职业: “RealJukebox is First Universal Digital Music System”

No, the battle between 职业 and Microsoft is not over yet; it may just be heating up.

Microsoft made an announcement Tuesday saying that 职业 has licensed its software development kit for implementing Windows Media into 职业 software. In its press release, Microsoft said that its Windows Media Audio format was poised to become the new standard for digital music.

职业, however, answered that the licensing wasn't that much of a big deal. It simply said that WMA is just another audio format (the eighth) that will be added to RealJukebox. Despite Microsoft's claims of superiority, 职业 said RealJukebox was the "first universal digital music system".

With both companies claiming victory in this deal the deal makes clear that there is no love lost between the two companies.

The RealJukebox has said it will support MP3, RealAudio, a2b, IBM的EMMS, 液体音频, Mjuice, Sony Music's ATRAC3, and Universal Music Group/InterTrust. So far, six are currently available in RealJukebox. Windows Media Audio will be just another file format, Real saying somewhat dryly that it is only adding support for an "incremental 2%" of the market.

"Supporting the widest range of formats is yet another way 职业 isdemonstrating to consumers its commitment to providing the best digital musicexperience," said Steve Banfield, 总经理, 消费者部门,职业, 公司. "No other jukebox product supports such a comprehensivearray of content formats. Even if consumers can only access an additional 2%of Internet audio content, we want to provide the most complete solution formeeting their needs."

In a New York Times article, 罗伯·格拉泽, 职业 CEO said Microsoft's announcement was a bit off. ""Microsoft is working as our p.r. department," he said.

职业 also made clear that the licensing only pertains to the RealJukebox product and not the RealPlayer used for streaming audio and video.

So the dream of a universal player isn't quite there yet but this is a significant step for both companies. 职业 gains yet another file format to add to its jukebox player and Microsoft spreads its format (with digital rights built-in) into a huge base of installed Real users.

职业 made no announcement when the RealJukebox player would begin supporting Windows Media audio.