RealNetworks is making available the underlying software code for
its open source media player, a move that should allow developers
to create free versions of the player to run on Windows, Mac OS X
and Linux operating systems.
The release of the code marks the first in a series of open source
products that the company plans to offer under its initiative known
as Helix. Within the next year it is expected to release an open
source media server as well as freely available technology to
encode audio and video files.
The Helix DNA Client, which will be available on the Web from today
(29 October), is an open source version of the engine that powers
the company's commercial RealOne Player. It can be built into
devices as diverse as mobile phones, set-top boxes, home audio
receiver and PCs so that users can stream and play back digital
media on those devices
Initially, the company will ship the code required to build players
that can be compiled to run on desktop operating systems from
Microsoft, Apple Computer and the Linux community. With some tuning
the code can be modified for other operating systems such as those
from Symbian, PalmSource and Wind River Systems.
"We actually are going to allow people to build essentially their
own version of the RealOne Player," said Dan Sheeran,
vice-president of media systems at RealNetworks. "You can grab this
code and port it to your platform as quickly as you want," he said.
RealNetworks is betting on the open source development model to
establish its media formats and related technology as a de facto
standard for streaming and playing back media on PCs and other
devices. RealNetworks competes against Microsoft and Apple, who
also make media players and server technology based on their
respective file formats.
Along with the release of the Helix DNA Client source code,
RealNetworks disclosed that it will give developers free access to
its prized compression and decompression technology, or codec, so
that open source players built with the Helix code will be able to
play back RealAudio and RealVideo files.
The company will not distribute the source code for its codecs.
Instead, it will distribute compiled versions of the software for
each operating system supported, Sheeran said.
"We were unclear before as to whether we were going to allow [free]
use of the format," Sheeran said. "People will be pleasantly
surprised at how liberal we're being," he said.
Some open source developers initially criticised the company for
not offering free access to its codecs as part of the open source
initiative, which was first announced in July. Without such access,
developers would have been able to build a free media player but
would have had to pay royalties in order to allow the playback of
Real media files on their players.
"In the beginning there was a lot of protest about the licensing
agreements they came out with," said Max Flisi, research analyst
with IDC, noting that the alterations to the licensing structure
will probably quell earlier concerns. "RealNetworks wants to make
it as easy and cost effective as possible for companies to use
this," he said.
Without any modification, players built with the Helix DNA Client
will support RealAudio and RealVideo, MP3, MPEG-4 (Moving Picture
Experts Group), the standard low bit rate video codec H.263, and
3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), a file format used by
the mobile phone industry.
One highlight to RealNetworks' original announcement was that it
had developed a technology that would allow files encoded in the
Windows Media formats to be delivered over the Internet using the
Helix media server and played back on the free client software.
That technology will not be included in the current release. Real
hopes that developers will begin projects among themselves in order
to add such support.
RealNetworks will release the source code under two licences. One
is an open source licence allowing individual developers and
universities to freely build versions of the media player for
non-commercial use. The Open Source Initiative is submitting that
licence for certification.
A second, commercial licence will be available for organisations
that develop players for commercial purposes. Under that scenario
companies will receive free licensing for the first million units
shipped annually and pay $0.10 per unit beyond that.
"The intention there is to facilitate both non-commercial and
commercial uses," Sheeran said. "If you want to ship millions of
copies that's not going to be free."
Acers, Hitachi, STMicroelectronics and Nokia have said they will
back the Helix effort by implementing the technology in various
computing and consumer electronics devices they ship.
The open source effort has received an overwhelming response from
developers and manufacturers since it was first announced,
according to RealNetworks. Roughly 2,000 developers have registered
to be members of the Helix community, which includes access to the
source code and development tips, according to the company.
Initial projects to be taken on by the Helix developer community
include creating a player for the Palm operating system and
plug-ins for the Mozilla and Opera Web browsers, Sheeran said.