Ex-Microsoft investment vehicle RealNetworks Inc (CI No 3,542) has announced some good news to offset its sliding stock price. The final release of RealSystem G2, the company’s flagship media delivery system, is out the door. New features since the beta release include Excite Inc’s search technology and Qsound Labs’ iQfx 3D audio. The search tool should make it easier for users of the RealPlayer G2 to find RealAudio and RealVideo content on the web. Support for industry standards has also been improved, the company claims. The World Wide Web Consortium’s synchronized multimedia integration language, SMIL (CI No 3,432) and real-time streaming protocol (RTSP) are fully supported in RealSystem G2. As if that weren’t enough goodies for one release, G2 sees RealNetworks becoming something of a content player. More than 70 RealChannels are built into RealPlayer G2, including CNN, ESPN and the Wall Street Journal.
