3DsoundSurge Press Release: Panasonic and RealNetworks Team Up to Make Internet Music Downloads Easier and More Convenient

Panasonic and RealNetworks Team Up to Make Internet Music Downloads Easier and More Convenient

- RealNetworks Next Generation RealJukebox Player To Be Integrated With Panasonic SD Portable Device -

NEW YORK, June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC), best known in the U.S. by its Panasonic brand name, today announced plans to collaborate with RealNetworks®, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK) to enable consumers to download premium audio content securely and conveniently to RealJukebox(TM) and to Panasonic SD Memory Card compatible devices, as demonstrated in Rob Glaser's keynote yesterday at Streaming Media East. The two companies also announced the RealJukebox will be the only music management application to be bundled with portable SD Audio players in the U.S.

Panasonic will provide RealNetworks with interactive multimedia and content protection software technologies for music and other data transmitted over the Internet, which will then be incorporated into RealJukebox. The technologies will include the interface for the new SD Memory Card, a highly secure, postage stamp-sized flash memory storage device that Panasonic developed with Toshiba Corp. and SanDisk Corp. Panasonic will also provide electronic media distribution technologies it developed along with its Nigel Project joint venture partners, AT&T Corp., Bertelsmann Music Group and Universal Music Group.

``We are pleased to be working with RealNetworks to provide the more than 35 million unique registered RealJukebox users with a fast and easy way to enjoy their digital audio content on the wide variety of upcoming SD Memory Card devices,'' said Mr. Sakon Nagasaki, director of Matsushita Electric's AV Media Card and Electronic Distribution Business Development Office. ``We expect our collaboration and commitment to content protection to accelerate the adoption of electronically distributed music by content creators and consumers alike.''

Matsushita Electric will develop a plug in for the RealJukebox Internet music player to support portable SD audio devices including the one that Panasonic will launch this fall. The enhanced RealJukebox and Panasonic SD devices are expected to contribute to the demand for music and other audio products delivered over the Internet, while effectively protecting the copyrights of artists, studios and other content owners.

``RealNetworks goal is to provide consumers with the highest quality audio and video wherever and whenever they want to enjoy it,'' said Thomas Frank, COO of RealNetworks, Inc. ``We are pleased to be working with leading consumer electronics companies like Matsushita Electric so that users of a whole new generation of digital music players can benefit from the quality and simplicity RealNetworks brings to the use of digital media.''

About RealJukebox

RealJukebox, the market-leading jukebox software, enables consumers to build and manage their own extensive digital music collections by recording songs from their CDs or downloading them from the Internet, and play them back from a PC, portable music player or stereo. It provides users with a single complete solution for all their music needs by supporting the broadest range of popular music formats and music-related hardware. RealJukebox is available for free download from http://www.real.com/.

About RealNetworks

RealNetworks, Inc., based in Seattle, is the recognized leader in media delivery on the Internet. It develops and markets software products and services designed to enable users of personal computers and consumer electronic devices to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia services using the Web. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks consumer software on the Internet at http://www.real.com. RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located on the Internet at http://www.realnetworks.com.

About Panasonic and Matsushita Electric

Best known by its Panasonic brand name, Osaka, Japan-based Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is a worldwide leader in the development of technologies for and the production of electronic and electric products for consumer, business and industrial use. In the fiscal year ended March 31, Matsushita Electric recorded worldwide sales of $68.86 billion. In North America, the principal Matsushita Electric subsidiary, Secaucus, NJ-based Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, along with its affiliates, employs over 23,000 people. Additional information about Panasonic and Matsushita Electric is available at http://www.panasonic.com.

RealNetworks and RealJukebox are trademarks or registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE: Panasonic