Following positive reviews by The Wall Street Journal, CrunchGear and many others, people have been asking me how RealPlayer is doing after one week on the market.  Here's what I know: -   Average daily downloads of the new product from realplayer.com are up 40 percent compared to the average daily number from a month ago, and -   Probably more exciting, people have downloaded more than 1.5 million videos using RealPlayer SP in just one week.  (We can tell when people make a download because the download status box gets updated from a Web site with suggestions for places to download more video, and we can see how many times that page gets hit, just like any Web site.  We can't see who's downloading what, so enjoy watching that Cat on the Roomba all you want.) In case you missed it, RealPlayer SP, announced last Wednesday, lets people download Web video and transfer it to mobile phones and portable devices in just two clicks.  You can also share it with your friends with built-in Twitter and Facebook links. Although we have no way of knowing what is being downloaded or by whom, it is interesting to watch what people are sharing via Twitter and Facebook.  ...

Today was Take Your Kids to Work Day at Real. We had about 45 kids, aged 6-13, touring the building, learning about what we do and, more importantly, ways we have fun. The kids started their day with a building tour where they got to see the bowling alley and the studio where we record artists for Rhapsody. While in the studio they participated in Chipmunk Karaoke and sang songs about chocolate milk and soda. Afterwards, they joined several staffers in the conference room for talks about their businesses. Those who weren't interested in the talks got to participate in kid-like stuff. There was glitter all over the floor, crayons and construction paper strewn about and cookies. Lots of cookies. I’m pretty jealous I’m not 6 anymore. When it was time for the kids to stop by the "blog" table,  a vast majority of them were really excited to be interviewed for this "online news thingy" that I was showing them. Without further ado, here are some of tomorrow's brightest stars and a little about them. Lexi was excited to make glitter cards for her mom who works here as an "assistant to a boss" and that's exactly what she wants to do when she ...

Today is a big day for Real: we announced the latest version (may I say, a total overhaul) of RealPlayer, now called RealPlayer SP beta. Whatever version you're using-upgrade. SP, which stands for "social" and "portable" is so cool, that it should be called RealPlayer SC. SP is more than just a media player. It is quite simply the only way to easily transfer your favorite web videos to your favorite devices. If you're excited enough to skip the rest of this post you can download it for free right here. Why is this so practical? Because, as a video-taking addict, I have struggled forever for an easy solution to get my UGC videos and my favorite funny online videos on my phone/device of choice. For instance, I have a puppy. He's goofy and I like to take video of him. But unless someone has a computer at the ready I can't show them my videos because I can't put my videos on my phone. RealPlayer SP provides the solution to that problem. Now, I can take my videos, drag and drop them into the RPSP converter, select my device of choice and voila- the program is smart and knows exactly ...

Last week, CNET's digital music editors took the top two music subscription services and tossed them in the ring to go head to head to see who provided the overall better experience. It was Rhapsody vs. Napster, and Rhapsody entered the ring feeling like Chuck Liddell after someone insulted his mama! The editors were looking at five different categories: interface, library, extras, quality and value. The categories were ranked on a scale of 1-5. Interface: the editors liked how easy it was to find music in Rhapsody's search menu, as well as the freshly rotating new artist information and recommendations. They also liked the integration between the streaming service and library, portable devices, and the MP3 store. They dinged us for being a bit dated as far as our design goes (What's wrong with bringing the '90's back?), but that's a hit we're willing to take as long as we offer the better interface. And, according to the editors-we do. We won this round with a score of 3.7 to 2.7. On to round 2. Round 2 had the editors looking at library- a hot topic for audiophiles everywhere. The editors noted our comparable song library (we both have over 7 million tracks), but ...

Sunday is Father's Day! What to do for dear old dad that hasn't been done before? If you happen to be in the Seattle area, we have a great idea for a pre-dad's day celebration! We're getting together Moxi and Rhapsody for the ultimate dad bash at the Pyramid Ale House across the street from Safeco Field on Friday, June 19th at 5pm! What's better than baseball, beer, & music? That's right, nothing! The first 200 people through the door get free drinks and we'll be raffling off a new Moxi DVR and a 1 year subscription to Rhapsody. That's a hefty prize at almost $1,000.00. Dad would be psyched. Moxi, from parent company, Digeo, is to DVRs what the Range Rover is to SUVs. It brings style and functionality to the DVR world. And, it just so happens that Rhapsody is integrated into the Moxi experience. So, not only can you record your favorite episodes of Lost and Deadliest Catch, but with Moxi you can access Rhapsody's 7 million strong library right from your HDTV too! So come on down to the Pyramid! Cheer from the Mariners, grab a drink, a enter a free raffle for a ...

Our friends over at Rhapsody are planning to throw a huge party in Nashville on Monday night. It happens to be the day before the Country Music Television awards so all the big stars are going to be hanging around Nashville anyways. We thought we'd try to get a few to play at the Rhapsody show. The result? You be the judge. The lineup includes Jack Ingram, Luke Bryan, Gloriana, and Caitlin & Will. Pretty sweet, right? Here's the exciting part: how would you like to go to the show? We have a limited number of tickets that we are going to be handing out to a few lucky fans. All you have to do is follow Rhapsody on Twitter and send a quick @ message saying you want to go. It's that easy. So stop pretending like you have plans on Monday night! You know you'll have more fun at our party! Related articles by Zemanta Jack Ingram cordially invites you to be in his new video (nashvillegab.com)