RealPlayer, by RealNetworks, is a cross-platform software product primarily used for the playing of recorded media. The media player is compatible with numerous formats within the multimedia realm, including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions (proprietary) of RealAudio and RealVideo formats. RealPlayer is also available for other operating systems (OS) and Linux, Unix, Palm OS, Windows Mobile and Symbian versions have been released.
The software is powered by an underlying open source media engine called Helix and the latest current stable release is version RealPlayer SP 1.0.
The first version of RealPlayer was introduced in April 1995 as "RealAudio Player" and was one of the first media players capable of streaming media over the Internet. Then, version 4.01 of RealPlayer was included as a selectable Internet tool in Windows 98's installation package. Subsequent versions of the software were entitled RealPlayer G2 (version 6) and RealOne Player (version 9), whilst free "Basic" versions as well as paid "Plus" versions, the latter with additional features, have also been offered. For the Windows OS, version 9 subsumed the features of the separate program, RealJukebox.