RealONE Player The First Generation: RealAudio Forrest Stroud
RealONE Player is the latest incarnation of the multimedia streaming player that initially started out as RealAudio before becoming RealVideo and later RealPlayer. This review steps through the progression of Real multimedia clients, starting with the original RealAudio client.
RealAudio was the first client released on the 'net that allowed users to download and run audio clips in real-time -- i.e. the sound bytes run while being downloaded, not after. Since its initial release in June of 1995, RealAudio has continually evolved in order to stay one step ahead of the competition while still managing to retain its freeware status. Its affordability and reputation for outstanding audio quality are two of the reasons that RealAudio has become the most popular client of its type on the 'net.