The Inquisitr » realnetworks

Only at RealNetworks Do You Get a Video About Being Laid Off

JR — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:23:16 +0000

RealNetworks is slashing about 130 jobs, or 7.5 percent of its workforce. The most interesting part of the story, though, is that the workers getting laid off seemingly were sent a video explaining the cutbacks.

A memo sent to staffers and obtained by All Things Digital has RealNetworks founder and CEO Rob Glaser breaking the news, with an embedded link to a “brief video that goes into additional detail.”

I was curious to see this video and had plenty of questions. What kind of production techniques do you use in a video about layoffs? Do you throw in a couple of dissolves between shots, or maybe an animated logo transition? How about music — do you go with a somber score, or maybe something more upbeat to elicit hope?

Sadly, my questions aren’t answered, as the video appears to have security settings that prohibit it from being played externally. The full memo, though, is here. This is the video link, just in case you’d like to give it a go.

Real Networks

Yahoo Offers Streaming Music Within Search

JR — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:35:51 +0000

Yahoo is teaming up with RealNetworks to put music into search. Starting today, Yahoo will provide playable buttons right within its results when you search for artists who have streamable content available. The setup uses the in-browser FoxyTunes Player, which comes from RealNetworks/MTV-owned Rhapsody.

The service isn’t limitless, though: You’ll be able to listen to 25 full-length tracks a month. After that, you’ll be prompted to pay for a Rhapsody streaming subscription. If you turn it down, you’ll only be able to listen to 30-second samples until the start of the next month.

On the whole, the service works surprisingly well. Searching for an available artist brings up a box at the top of the results with play buttons for four popular songs and the option to see more songs. Once you click play, a second player box opens at the bottom of the search results. You can still navigate around the page with the box open and the song playing — it’ll stay at the bottom of the window — but once you click to any other page, the box and the song both go away.

I’m reluctant to say it, but this actually isn’t a horrible idea. It may be one of Yahoo’s first moves that does something to add value into its search product — a novel concept. Will it get people to switch over from Google? Likely not. But it might get them to use Yahoo a handful of times a month for music-specific searching, and that’s at least something.

In any event, it reeks far less of desperation than Microsoft’s “we’ll pay you to use our search engine” idea.

Yahoo

Real Networks

Rhapsody Goes Mobile With Verizon

JR — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:48:03 +0000

RealNetworks’ Rhapsody music service is going mobile with a new Verizon partnership launching today.

The deal — branded as V CAST Music — will give users the option of getting unlimited music downloads to their phones for $15 a month. The charge includes the option to download on two other compatible phones or PCs. There’s also a per-song download option, costing $1.99 a pop.

The service is now available on the LG Decoy, LG Dare, MOTO W755, Samsung SCH-u550, Samsung Glyde, and Samsung Juke phones. Some other phones can get a store-initiated software upgrade to gain support.

Real Networks