RealPlayer Cloud gives you the best of all worlds when it comes to playing video

When it comes to playing video on your PC or mobile, the choices are vast and sometimes confusing. Do you restrict yourself to access from one device, or do you manually transfer media between devices as and when it’s required? Or do you invest in some cloud-based solution that gives you access wherever you have an internet connection?

You could try and combine a number of different solutions, or you could take a closer look at RealPlayer Cloud 17 and RealPlayer Cloud for Mobile, which offers a solution to all three scenarios in one app.

RealPlayer Cloud aims to give you maximum flexibility over accessing video via its own local, network and cloud service. Both desktop and mobile apps make it possible to upload video stored on the device to the user’s RealPlayer Cloud account. By default users get 2GB free space, but can earn up to 1.5GB more by performing a number of tasks, including uploading their first video to signing into their new account on up to four different devices.

The service offers three paid-for subscriptions for those wishing to store more music in the cloud for access over the internet, with prices starting from $4.99 a month for 25GB storage and maxing out at $29.99 a month for 100GB storage.

If that sounds a little rich, then consider this: RealPlayer Cloud 17 for Windows desktop builds on the older RealPlayer media software by giving you access to your own locally stored video library as well as video stored in the cloud. You can also easily import video from externally attached media too, from USB drives to memory cards.

Switch to RealPlayer Cloud for Mobile, which works on iOS, Android and Windows 8/RT, and once again you have access to both cloud-hosted media and video stored on the device itself. But you also gain the ability to access media stored on your PC too -- from here you can stream video over your local network or transfer it via Wi-Fi for offline viewing on the road, all without touching your cloud storage.

RealPlayer Cloud also supports sharing video with other RealPlayer Cloud users (and accessing shared video in return) while the mobile app also provides access to a range of internet-hosted video. If users log in or connect their Facebook account, they can also view video posted online by Facebook friends through the app too.

The end result is a service that -- if expensive in parts -- is at least flexible in others. RealPlayer Cloud 17.0 is available as a freeware download for PCs running Windows 7 or later. RealPlayer Cloud for Mobile 1.4 is available for iPad, iPhone, Android (4.0 or up) and Windows RT/8.