RealNetworks is announcing some interesting news regarding its digital music service, Rhapsody, today at CES, as well as some news about the Real Player video offerings, but we'll get to that later. First, the digital music. Rhapsody has been found sneaking its way into a handful of other services, such as MOG, as well as TiVo.
These partnerships have been party of the company's larger plan for deeper Rhapsody integration, and marks only the beginning of what Rhapsody plans to do on the consumer side. So expect to see more of this level of integration, especially thanks to Rhapsody's operational partnership with MTV Networks. The point is to move beyond the PC, so Rhapsody will also be accessible with devices from Philips, iriver, Denon and Logitech.
The hope of getting its digital music in more hands across various devices is evident, and the slew of partnerships for an integrated service as well as a competing stance against Apple is also clear. Napster has made its own announcement today regarding its service, in an effort to better appeal to its quickly dispersing customer base. The company is also raising its prices, and although it's selling DRM-free content from the major record labels, it's not yet taking the approach of supplemental devices and integrated services to the extent that Rhapsody has taken.
[img src="" caption="" credit="" alt=""]Even Sony BMG is hoping for better luck on the direct consumer end, in a strange approach to the selling of albums on cards that customers can purchase at store locations. So what we're left with is a growing appeal to mainstream consumers on the retail front.
Onto RealNetworks Video announcements: this too is reaching towards the home and portable device environment for better access to its consumer base. RealPlayer's device partners have integrated the Helix DNA Client to support the RealAudio and RealVideo formats for a variety of portable media standards, giving them HD resolutions and other perks.