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RealNetworks Inc. on Monday launched a test version of a free desktop-based service that is to offer its users personalized news and information.
The company's RealTime software includes a news reader that will offer personalized news from a range of sources, a screen saver that displays headlines and images, and a toolbar.
Content offerings will include the Associated Press, Reuters Group PLC, the Weather Channel and the popular gadget news blog Engadget, among others, RealNetworks said.
The Seattle-based company is best known for its digital media player that plays streaming video and audio as well as media files stored on a personal computer in a variety of formats, although it has also branched out into other areas such as online games.
Many other companies, including Google Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, already offer toolbars and other technology that can be downloaded on to computer desktops.
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Top News Headlines
- Canadian housing market cools in January
- The housing resale market retreated in January following a strong December finish to 2011, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. more »
- Immigrants the proudest Canadians, poll suggests

- Most Canadians feel immigrants are just as likely to be good Canadian citizens as people who were born here and don't object to them keeping their original citizenship, according to a recent Environics survey. more »
- Whitney Houston medical records sought
- The Los Angeles County coroner's office is seeking Whitney Houston's medical and pharmacy records as its continues the investigation into her death. more »
- NDP MPs urged to scrap gun registry in final vote
- Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is urging opposition MPs to break party ranks and side with the government during tonight's vote on scrapping the long-gun registry. more »
Latest Technology & Science News Headlines
- Online privacy erosion dismays critics
- Government and law enforcement access to people's electronic communications is the norm in dictatorships around the world, but the same intrusion appears to be creeping into North America, say opponents of a new online surveillance bill tabled in the House Tuesday. more »
- Venus slowdown puzzles planetary scientists
- Scientists have detected a sudden and dramatic slowdown in the rotation of Earth's sister planet Venus. more »
- Electric cars can handle Canadian winter
- New data obtained by CBC News suggests the range of electric cars is significantly impaired by extreme cold, but not enough to affect the commuting habits of most Canadians. more »
- Vic Toews attacked by anonymous Twitter account
- Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is the target of an anonymous Twitter account, one day after he tabled an online surveillance bill that would give police more powers to gather personal information from communications providers. more »
- Online surveillance bill targets child porn: Toews
- A bill that would give police and intelligence agencies new powers to access Canadians' electronic communications is needed to protect against child pornography, says Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. more »
Bob McDonald's Blog
Glacier Discovery Walk: Will the visitor centre enhance the view? Feb. 14, 2012 9:22 AM Environment minister Peter Kent has announced the construction of a new Glacier Discovery Walk and visitor centre on the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park. It raises the issue of how to balance commercial development in our National Parks against the preservation of the last refuges of wilderness.
Quirks & Quarks
- February 18: Guitar Hero, or Guitar Zero? Feb. 15, 2012 10:53 AM An NYU professor of psychology describes how he was able to learn to play the guitar in midlife in spite of a limited musical aptitude, and what it tells us about how our brains learn.
Latest Features
- Barefoot girl's icy trek not blamed on babysitter
- Immigrants the proudest Canadians, poll suggests
- Honduras prison fire kills hundreds
- Legalize pot, say former B.C. attorneys general
- Canadian housing market cools in January
- NDP MPs urged to scrap gun registry in final vote
- Russians in abusive plane tirade to be sentenced
- Drummond report on Ontario calls for cutbacks
- Online privacy erosion dismays critics

