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International Entertainment News

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Rhapsody Grooves With New LifeDrive Mobile Manager From palmOne

Rhapsody Grooves With New LifeDrive Mobile Manager From palmOne

LifeDrive Users Can Now Manage Personal Music Collections With Rhapsody

New Rhapsody to Go Service Will Be Available to LifeDrive Customers in Coming Months

SEATTLE, May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RealNetworks(R) (NASDAQ:RNWK), the leader in music subscription services, today announced that its award-winning Rhapsody(R) music player is the preferred music manager for the LifeDrive(TM) mobile manager, the groundbreaking new device from palmOne, Inc. LifeDrive users can use Rhapsody to manage their entire digital music collection on their PC and transfer certain songs to their LifeDrive for on-the-go enjoyment. This follows Real's launch last month of Rhapsody 25, a pioneering music service that lets consumers listen to and share music online for free. The Rhapsody desktop application is bundled with the LifeDrive device.

The LifeDrive mobile manager, announced today, is a 4-gigabyte hard-drive based device (3.85GB user available) that fuses business productivity tools and entertainment applications, allowing users access to their essential documents; personalized content, such as photos, home movies or their MP3 collection; email; and wireless web access. Real's alliance with palmOne expands the range of devices that are compatible with Rhapsody and extends Rhapsody's reach into the converged device market.

"We've received an overwhelmingly positive response from our customers about the new Rhapsody music player and its associated Rhapsody 25 service, and we're excited to make it available to LifeDrive users," said Robert Acker, vice president of music services, RealNetworks. "Working with palmOne will bring our revolutionary music player and music services to a broader range of users, and we are confident they'll enjoy it as much as our current users."

The LifeDrive mobile manager ships with the Rhapsody desktop application on the install CD. Consumers who purchase the LifeDrive can use Rhapsody to manage their entire digital music collection, from playing and importing CDs to making mix CDs and transferring certain tracks to the LifeDrive.

"We designed the LifeDrive mobile manager to serve the growing audience of consumers who have a significant volume of digital information," said Page Murray, palmOne vice president of marketing. "We're excited to be giving LifeDrive customers an easy way to manage their music collections and quickly transfer songs to the LifeDrive for enjoyment on the go no matter where they are."

Real is also offering LifeDrive customers 30 days of free access to the web's best music experience, Rhapsody Unlimited. With Rhapsody Unlimited, users can stream or download an unlimited amount of music from Rhapsody's library of more than one million songs on their PCs. Subscribers can also listen to nearly 100 commercial-free, professionally-programmed Internet radio stations, and view more than 1,500 music videos, all for just $9.99 per month. Rhapsody Unlimited users can also download music for only 89 cents per song and $8.99 for most albums.

In the coming months, NormSoft, Inc. is introducing Pocket Tunes Deluxe, a new application that will enable LifeDrive customers to purchase tracks and albums protected by digital rights management functionality from Rhapsody's integrated music download store and transfer them to their LifeDrive device. Pocket Tunes Deluxe will also be compatible with RealNetworks' new Rhapsody To Go portable music subscription service, which will enable music fans to download and transfer an unlimited amount of their favorite music to their LifeDrive and enjoy it wherever they go as long as they are subscribed to the service.

To learn more about the Rhapsody digital music offering, please visit www.rhapsody.com.

About the LifeDrive Mobile Manager from palmOne, Inc.

The LifeDrive(TM) mobile manager from palmOne is a new, category-defining product that allows owners to carry and use work and personal digital content, as well as control and manage priorities, anywhere, anytime. Designed for people with a significant volume of digital information, the LifeDrive mobile manager offers 4GB of hard-drive storage (3.85GB user available), a large 320x480 high-resolution color screen, and wireless access through built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technologies.* More information about LifeDrive mobile manager can be found at www.palmOne.com/LifeDrive.

* An Internet service provider account, email account and subscription may
be required for Internet and email access. These services may need to be
purchased separately and additional charges may apply. Wireless access
via Bluetooth requires a compatible Bluetooth phone and carrier
subscription, not included.

ABOUT REALNETWORKS

RealNetworks, Inc. is the leading creator of digital media services and software including the award-winning Rhapsody Internet jukebox service and RealPlayer(R)10, the first product to integrate finding, organizing, buying, playing and managing digital audio and video in a single product. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software at http://www.real.com/ . Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks' products and services to create and deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com/ .

Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements regarding the anticipated release of one or more third party software products and their compatibility and functionality with respect to the Rhapsody music player, the Rhapsody subscription services, and the LifeDrive device; the ongoing and future relationship between RealNetworks and the Rhapsody music player and Rhapsody subscription services, on the one hand, and palmOne and LifeDrive on the other hand; consumer demand for LifeDrive and the benefits of distributing the Rhapsody music player and promotion for the Rhapsody subscription services with LifeDrive, and other factors that may affect future earnings or financial results. Factor that may impact the forward looking statements include the successful release of PocketTunes software, and its anticipated compatibility with Rhapsody and LifeDrive, LifeDrive consumers' adoption and usage of the Rhapsody music player and Rhapsody subscription services, establishment and continuation of RealNetworks' relationship with palmOne, and other related factors. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements can be found in RealNetworks' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including but not limited to the most recent reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Copies of filings made with the SEC are available through the SEC's electronic data gather analysis and retrieval system (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov. RealNetworks assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this document.

NOTE: RealNetworks, RealPlayer, and Rhapsody are registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

palmOne and LifeDrive are among the trademarks or registered trademarks owned by or licensed to palmOne, Inc. The Bluetooth word mark and logos are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by palmOne, Inc. is under license.

Source: RealNetworks, Inc.

CONTACT: Amanda Sanyal of SutherlandGold Group, +1-866-262-7373, ext.
106, or Amanda@sutherlandgold.com, for RealNetworks, Inc.; Matt Graves of
RealNetworks, Inc., +1-415-934-2159, or mgraves@real.com

Web site: http://www.realnetworks.com/

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