In short, it offers as much stuff aimed at conversion nerds as it does for folks who just want to watch Web video on a variety of devices.

You can also convert videos in batches, and even created more than one file–say, a high-res one to watch on your Mac, and a low-res one for your phone. If you don’t like RealPlayer’s defaults or own a gizmo that’s not in its list, you can tweak the conversion settings yourself (including using an option to create audio-only files from videos you’ve downloaded). For instance, it dumps video destined for an iPod or iPhone into iTunes, so it’s transferred the next time you sync.

RealPlayer chooses a format and settings, does the conversion, and even places the resulting video in the proper location for syncing when possible. But now you can also transfer them to forty-plus gadgets with a couple of clicks. As in RealPlayer 11, SP’s predecessor, you can download video files to your Mac for later playback in Real itself. A utility runs in the background and watches as you view videos at YouTube, DailyMotion, MetaCafe, and others that offer DRM-free content.

It took a little longer than the company thought, but a beta version of RealPlayer SP for OS X is available for download now–Real gave me a sneak peek last week–and is largely similar to the Windows version. At the time, RealPlayer SP was a Windows-only product, but Real said it would bring it to Mac users by the end of 2009. Instead of primarily being about playback, it served as a hub for easy conversion of Web video for playback on a bevy of devices–MP3 players like the iPod, smartphones, gaming consoles, and more. Last June, I wrote about RealPlayer SP, a cool new version of the venerable, not-universally-beloved media player that shifted its emphasis.

Free realplayer for mac