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OMNIFI WIRELESS HOME STEREO/THEATER DIGITAL MEDIA STREAMER BRINGS REALNETWORKS' RHAPSODY INTERNET JUKEBOX SERVICE HOME
Rhapsody The First Digital Music Service to Unchain Music from the PC, Enabling Consumers to Access & Control Service Via Home Stereo and Home Theater Systems
Music Lovers Now Have Instant Access To More Than 30,000 CDs of Music Beyond the PC
TEMPE, Ariz. and SEATTLE - December 10, 2003 — Rockford Corporation (Nasdaq: ROFO) and RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK) today announced that the Omnifi home stereo/theater wireless digital media streamer is now interoperable with the award-winning Rhapsody Internet jukebox service, making Rhapsody the first digital music service to enable consumers to control and listen to the service in their living room. The Omnifi digital media streamer enables broadband-connected consumers to link their PC and high-fidelity home stereo and theater systems to enjoy Rhapsody's library of more than 30,000 CDs throughout their homes.
The Omnifi home audio/home theater product is a stand-alone receiver capable of streaming media from consumers' personal computers to their home stereo and home theater systems utilizing their existing wired and/or wireless 802.11B home networks. Omnifi gives consumers the ability to easily transmit entertainment content from the PC hard drive to consumers' home stereo/theater systems. In the past year, the Omnifi has won a number of prestigious awards, including the CEA "2003 Best of Innovations" award at CES 2003 and TechTV's "Best of CES" award. Priced at $299, the device began shipping in August and now supports Rhapsody.
"Pairing Rhapsody and Omnifi products changes the way consumers interact with and consume digital music," said Tim Bratton, general manager of wireless music delivery, RealNetworks. "Real and Omnifi are finally giving consumers the ability to select and listen to online music from anywhere in their home."
New Omnifi products will ship with updated firmware that enables consumers to access the playlists, albums, artists and radio stations in their Rhapsody library. Existing Omnifi customers must upgrade the firmware on their Omnifi device, which can be easily accomplished using the device's SimpleCenter software. Rockford provides easy-to-understand instructions on upgrading the Omnifi firmware via the Omnifi Web site at http://www.omnifimedia.com.
"Omnifi allows a user to easily stream the audio content held on their computer or straight from the Internet to a dedicated home theater system without the burden of rewiring the house," explains Tom O'Mara, Omnifi managing director. "Combining Omnifi products with Real's Rhapsody service gives music fans an instant collection of more than 30,000 high fidelity CDs they can enjoy in the same room or on the other side of the house with no degradation of sound quality."
For More Information:
Matt Graves, RealNetworks, 415-934-2159, mgraves@real.com
Charlie Leib, Rockford Corporation, 480-517-3078, leibch@rockfordcorp.com
About Rhapsody
Rhapsody® is RealNetworks' award-winning Internet jukebox subscription service. Rhapsody offers consumers unlimited access to more than 30,000 albums of music from all five major music companies and more than 200 of the world's most prominent independent labels. The service is available as RealOne Rhapsody via RealNetworks, with a 14-day free trial, for $9.95 a month at http://www.real.com. Rhapsody is also distributed to consumers through co-branded versions of the service by Audiogalaxy, Best Buy, Cablevision Systems Corporation's Optimum Online®, Charter Communications, Comcast, Down Beat, Gateway, JamBase.com, Lycos, RCN Corporation, Time Warner Cable's Road Runner high-speed ISP, Sony's Musiclub, Speakeasy, Sprint, and Verizon Online.
About Rockford Corporation
Rockford Corporation is based in Tempe, Ariz. and is a publicly traded company under the NASDAQ stock symbol ROFO. Company websites can be viewed at www.rockfordcorp.com, www.omnifimedia.com, and www.simpledevices.com.
About RealNetworks, Inc.
RealNetworks, Inc. is the leading creator of digital media services and software. Consumers use RealNetworks' RealOne Player and the content subscription services it offers to play free and premium digital content. Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks' products and services to create and deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software at http://www.realnetworks.com.
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