A year ago, when then-CEO Bob Kimball took the reins of RealNetworks, he announced that Real and Sprint had partnered to provide users with a "unified digital music storefront" as part of a new company focus. Kimball has since stepped down as CEO, but the storefront is here, in the form of the new Sprint Music Plus app.

The free app, which leverages Real's Media Entertainment Platform, allows users to manage their music libraries, create playlists and purchase new music and ringtones. The player includes a purchase option that bundles a full track, ringtone and ringback tone (purchases then show up on a customer's monthly Sprint bill) and a nifty feature that allows users to assign ringback tones for different callers at different times of the day. Full tracks range from $0.69 to $1.29 per song.

Scott Webster of cnet wrote a review of the new app, which uses RealNetworks' Media Entertainment Platform to manage, administer, market and deliver Sprint's digital music content.

"RealNetworks creates applications and services that simplify the way people connect with and enjoy their digital media," said RealNetworks CMO Judy Bitterli of the launch. "The Sprint opportunity provides a show case for our Media Entertainment Platform, provides Sprint customers with entertainment literally at their fingertips and allows Sprint to provide a robust mobile Sprint-branded experience."

When Kimball announced the partnership with Sprint a year ago, he had cited it as an example of Real's plan to refocus the company on its core infrastructure for delivering and playing digital media on computers, mobile phones and other devices. At the time, Kimball outlined a year-long plan to transition the business on three fronts: simplification, restructuring and a new quest for growth.

As part of the transition, over the past year Real has cut 130 jobs, unveiled the personal media cloud service Unifi, and tried to change the public perception of its Helix Media Delivery Platform.