software. The RealPlayer was one of the Internet’s most revolutionary applications and ignited media on the Internet.

Real did not design installation to be a series of frustrating experiences. It was more like a number of experiments that got away from us. Too many cups of coffee mixed with too many agendas.

Installation: It’s the heart of the first-time experience. Will this software meet my needs? Will it meet my expectations? Do I trust it as a guest on my machine? Will it be a fundamental part of my lifestyle?

The new RealPlayer, available at the end of June, approaches installation in a very different way from previous versions. The new RealPlayer is all about the unimpeded zero-to-sixty ability to download and record video clips across tens–of-thousands of Internet sites. The new RealPlayer is our video platform. It’s our priority to make installation transparent.

We’ve got four installation screens for the Windows version (the Mac version will be available later this year and we’ll update you on any variants). There is the license agreement:

Then we provide the ability to set the location for the RealPlayer install and provide an option to add a desktop icon (you can uncheck it). Note, there is not even an option for putting RealPlayer in the system tray anymore). You can disable the “Download this Video” button from your Internet Explorer or Firefox browser: If downloading and recording is of interest to you leave option this checked. Lastly, “Make RealPlayer the default player for any media-types not currently associated with another application.” What’s that mean? If another media player hasn’t taken a media-type (that is, open X player when you see Y kind of video file) then we’ll attempt to play it back with the RealPlayer. Remember the media-type wars where QuickTime, Windows Media and RealPlayer would battle for playback? We’re not playing anymore.

The third screen enables consumers to opt-out of software that we distribute for partners. We think this software is of great benefit to consumers (for example, the Google Toolbar or the Firefox browser) but it’s your choice and you can uncheck installation. 

The last screen of the installation sequence won’t affect anything unless you check boxes. If you want to sample other products that Real creates, such as RealArcade or Rhapsody, you can check the box and we will install a desktop icon you can click to find out about these products. If you want to be notified about movie trailers and clips, new music or highlights from the Guide you have to check the boxes. The message center is off by default. If you want to be on a mailing list you can supply us with an email address.

 

Hit “Finish” and start playing.

Ben Rotholtz, General Manager, Web Services & Syndication