Older News from 2003
Sep 26: We are pleased to announce the release of Helix DNA Client 1.1.5 (Developer Release 5). Improvements over Developer Release 4 include a new versioning scheme, SMIL support, a new fixed point MP3 decoder, and several bug fixes. (more info)
Sep 24: Did you know one out of five Americans have used Internet audio or video in the past month? Check out the latest study by Arbitron/Edison Media Research.
Sep 22: "Openwave is confident that Linux will enjoy the same popularity it has achieved with server and desktop computing systems, because it is flexible, and because there is a vast community of open-source developers behind it." Openwave dials up Linux for Smartphones. - NewsFactor
Sep 19: Two weeks left! Proposals for the Helix Community Grant Program are due by midnight PST Friday, October 3, 2003. (press release)
Sep 16: The Helix DNA Server team recently branched the server for another stabilization run. This means new check-in procedures for the team. Those working on Helix DNA Server development should find more details in Dean Collins' mail to the server mailing list.
Sep 11: The Helix DNA Producer team has announced two new projects: Cameo, an easy-to-use Win32 application for creating RealMedia, and Surreal UI, for more advanced jobs. (more info)
Sep 08: Sun and RealNetworks announce that Sun will bundle the RealPlayer with its upcoming Linux/Solaris complete desktop solution code-named 'Mad Hatter'. Also Sun will collaborate with the Helix community on development of the Helix Player, the open source, next-generation media player for Linux, Solaris and Unix. Welcome Sun to the Helix Community!
Sep 05: The specifications and technology compatibility kits (TCKs) are now available to RPSL licensees. These were previously only available to RCSL licensees.
Aug 23: Helix DNA Producer 9.2 Milestone 6 was released today. This milestone release adds Mac OS X SDK Mach-O binary compatability. (more info)
Aug 22: Nightly builds of the Helix DNA Client are now available. These builds have had little to no testing, so use at your own risk. The process is manual right now, but will be automated over the coming weeks to ensure the bits will be available as soon as they come off our build machine.
Aug 14: The Helix Community Newsletter #5 is now available. Topics covered include Helix Community Grant Program, Helix Player, Helix DNA Client, Helix DNA Producer, Helix DNA Server, New Fixed-point MP3 Decoder, Community Contributions, Free Hardware for porting to the AMD 64, SMIL 2.0 now open source, Helix in the Wireless industry: Vodafone, Nokia, wideopen project, Chinese-language mailing list.
Aug 14: The Helix DNA Client 1.0.1 ("KittyHawk") is available in the download area (requires acceptance of the "Binary EULA").
Aug 13: The RealNetworks codec team has released a new fixed-point MP3 implementation, designed to be a cleanly implemented, portable and fast decoder for embedded devices. It is optimized specifically for ARM processors, but includes high quality reference C-code reference that is an excellent starting point for other platform specific implementations. (more info)
Aug 08: A sample remote encoder browser-based interface to Helix Producer has been uploaded to the File Sharing section of the helix-producer project. Download the utility and other graphical user interfaces to Helix DNA Producer in the User Interfaces section of File Sharing (must agree to the "Binary EULA" first).
Aug 08: HPG, a graphical user interface developed for Helix DNA Producer, is now available. More details here
Aug 06: We just launched the Helix community grant program, where we plan to award up to $75,000 in grants for open source development by the end of the year. (press release)
Aug 06: The Helix Player project is now officially underway. See the press release for more details
July 29: Come see us at LinuxWorld in San Francisco August 5-7, 2003. Helix Community Coordinator Rob Lanphier is presenting, plus we're hosting the opening night party! All Helix community members are welcome...just bring this invitation with you.
Jul 24: Aaron Colwell just posted a new porting guide and OS abstractions guide to help ease porting the Helix DNA platform to other operating systems.
Jul 24: Helix DNA Producer 9.2 Milestone 5 released. New are destination output rolling in command line, audio delay compensation pre-filter, and bug fixes.
Jul 21: Eric Hyche has an updated Helix DNA Client overview webcast .
Jul 17: Helix Producer SDK for Mac OS X users should be aware of an important announcement regarding a plan to switch binary support from CFM to Mach-O.
Jul 10: Check out the new Helix Player project, where we're building a Gtk-based player for Linux, Solaris and other X-Window environments.
Jul 10: RealNetworks releases industry standard SMIL code to Helix community. You can now easily create Helix DNA Client products supporting synchronized multimedia.
Jul 03: Here are RealNetworks' participation details at OSCON. Helix community members are presenting the following:
- PyPlayer - Scriptable multimedia with Python , Jonothan Farr - more info on PyPlayer project page
- Case Study: How Ogg/Vorbis Plugins Were Written for the Helix Producer SDK, Holly Watson
- Untangling Multimedia Standards, Rob Lanphier
Jun 30: Vodafone Group chooses RealNetworks' Helix technology as global platform for mobile media.
Jun 23: Helix DNA Producer 9.2 Milestone 4 Released
Jun 17: RealNetworks and Nokia announce expanded support for Series 60 and Symbian-based mobile phones. We're porting the next generation Helix DNA Client to Symbian OS and encourage you to join the project.
Jun 10: Updates made to Helix DNA Wishlist. e.g., AMD is looking for developers to port Helix DNA to their 64-bit CPU. AMD has hw for willing contributors. Conor Malone (conor.malone@amd.com) has details. Note, Helix DNA licensees may edit this page.
Jun 02: RealOne Mobile Player now available for Palm Tungsten C enabling users to tap into RealAudio and MP3 content. If you are interested in porting the next generation Helix DNA Client (the engine of the RealOne Player) to Palm OS 5/6, we welcome your involvement.
May 28: Check out the new wideopen project, an open CVS repository where you, now have access to edit the Helix community website and collaborate on documentation. Bookmark wideopen.helixcommunity.org and check back frequently.
May 22: RealNetworks is hiring for many positions, some of which involve working in the Helix community. Check out open positions at the RealNetworks website.
May 14: A Chinese-language discussion list has been created. Click here for subscription information (find "discuss-zh") If you are more comfortable asking questions or discussing issues in Chinese, this list is for you.
Jun 16: CollabNet needs to perform maintenance on network infrastructure, Saturday, June 21st, 12:00 to 14:30 PDT. During this time, helixcommunity.org will be intermittently unavailable.
Jun 13: Helix Community Coordinator Rob Lanphier will be presenting "Mobile Multimedia and Open Source/Free Software" at the Annual GNOME Users And Developers European Conference (GU4DEC) on June 17, and speaking on a panel on open source multimedia the next day. Ryan Gammon, the contributor of the Gtk2-based version of guiplayer will also be there, and we'll also have a booth, so stop by and see us.
Jun 05: Helix Community managers Duncan Howard and Rob Lanphier will be presenting at the Portland Linux Users Group meeting this Thursday at 7pm. We look forward to seeing those of you in the Portland, OR area. If you have a Linux user group elsewhere, let us know, and we'll see what we can arrange.
May 12: Helix Community managers Duncan Howard and Rob Lanphier will be presenting at the next Tacoma Linux Users Group meeting this Saturday, May 17 at 2pm. We look forward to seeing those of you in the Tacoma area. If you have a Linux user group elsewhere, let us know, and we'll see what we can arrange.
Apr 28: On Tuesday, April 29, RealNetworks will be presenting at the Symbian developers conference in London. Attend to hear more about the Symbian Porting Project on Helixcommunity.org from Greg Wright, Helix Client Software Development Engineer. He'll discuss what we have learned in porting millions of lines of cross-platform code to the Symbian platform. In addition, we will answer your questions on how you can leverage the Helix DNA Client for your own multi-media needs on the Symbian platform. For more information, see the conference program.
Apr 22: Catch Helix Community managers Rob Lanphier and Duncan Howard at the upcoming LinuxFest Northwest happening in Bellingham, WA, USA on April 26. We'll be the ones wearing the Helix shirts!
Apr 04: The latest Helix Community Newsletter has been published. Read it for news about the following:
- Helix DNA Client Porting projects: Linux ARM, Symbian, WinCE
- Helix DNA Client: New Stabilization Branch and Profile Documentation
- Helix DNA Producer
- New York Linux Users Group Appearance
- OpenWave joins the Helix Community
- New Helix Community Program Manager
- Job Openings and Internships
- Centralized Issuezilla, Site Software Upgrade, and other administrivia
Jan 22: RealNetworks has released the third source code component of the Helix platform, the Helix DNA Server, which is now available to software developers. With Helix DNA Server, developers for the first time have source code access to a major end-to-end media delivery platform, consisting of producer, server and client components. Helix DNA Server is the core source code of RealNetworks' Helix Universal Server, the 9th generation, multi-format digital media server that thousands of webcasters already use to deliver content on the Internet.
You can read the full press release here.