Rafat Ali at paidContent has a good overview of RealNetworks' pre-earnings release. Notable is "a decline in the assumed valuation of the Rhapsody America venture" and a non-cash charge of $185 million to $200 million related to impairment in goodwill and acquired intangible assets (a few mobile acquisitions that aren't panning out). For you accounting geeks, the gain on sale of interest in Rhapsody America will be booked to shareholders' equity rather than as revenue on the income statement.

My thoughts on the access-and-hardware strategy are here. Rhapsody does not limit hardware to the extent of Zune, but its music service does not allow for total freedom in choosing your hardware. And that's a problem. (Price is a problem, too.)