Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

RealAudio
     
         A program from {Real Media} for playing
        {audio} over the {Internet}, and the {lossy} audio compression
        format it uses.
     
        The system is implemented as a {client/server} architecture.
        The RealAudio server incorporates an {encoder} which
        compresses sound into RealAudio files.  The client side is a
        {web browser} {plug-in} or {add-on} (a recent version of
        {Internet Explorer} apparently has built-in support for
        RealAudio) which allows the stream of data sent from the
        server to be uncompressed and output using the normal sound
        facilities of the computer, such as a {sound card}.
     
        A 14.4 {KBps} or better {modem} is required, and a 28.8 KBps
        connection is recommended for music-quality sound.
     
        {Home (http://www.realaudio.com/)}.
     
        (2001-12-13)