RealNetworks has introduced a software platform designed to let
mobile carriers deliver audio and video content services to mobile
devices.
Rolled out at the 3GSMWorld Congress show in Cannes, RealSystem
Mobile is a client-server architecture for pushing multimedia
content formats such as RealAudio, RealVideo, MPEG-4, and other
Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) files over mobile
networks.
The platform includes mobile and PC-based versions of the RealOne
player, a carrier-class mobile server for in-network delivery of
mobile content, the RealSystem Producer for creating digital media
content, and the RealSystem Mobile Gateway.
As wireless carriers inch closer to 2.5G and 3G network
infrastructures designed to accommodate rich content and higher
bandwidth flows, multimedia content services for handheld devices
will take off, according to Mark Donovan, group manager for
business-to-consumer solutions at RealNetworks.
"Mobile operators have a keen interest in 3G services. They've paid
for the licences and network build-out. As connectivity gets
commoditised, digital media applications are what will drive
carrier revenue," he said.
To help mobile operators set up services quickly, RealNetworks has
enlisted support from Cap Gemini Ernst & Young for consulting
integration. The partnership is designed to aid carriers with the
most daunting challenges of mobile content delivery: legacy system
integration and establishing billing and payment systems for
content delivery.
RealSystem Mobile adheres strictly to mobile standards such as
those coming out of 3GPP, a collaboration of telecommunications
standards bodies designed to establish global technical
specifications for the wireless Internet.
"Standards are important in wireless content delivery to ensure
interoperability and transparency to the end-user," Donovan said.