SOFTWARECITI

RealPlayer has been around since 1995, which is practically the dawn of the Web. It started as a basic media player, becoming the preferred embedded app for streaming audio and video as sites started to offer that functionality, and eventually morphing into the easy-to-use, fully functioning beast we have today.

    The previous version of RealPlayer already offered an easy, one-click solution for downloading unprotected videos for the Web. Another click transcodes those same videos to your portable device without a bit of extra effort on your part when it comes to fiddling with tricky digital format settings.

    The program also incorporates a very simple-to-use video-trimming tool that allows you to select only certain bits of a video to transfer or share, and there are one-click buttons that let you share with a variety of social sites, such as Facebook and YouTube. In addition, you have the option to strip the audio out of the videos and save those as separate files.

   The latest version of the software adds even more devices to the ever-expanding list of compatible handsets. Plus, RealPlayer now shows USB-connected smartphones and cameras inside the library in the main app window, allowing users to quickly and easily transfer content to the devices via drag-and-drop. Perhaps more compelling, though, is a new back-end feature that simplifies the process of getting photos and videos off of those devices and organized on your PC. In our testing, content was slow to load, but it's a welcome feature nonetheless.

      Best of all, you can do all this for free. RealPlayer only requires a license fee if you want to upgrade to the Plus version in order to access additional features, such as H.264 conversion and DVD burning.

What's new in this version:

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