RealNetworks

Next week at the D Mobile technology conference, Real Networks will demonstrate its first new major consumer product in a long time, a cross-platform media management service. The as-yet unnamed product is in two parts: software that consumers run on their computers and mobile devices that will watch for new content they store on them; and a Web service that can collect that media and stream or load it to any of the devices the consumer owns.

Real's new-since-January CEO Robert Kimball believes that this product will address a major pain point for consumers and bring Real back to the public eye after years of decline. But he was clear with me that Real's consumer-facing media player (remember that?) accounts for less than a tenth of the company's business and that he doesn't expect a major boost from the new service. Currently, the bulk of Real's business is in its gaming platform, its licensing of technology, and, primarily (37 percent of revenues) the back-end and white-label service Real provides to wireless carriers. But even there, Real has a lot more potential than market: about 38 million mobile subscribers use Real-developed online services, out of a potential addressable market of 700 million people, Kimball says.… Read more

In its rather successful attempts to keep up with the video-hungry masses, RealNetworks started adding some attention-grabbing improvements to its RealPlayer multimedia app last year. First, the software slapped on the ability to quickly and easily download videos from the Web and transcode them to various devices.Then, earlier this year, the company threw in a user-friendly video editing and sharing tool.

Today, RealNetworks announced another update to the software aimed at making it even simpler to manage, share, and transfer your media. Details in the release are scarce as to the actual changes that accomplish this, but company Vice … Read more

RealNetworks' founder and chairman Rob Glaser is becoming a partner at venture capital firm Accel Partners.

Glaser said he'll be focusing on investment opportunities in the realms of digital and social media, and mobile services, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Glaser, who's been celebrated for his vision but criticized for what some say is a refusal to heed advice, left his role as CEO of RealNetworks this past January.

He remains chairman of the company, which was an early leader in streaming media but became an also-ran as entities such as YouTube and Apple's iTunes became digital … Read more

RealNetworks may be best-known for its audio- and video-streaming technologies, its stake in the Rhapsody music service, and the recent drama of its RealDVD software litigation, but the company hopes to be just as well-known for its new social-gaming platform.

Officially launched at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco this week, "GameHouse Fusion" is a platform for developers to build social features into their games with minimal effort. Think of it like what companies like Aurora Feint and Ngmoco have done for iPhone games--but for every platform.

The service creates a profile for gamers based on … Read more

The ailing Rhapsody music service that Viacom and RealNetworks failed to revive starts going it alone this month. The newly independent company will partner with a major music label this time around as well as slash monthly music prices from $15 to $10.

In February, Viacom and Real announced they would spin off the jointly run music subscription service and that they would sell a minority share while each held on to 47 percent of the company's stock. On Monday, Rhapsody said that Universal Music Group, the largest of the top four recording companies, has acquired a stake of … Read more

Rob Glaser's 16 years at the helm of RealNetworks started with the pioneering of the early dot-com days and ended with a courtroom drubbing at the hands of the entertainment industry. In between, Glaser, who by most accounts saw the promise of Web video and music long before his peers, proved himself to be a better visionary than executive.

Earlier this month, Real announced it was giving up on attempts to defend its RealDVD technology against a lawsuit filed by the major movie studios. RealDVD is software that enabled users to create copies of their film discs and store … Read more

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel has issued a permanent injunction that bars RealNetworks from selling RealDVD, the DVD-copying software that Hollywood claimed in a lawsuit violated copyright law.

Real and the Motion Picture Association of America reached a settlement, according to statements issued by both companies, that called for Real to stop selling RealDVD or any similar products and to pay $4.5 million to reimburse the studios for legal fees.

"We are gratified by the successful conclusion of this important matter," said Daniel Mandil, the MPAA's general counsel. "Judge Patel's rulings and … Read more

Billboard analyst Glenn Peoples predicts that RealNetworks will sell its 51 percent stake in music-streaming subscription service Rhapsody in 2010. My question: who'd buy it?

Rhapsody certainly appears to be a drag on RealNetworks' earnings. According to the company's financial filings for the third quarter of 2009, its music businesses--which include Rhapsody and sales of music through the RealPlayer store--posted an operating loss of $10 million. That's better than the $25 million operating loss in the same quarter of 2008, but the fundamentals aren't improving.

Subscriber numbers are down from about 800,000 at the beginning … Read more

Rob Glaser, the CEO of software company RealNetworks, has stepped down, according to a statement released by the company Wednesday.

"After nearly 16 years, I've decided it's time for me to step away from day-to-day operations," Glaser said in the statement.

Real said Glaser will remain at the company as chairman and appointed Robert Kimball as president and acting chief executive officer. The announcement comes a day after Real announced that John Giamatteo, the company's chief operating officer, had resigned.

Glaser jumped from Microsoft after spending 10 years working for CEO Bill Gates to form … Read more