San Diego, CA; OSCON — (press release excerpt) — RealNetworks, Inc. announced a collaboration with the Xiph.Org Foundation to integrate the Ogg Vorbis format and audio codec with the Helix DNA Client. The Helix DNA Client is source code from RealNetworks that will be contributed to the Helix Community within 90 days under a community and open source license. Ogg Vorbis is a non-proprietary, open, patent and royalty-free, audio format and codec for mid to high-quality audio at fixed and variable bitrates for delivery over the Internet. As a result of this work, developers will be able to build media players that use both the Ogg Vorbis codec and the media engine that powers the industry-leading RealOne(tm) Player. Additionally, RealNetworks and the Xiph.Org Foundation will work together to develop and make easily available Ogg Vorbis plug-ins for the RealOne Player and the newly announced Helix Universal Server.

“The combination of the Helix DNA client with the Ogg Vorbis audio format is a huge step forward for the open source community and the world at large,” said Emmett Plant, CEO, Xiph.org Foundation. “With the release of Ogg Vorbis 1.0 last week, the ability to use RealNetworks technology to get our format into the hands of the masses presents a lot of potential. Even more important, the fact that RealNetworks is making an investment in Open Source outside of their corporate walls is a good sign for the future of Helix.”

As part of the partnership, RealNetworks will sponsor the development of the Ogg Vorbis support in Helix, and the Xiph.org Foundation will begin immediate work on the Ogg Vorbis plug-ins. When the plug-ins are completed and have been tested at RealNetworks, they will be put on the RealNetworks AutoUpdate server, enabling RealOne Player and RealPlayer users to listen to Ogg Vorbis content.

 
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