IBM And RealNetworks Partner In Digital Media SoftwareIBM And RealNetworks Partner In Digital Media Software

IBM and RealNetworks Inc. said Friday they will jointly develop and market software for creating digital audio and video services on the Internet.

The upcoming product, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, combines RealNetworks' recently released Real 10 digital media platform with several IBM infrastructure products, including WebSphere Digital Media Enabler, WebSphere Commerce, and DB2 Content Manager.

The companies are going after a market that analysts have pegged as growing to almost $1 billion by 2007, according to IBM. Applications for the new product could include Internet delivery of TV programming, online music stores, and distribution of news photos. Potential customers include media companies and network operators.

While unable to verify IBM's estimate of the potential market, market-research firm IDC places RealNetworks' media platform within the market for digital rights-management software. That market is expected to reach $563 million by 2007, IDC says.

Nevertheless, the need for the kind of technology being developed by the two companies is expected to grow because of the growing use and sale of digital media by entertainment companies, news organizations, and other businesses. "Regardless of whether you're looking at television or listening to music, more and more content is being made available in electronic format," IDC analyst Joshua Duhl says.

The Real 10 platform lets businesses distribute streaming video and audio over the Web, and enables downloads of multimedia files. The platform provides digital rights management for content and also can manage subscription services. IBM's commerce software provides transaction-related security, including credit-card protection and user identification.

IBM's technology also includes software for cataloging music and video, content management, and integration with third-party software, such as accounting and billing systems. IBM's infrastructure software is based on Java 2 enterprise standards.

Jeff Schick, IBM's VP of worldwide sales for Content Manager, said the joint product will be attractive to businesses, because it will reduce the time involved in deploying digital services that can help companies make more money from their media assets. "You're not building out this technology yourself, you're exploiting standards that give you flexibility, and you're able to take advantage of new business models that could drive additional revenue," Schick said.

Businesses will be able to license the new product or pay IBM and RealNetworks to host it.