Seattle-based streaming media powerhouse RealNetworks on
Tuesday rolled out its second beta release of its flagship RealOne Player
for users of the Mac OS X.
The move, which puts the RealOne media player before millions of users of
the new operating system from Apple , means Real can now
hawk its paid subscription offerings directly to Mac users.
The upgraded RealOne
for Mac OS X player has been fitted with new features, including support for
the premium content SuperPass service, which provides access to digital
programming from third-party sources.
The newer release also includes a revamped user interface, like a pop-down
that directly links to RealOne Home and one-click access to topic-based
programming. It also includes a search index and a new “Favorites” menu that
allows users to save frequently-used files.
The free player, which is available immediately, also gives Mac OS X users
access to 1,700 radio feeds, RealNetworks said.
RealNetworks first put the RealOne player on Mac systems at the summer
Macworld Expo and, since then, the software has been downloaded 800,000
times.
The company also announced its RealOne Player v2.0 and RealOne Player Plus,
which both run on the new Helix platform, is now available is several
foreign languages.
Nothing that more than 50 percent of its users reside outside North America,
RealNetworks said the player was now available on Windows platforms to
French, German, Japanese, and Spanish-language speakers.
It said Italian, Korean and Portuguese players will be available later this
month.
Real’s media player, which competes directly with Microsoft’s Windows Media Player (WMP) and Apples QuickTime, allows
playback of competing media types, including Windows Media and MPEG 4.
