Multimedia streaming specialist RealNetworks Inc of Seattle, Washington has unveiled a new set of tools that it said make it easier to stream video over the internet in a move that it hopes will broaden the use of media streaming. The tools include RealPresenter Plug-in for use with Microsoft PowerPoint 97, RealPublisher 5.1 and RealPublisher Plug-in for use with Adobe Premiere. The RealPresenter Plug-in will let users stream audio narrated PowerPoint 97 presentations. These can be viewed on Windows, Macintosh, and Unix RealPlayer 5.0 clients. The plug-in also lets users convert PowerPoint presentations to RealVideo and send them as attachments to email or stream them off a Web server or a RealNetworks RealServer. RealPublisher provides simpler publishing of streaming RealAudio and RealVideo to an ISP personal page, Web server or RealServer. The RealPublisher includes functions for more advanced users, including live broadcasting to RealServers and the ability to provide bandwidth negotiated files which can deliver content optimised for users at different connection speeds. The RealPublisher Premiere Plug-in for use with Adobe Premiere, enables users to create and publish streaming RealAudio and RealVideo content from within Adobe Premiere. New features include a preview mode allowing video editors to view Web pages created by the HTML Wizard and listen to or view embedded content. The tools are available at www.real.com/products/tools.html.
