RealPlayer 16 adds video bookmarking, Toolbar mode

Real Networks Inc has released RealPlayer 16, the latest edition of its one-stop media player.

And the big addition this time is the redesigned RealDownloader, and in particular the new video bookmarking system.

The idea is a simple one. If you’re watching a movie and realize you won’t have time to see it all, hover your mouse over the playback area, and click the “Bookmark this video” link when it appears.

Everything you add this way then appears in a “Web Videos” section in the left-hand pane (along with the Facebook videos introduced in the last release), under your library, and you can return to them later with a click. Which works for us, although it’s a shame that the bookmarked videos don’t appear to be visible to a regular library search.

And the other news in this release is that Toolbar Mode is now available in the free player. So if you’re tired of all the chrome and want a more minimal playback experience, click View > Toolbar Mode (or just press F8). The player will shrink to the minimum possible size, while your playback and other essential controls are collapsed to a toolbar at the bottom of the screen.

Meanwhile, RealPlayer Plus 16 has been extended with the Cleaner, a tool to help eliminate duplicate songs, find album art and generally clean up your library. And the PlayPack extends the program’s abilities by adding support for more codecs and file types (H.264, VP8, MPEG-4, Xvid, DivX4 and DivX5, along with the MKV, AVI, Xvid, WebM and DivX).

RealPlayer 16 probably isn’t going to win over any new converts, then, but fans will find plenty to enjoy, and downloads are available now for Windows XP-8.