Hasta La Gadget!

When we think of BBC iPlayer use on mobile devices, we most often picture someone catching up on dramas with their smartphone during the commute home. Not anymore: newly available March stats from the Beeb reveal that tablet viewing has overtaken phone viewing for the first time. The difference is slight — tablets are only 200,000 requests ahead, at 41 million — but it’s enough to suggest that many now prefer bigger screens when they’re away from a computer or TV. While the broadcaster hasn’t directly explained the change in demographics, it’s not hard to see a possible explanation based on viewer habits. The BBC notes that most tablet-bound iPlayer users watch TV, and most iPlayer TV time overlaps that of traditional viewing, when audiences are more likely to be at home with the larger devices at hand. If you’re one to curl up on the couch to watch Panorama on an iPad or Android slate, then, you may just be part of a growing trend.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD

Comments

Source: BBC

The BBC’s Cyrus Saihan has just hit us with the news that iPlayer will soon be available on Windows Phones in the UK, following a deal with Microsoft. Technically speaking, it’ll be a browser-based shortcut, but it sounds like it should function much like a regular app: it’ll be available from the Windows Phone Store and run on WP 7.5 and 8 handsets with its own live tile. According to the BBC’s press office, which seems to be a bit more specific with its time frames, the service should become available within the “next few months”. Sure, there have been false starts in the past, and various technical hiccups that have made it difficult for the Beeb to support Microsoft’s mobile OS, but this time — finally — it’s for real.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Comments

Source: BBC

UK broadcaster the BBC has launched Connected Red Button, further blending web TV with live broadcasting, and kicking things off with an appearance on Virgin Media TiVo boxes. The new service redresses existing BBC internet TV features like iPlayer, BBC News, Sport, Weather, and other content including local, into a new interface suited for big-screen browsing, and in a curated fashion which the BBC claims will cut down on choice-overload.

Catch-up TV will be included, with shows from all of the BBC channels, and there will be behind-the-scenes content from sports and other events. The BBC already offers “Red Button” services via traditional broadcast, including news, weather, and other content, but by using internet streaming rather than the broadcast signal, the amount of data on offer can increase considerably.

Initially, 1.2m Virgin Media TiVo boxes will be compatible with the new Connected Red Button services, though the BBC says that will be extended to other internet-connected TVs “over the coming months.” We’d expect to see web-enabled set-top boxes from Freeview, YouView, Freesat, and others join in the fun in time.

According to the BBC Internet blog, meanwhile, phones and tablets could eventually be integrated, with the hint of second-screen style content shown on both big-screen and mobile device. There’s also the possibility of retroactive updates for existing web-capable AV kit to get Connected Red Button service.

“Throughout 2012 the BBC has also been engaging with a number of TV manufacturers and platform operators regarding our connected TV application plans and the related technical specifications and certification requirements” Matt Coulson, executive product manager for Red Button says. “We’ll be rolling out Connected Red Button to a range of connected TV devices during 2013 and in many cases 2012 TVs will also be upgraded to Connected Red Button.”

You’ll need to have a Virgin TiVo box in the UK in order to try the Connected Red Button service out today.

BBC Connected Red Button blurs line between TV and web content is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Sky UK has added the BBC’s iPlayer video-on-demand service to Sky+, the first time the VoD system has been enabled on the satellite provider’s boxes. Requiring a Sky+ HD set-top box, and with content showing up in the Sky On Demand section of the DVR, the new iPlayer addition uses roughly the same interface as its browser-based version, only now no longer requires a laptop be hooked up to the TV.

Sky first announced its deal with the BBC back in January, at which point it also added access to the ITV catalog of on-demand shows. Subscribers to the satellite TV service already had the option of viewing select archived BBC shows, such as Top Gear and Doctor Who, but not the full catch-up service iPlayer users on other platforms could enjoy.

In fact, iPlayer is now available across 650 platforms and devices, the BBC says, including Xbox 360, on iOS and Android smartphones, and now on Sky’s Sky+ HD PVR. Sky users won’t need to have Sky-provided broadband, either, with that limitation lifted earlier in the year as well; however, they will need broadband internet of some description, since that’s how the iPlayer content is delivered to their STB.

The BBC has steadily been increasing its footprint in digital and mobile devices, extending beyond terrestrial channels. Most recently, it launched the BBC iPlayer Radio app, which focuses on audio content – though also offers companion video – for smartphones.

Sky+ adds BBC iPlayer for on-demand entertainment is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

No one can accuse the BBC of neglecting radio in its quest for streaming nirvana — not when the number of radio listeners on iPlayer has shot up 56 percent in a year (and 300 percent on tablets). Nevertheless, from tomorrow morning, iPhone users will find a brand new way to listen to their favorite content: a dedicated radio app with a spinning dial which — compared to the regular iPlayer app — will put much greater emphasis on live shows rather than catch-up. There’ll also be mobile-friendly features like an alarm clock which will wake you up to your choice of show, reminders for shows you just can’t miss, and the ability to identify current and recently-played songs at a glance. The app will reach Android too, as soon as some Flash-related difficulties have been ironed out, and its alarm function will benefit from slightly better multi-tasking on Google’s OS, so you won’t have to leave the app open before you fall asleep. If you don’t want to wait or if you’re outside the UK, check out the desktop iPlayer at the source link, or the gallery below, and you’ll see just what the Corporation’s philosophy about treating radio differently — rather than as “TV minus video” — actually looks like.

Continue reading BBC launches iPlayer Radio: a separate radio-only mobile app and web UI

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Mobile

BBC launches iPlayer Radio: a separate radio-only mobile app and web UI originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  BBC iPlayer Radio  | Email this | Comments