Symbian and RealNetworks form alliance to enable mobile media experiences for next generation mobile handsets

Announce the commercial availability of RealPlayer Mobile, the first mobile media solution available for Symbian OS

LONDON, UK and SEATTLE, USA, June 28, 2001 - Symbian, the leader in mobile operating systems for next generation mobile phones, and RealNetworks^®, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), the global leader in Internet media delivery, today announced they have formed an alliance to enable broad new classes of mobile multimedia solutions for developers using the Symbian OS. As a part of this relationship, RealNetworks has become a member of the Symbian Technology Partner Program. RealNetworks has also announced the commercial availability of RealPlayer^® Mobile for Symbian OS. RealPlayer Mobile, the first media player to be commercially shipped with a next-generation mobile handset, is the mobile version of the world's leading Internet media player; and is fully optimised for Symbian OS version 6.0. RealPlayer Mobile ships with the new Nokia 9210 Communicator, now available in Europe.

"The mobile marketplace has taken a huge step forward with the commercial release of this groundbreaking mobile media solution, enabled through the combination of the Symbian OS, RealPlayer Mobile and the Nokia 9210 Communicator, providing the first mobile media experience available to business professionals and mainstream consumers," said Mark Edwards, Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Symbian. "The Symbian OS was designed to enable rich media applications and RealNetworks has delivered a product that highlights the benefits of the operating system."

"The impact of Symbian OS and RealPlayer Mobile goes well beyond simply delivering a great audio/video user experience - the combination provides the foundation for establishing business models of mobile media as a whole, including subscription services and secure music delivery," said Mark Bretl, vice president, RealNetworks, Inc. "This is the industry's first substantive step in enabling media services to mobile phones and it offers consumers a dramatic new dimension in mobile communications."

RealPlayer Mobile supports the download and local playback of RealAudio^® and RealVideo^® on the Nokia 9210 Communicator. RealPlayer is the world's most popular media player, now with more than 200 million unique registered users worldwide. And, RealSystem^® iQ is the media delivery system providing a universal architecture for the global delivery of digital media over the Internet-from any platform, to any device, including next-generation mobile devices. As the leading provider of streaming media content on the Internet, with over 85% of Internet Web pages containing digital media content in RealNetworks' formats, RealNetworks has an unmatched foundation from which to enable mobile media consumption. Demonstration content for the Nokia 9210 Communicator will be available soon on  Real Downloads  

The Symbian  Symbian Technology Partners  Program offers leading wireless technology providers the opportunity to work closely with Symbian in developing enabling technologies and to engage in co-marketing campaigns, thereby adding value to the Symbian platform. Symbian also assists technology partners in engaging directly with Symbian's licensees and other partners to enable rapid time-to-market for a wide range of Symbian OS based mobile phones. Symbian's licensees include Ericsson, Kenwood, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Psion, Sanyo, Siemens and Sony.

About Symbian

Symbian was set up by leading handset and mobile computing manufacturers - Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic and Psion - to provide a common, open operating system for mobile phones and enable a mass market of content, services and applications based around data and voice enabled mobile phones. Companies currently developing Symbian OS based devices include Ericsson, Kenwood, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Psion, Sanyo, Siemens and Sony.
For more information, please see  Symbian

About RealNetworks

RealNetworks, Inc is the global leader in Internet media delivery. It develops and markets software products and services designed to enable users of personal computers and other consumer electronic devices to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia services using the Web. Currently, more than half of RealNetworks' product users are outside of North America. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software on the Internet at  Real Downloads  RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located on the Internet at  RealNetworks  

Media Enquiries

Please direct enquiries to: Symbian +44 207 154 1383 press@symbian.com

Kari Day RealNetworks (206) 674 2358 karid@real.com