RealNetworks Inc's boldest and riskiest move to date, the company is opening source code to its suite of streaming software, and will include support for Microsoft Corp's Windows Media in its streaming server for the first time, writes Kevin Murphy.
While Microsoft is playing its cards close to its chest, speculation is already mounting that the company may challenge RealNetworks for including Windows Media protocol support in its server without permission, though RealNetworks claims its development work was all above board.
At a press conference in San Francisco yesterday, RealNetworks unveiled "Helix", an umbrella brand for its latest generation of software and an industry initiative that borrows its form heavily from the open source process and the Java Community Process.
RealNetworks hopes to blow the streaming industry wide open, allowing commercial and open source developers to build their own streaming media systems.
RealNetworks' own implementation will allow over fifty data types to be streamed, including the major formats: RealVideo, Apple QuickTime, Windows Media, and MPEG
News source: The Reg
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