In a significant step forward for the online music market, RealNetworkshas it is working together with Intel to make it easy for broadband-connected consumers to link their PC and home stereo systems and receive the Rhapsody (Buy Direct) digital music subscription service throughout their homes.
Rhapsody will soon be the first digital music service to enable consumers to control and listen to the service in their living room. Consumers will be able to access Rhapsody'slibrary of more than 30,000 CDs and build a single, vast library of music that's accessible both on their PC and through high-fidelity home stereo and home theater systems.
The new service offering is made possible through Intel's Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Authoring Tools, which RealNetworks has used to integrate support for UPnP home networking technology into the current version of Rhapsody. As a result, Rhapsody is now capable of communicating with a new generation of digital audio products that enable consumers to access music from their PC via their stereo and home theater systems.
These products include the latest version of the Omnifi from Rockford Corporation, which is expected to ship with Rhapsody support beginning November 14, 2003, and a number of devices from other manufacturers that are expected to ship in the coming weeks.
"We believe that the combination of broadband, Rhapsody and UPnP technology gives consumers what they have been looking for: the ability to listen to any music anywhere in their home," said Sean Ryan, vice president of music services, RealNetworks.
RealNetworks' goal is to make Rhapsody compatible with all new, UPnP-compliant devices coming to market in the next year.
- from a RealNetworks Press Release
