RealNetworks this morning is releasing an update for RealPlayer SP that adds the ability to quickly trim videos that have been downloaded from the web or shot on personal cameras, and also upload videos from within the software to Facebook or YouTube.

The RealPlayer SP 1.1 release reflects the company's goal of making the program more multipurpose, expanding beyond RealPlayer's traditional function of basic media playback. RealPlayer is one of two primary businesses that the Seattle-based company plans to focus on following a strategic shakeup announced last week, after RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser's departure as CEO.

The latest RealPlayer SP features build on capabilities that were introduced last year, which let users download videos from the Internet to their computers, and then move those videos to a variety of mobile phones and other devices. With the new update, for example, the software can be used to download a video from YouTube, trim it with a built-in editing tool, and then transfer it to a mobile device.

In another scenario, a user could import a video from a personal camera, trim it, and then upload it to YouTube or Facebook, or transfer it to a mobile device. The company says it wants to provide a simple alternative to complex and sometimes time-consuming video-editing programs -- aiming to let people quickly cut a video down to just the piece they want, then share it online or move it to a device.

"There are clearly other tools that allow you to do video editing, and other tools that give you deep, rich (video-editing) experiences, and that's not us," said Jeff Chasen, the company's vice president of video product development. "Our goal is end-to-end -- make it simple to get it, move it and maybe tweak it on the way."

The software can also be used to create and trim audio-only files from the sound tracks on videos.

As in the earlier release, the software lets users download and save, as digital files, videos offered for streaming on YouTube and other sites (via a button that the software embeds next to videos on websites), as long as that capability isn't prevented by digital-rights management (DRM) protections on the videos. With the addition of video uploading, the RealPlayer SP 1.1 software takes steps to prevent users from simply re-uploading (without editing) videos that they've downloaded from YouTube.

But it is technically possible to use the software to download a video from YouTube, trim it, and then re-upload that trimmed version as a new video, for example. Asked about potential copyright issues arising from that scenario, Chasen said the company is simply providing a tool, and users are responsible for their use of it.

"The idea is that this is for the personal videos that you own," he said. "We're just creating a tool that you can use with your personal videos. ... You should have the copyright to those videos."

The free RealPlayer SP 1.1 was released today for Windows machines. The Mac OS X version of the RealPlayer SP software, currently available in beta, hasn't yet been updated with the latest capabilities.

Download: RealPlayer SP 1.1 for Windows