RealNetworks launching streaming music app for iPhone

Digital entertainment services firm RealNetworks announced it will introduce an on-demand Rhapsody streaming music application optimized for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch, and will submit the app to Apple for review this week. According to RealNetworks, the Rhapsody app will offer users access to more than 8 million songs, promising all the functionality of the Rhapsody.com website. Subscribers can log in to the app with their existing username and password--for a limited time, RealNetworks also will offer a free trial of the service, although it did not state how much the application will cost when it hits the App Store. RealNetworks adds it is presently developing a streaming music app targeted for Google's Android platform. From there, it will turn its attention to other mobile operating systems and operator app stores.

There is some question whether Apple will approve the Rhapsody app given that the computing giant may view the streaming service as competition for its iTunes digital media storefront. Rhapsody vice president of business management Neil Smith tells The New York Times he expects that Apple will approve the application. "The App Store is likely to be bigger than the music store some day, and not approving things for the App Store is giving people a reason to say, ‘I'm not going to buy an iPhone,'" he said. Smith adds that RealNetworks has already had some talks with Apple about the app, but received no indication whether it will earn approval: "They said, ‘Submit it and see what happens.'"

For more on the Rhapsody iPhone app:
- read this RealNetworks blog entry

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