New Streamium In-Home Audio Systems and GoGear Portable Devices to Feature Integrated Rhapsody Music Experience
LAS VEGAS - Philips and RealNetworks®, Inc., today announced a new alliance to bring Rhapsody®, the award-winning digital music service from Real and MTV Networks, to consumers both on the go and in the home with Philips' new portable MP3 GoGear™ players and Philips' Streamium™ home audio product line.
The first digital audio devices from the Philips/Rhapsody collaboration are expected in early 2008 and can be previewed beginning January 7 and throughout the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in the RealNetworks booth (South 4 36200) or in Philips' booth (Central 12124).
"Following the dramatic growth of the global MP3 digital music player market, we have identified an opportunity to deliver high quality music content to consumers both at home and on the go," said Wiebo Vaartjes, General Manager, Audio & Multimedia Applications, at Philips Consumer Electronics. "Rhapsody has proven itself to be the ideal ally to achieve this, by helping us launch Rhapsody-enabled GoGear and Streamium products to the market. This content-led direction underlines Philips' commitment to offering consumers a market leading, robust music subscription model, aimed at delivering music enjoyment, whether at home or on the go."
Philips' Rhapsody-enhanced Streamium home audio products give consumers access from their living room to Rhapsody's catalog of over 4.5 million songs, professionally programmed music channels, personalized recommendations and thousands of themed playlists via their home stereo systems. Philips' Streamium NP1100, the first device in the line to launch with Rhapsody, also features a built-in PC Link, a black and white display, internet radio connectivity and streaming from other PCs on the same Wi-Fi network.
"Rhapsody DNA technologies give our partners the ability to create a rich, unlimited digital music experience for consumers with their products," said Robert Williams, SVP of music products, RealNetworks. "We are excited to be teaming with Philips to bring that Rhapsody-enhanced experience to every device in their new Streamium and GoGear products lines."
Philips' new GoGear portable players will be optimized to work with the Rhapsody service to give consumers a seamless, interactive music experience. The players will let users rate and save songs to their Rhapsody library, flag songs for later purchase and access Rhapsody's critically acclaimed editorial content, all while on the go. The GoGear portable series of players will also ship with enhancements ranging from a larger screen size and better battery efficiency, to built-in Bluetooth and larger memory capacity.
Philips' Streamium home audio product and Philips' GoGear portable player lines will both ship with a 30-day free trial of the Rhapsody service. At the conclusion of the free trial, consumers can extend their Rhapsody service by signing up for Rhapsody Unlimited ($12.99/month) for throughout-the-home access to Rhapsody or Rhapsody To Go ($14.99/month) to take music anywhere with the GoGear portable players. Current Rhapsody subscribers can get started immediately with an enhanced music experience with both lines of Philips' new devices.
For more information about the Rhapsody digital music service, visit www.rhapsody.com.
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