RealNetworks today announced the immediate availability of commercial content offerings for Symbian OS-based mobile handsets, demonstrating a new generation of media applications for users of advanced mobile devices.
European content providers are making audio and video programming available for consumers in English, French, and German. These content providers include Virgin Radio, BMG Entertainment, Kirch New Media, TF1, Darker Than Blue, Aestheticom, and Supersoni.com.
Today’s announcement marks the industry’s first commercially available offerings for the Symbian OS platform. RealPlayer Mobile ships with the new Nokia 9210 Communicator, which is available for purchase in Europe.
“Virgin Radio has always sought to be a pioneer in embracing new technologies in order to offer our listeners new and innovative ways to hear our content-whether at home, at work or on the move,” said Steve Taylor, Enterprise Director at Virgin Radio. “The RealPlayer Mobile will allow us to reach even more people across the world.”
“The future of mobile media delivery is now, and we are excited to be a part of this new era in content delivery to advanced mobile media handsets,” said Dr. Marcus Englert, CEO, Kirch New Media. “Delivering short movies shows that streaming media will be an important and usable application also for mobile devices.”
RealPlayer Mobile, the first media player commercially available with a Symbian OS-based mobile handset, is the mobile version of the world’s most popular digital media player.
“The RealPlayer Mobile and Nokia 9210 Communicator enable content providers to create rich multimedia programming for a new class of consumer devices,” said Mark Bretl, vice president, Consumer Appliances, RealNetworks, Inc. “Our goal is to enable the more than 200 million RealPlayer users to access their favorite Internet media from any platform and on any device, and this is a huge step forward in that direction.”
Symbian licensees include Ericsson, Kenwood, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Psion, Sanyo, Siemens, and Sony.
