last100 » BBC

BBC iPlayer and the Creative Zen X-Fi

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:06:03 +0000

BBC iPlayer on the Creative Zen X-Fi

Yesterday, I was out tech shopping with a friend and a simple brief. Purchase a 4-8 GB flash-based MP3 player, and one that wasn’t an iPod. What we came away with was the Creative Zen X-Fi, which isn’t the newest of players but has its fair share of iPod-trumping features nonetheless. Top of the list is the ability to ’side load’ content downloaded from the BBC’s TV catch-up service, iPlayer. That’s because the Zen supports Windows Media DRM, needed because of the way the BBC licenses content for download so that it will only be playable seven days after broadcast. (Obviously, you’ll need to be a Windows user in the first place, which is far from ideal.) The advantage of downloading rather than streaming iPlayer, of course, is that you don’t need to be connected to the Internet while viewing the content.

A couple of other features that I really like about the Zen X-Fi is the external speaker for communal viewing, the SD card slot so that the storage capability can be expanded, and that music, pictures and videos can be drag ‘n’ dropped both ways – to and from a PC via USB – while in mass storage mode. Take that iPod/iTunes.

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BBC iPlayer stats: 12.5 GBs per second, 14 different versions, iPhone usage peaks at midnight, and more

Steve O'Hear — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:02:52 +0000

BBC iPlayer uncovered

Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m a huge fan of the BBC’s iPlayer; that’s why I named it as one of the top ten Digital Lifestyle products of 08.

And I’m not alone.

In a fascinating interview conducted by CNet UK’s Nate Lanxon, the BBC’s iPlayer head honcho Anthony Rose reveals that, at its peak, the service delivers 12.5 gigabytes per second of video, totaling about 7 petabytes of data transfer a month!

Other key stats…

While iPlayer streaming peaks at 10pm, iPhone usage is at its highest at around midnight. “So people are clearly going to bed with their iPhone and watching in bed”, says Rose. “And we also see on the weekends, there’s a peak of Saturday and Sunday morning usage at about 8 to 10am in the morning on iPhone.”
Over 400 hours of video is encoded a week for iPlayer using 60 servers. “They’re typically dual Quad Core Intel Xeon machines, and they run on a NAS backend architecture because the media that comes in is encoded at 50 or 100Mbps.”
14+ different versions of iPlayer are encoded. “… ranging from about 160Kbps for some mobile, over-the-air streaming, through to 1,500Kbps for our highest iPlayer SD quality stream, in H.264 played out as flash. We also create 3Mbps [for standard definition] on Virgin Media, and now for our HD content we create 3.2Mbps HD. So it’s about 14 or 15 flavours.”

The interview reveals lots more iPlayer info – you should really go read the full article – including what’s next for the service (hint: scheduled downloads and series stacking etc.)

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Watch live BBC television on latest Nokia phones

Steve O'Hear — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:19:26 +0000

Live BBC TV and radio streaming (UK-only) is now available on Nokia’s flagship N96 and the all touch screen XpressMusic 5800 aka The Tube, reports All About Symbian.

The complete range of BBC television channels are accessible, including digital, along with the public broadcaster’s full radio lineup. AAS describes the picture quality as “not brilliant”, with a frame size of 176 by 144 pixels, although this can be scaled up to full screen in the S60 version of RealPlayer.

Not a Nokia first

As readers may remember, last September, in a slightly controversial move, the BBC announced that it had developed a version of iPlayer for the Nokia N96 that supported both streaming and downloads – a first for mobile – despite the fact that the handset hadn’t yet been released in the UK and therefore had a market share of zero. This left the BBC open to criticism that it was favoring one commercial player over others. Instead, why hadn’t it chosen to support equivalent handsets that viewers already owned rather than one that was yet to hit the market?

Part of the reason was technology, the N96 has an updated version of RealPlayer and the necessary Digital Rights Management functionality, along with the BBC betting on the device selling well in the UK or at least being picked up by carriers (the latter is certainly true). The same criticism, however, can’t be levvied this time around. As we reported back in December, live BBC TV and radio streaming was introduced as part of an updated mobile iPlayer site compatible with the Samsung Omnia, Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and C905.

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BBC iPlayer on more handsets: Nokia N85, Samsung Omnia, Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and C905

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:09:24 +0000

It’s getting hard to keep up, with the BBC rolling out new versions of its UK-only seven day Internet TV catch-up service on what feels like an almost monthly basis. This time iPlayer support has been added to a whole bunch of recently released mobile phones.

First up is the Nokia N85, which will utilize the version currently available on the N96. As you may remember from my recent review, unlike the iPhone and iPod touch offering, iPlayer content on the N96 (and now N85) isn’t restricted to streaming but can also be downloaded for viewing off-line for a limited period.

Secondly, two Windows Mobile-based smartphones, the Samsung Omnia and Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, can now access iPlayer through a new mobile-optimized website. And next week, the brand new Sony Ericsson C905 will also be added to the list, a notable first as the device is a so-called ‘feature phone’ not a higher-end smartphone as such, although those distinctions are becoming a little outdated as technology gets cheaper. As well as on-demand content, the new iPlayer mobile site also provides live TV and radio streaming.

“These phones have been selected as they hit our requirements of Wi-Fi and 3G support with great browsing and media playback experience i.e. the video and audio look and sound good”, writes the BBC’s Jon Billings, Head of Technology for Mobile.

More handsets are promised in the future, including “one or two more future Nokia devices”, says Billings. Nokia N97 anyone?

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BBC iPlayer lands on PlayStation 3 – could Hulu be next?

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:17:00 +0000

Now that the PlayStation 3’s web browser supports full screen Flash video, I knew it wouldn’t be long before we’d see the BBC finally roll out a PS3 version of iPlayer. But boy was that quick.

Available in Beta, as of today PS3 owners can now access the Beeb’s seven day TV catchup service (UK-only), joining their Nindendo Wii brethren, along with specific versions for Nokia’s N96 and Apple’s iPhone. In fact, the BBC now lists compatibility with a whole bunch of portable media players, presumably via a generic mobile version, including the Archos 605 WiFi and Creative Zen X-Fi.

The BBC always said it had a version of iPlayer for the PS3 in the works but that development was being held back due to the limited way in which Sony’s console supported Flash video. Now that’s been addressed, there’s no reason why other Internet TV services, such as Hulu, can’t follow in iPlayer’s footsteps.

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BBC iPlayer on Wii gets a UI overhaul

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:54:08 +0000

Six months after launch, the BBC has finally got around to redesigning its version of iPlayer for the Nintendo Wii games console to make it more suited to being operated from the couch. Initially taking a ‘keep it simple, get it out fast’ approach, explains the Beeb’s Anthony Rose, the original Wii version of the public broadcaster’s seven day TV catch-up service made do with the 2 foot user interface designed for the PC. “The new Wii version has a simplified user interface that presents just a few options on screen at a time and nice big chunky controls – easy to aim at with a Wiimote.”

Rose also takes the opportunity to defend the BBC’s original decision to build a Wii version of iPlayer rather than one for Sony’s PlayStation 3. “The reason is simple: there are twice as many Wii units in the UK than PS3s”. Additionally, the original PS3 web browser had “some odd quirks which have increased development time”, says Rose. In other words, a PS3 version is still in the works.

… we’re not quite there yet as the PS3 uses a slightly older version of Flash which doesn’t support some of the features used in our media player, and the very promising Flash 9 update now available on PS3 has some compatibility issues. Our Flash developers are working on it – stay tuned for updates.

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BBC iPlayer shows a little too much love to Nokia’s N96?

Steve O'Hear — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:30:11 +0000

Erik Huggers is the BBC’s Director of Future Media and Technology. Although a more apt title for himself, along with predecessor, Ashley Highfield, would be Director of Future License Fee Justification. That’s because the BBC, which is funded by British tax payers, is doing more than most broadcasters to stay relevant as we move towards a future where viewers want to watch ‘television’ on their own terms: from anywhere, on-demand and on the device of their choice.

Enter the BBC’s catch-up service, iPlayer, which streams the public broadcaster’s content to Windows PCs and Macs, Nintendo’s Wii, Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch, along with Virgin Media’s cable TV service. A download version is also available for Windows-only.

And just today, the BBC and Nokia announced that a streaming and download version of iPlayer will soon be available for the mobile phone maker’s yet-to-be-released N96 handset.

From BBC News itself:

From 1 October a purpose-built application will be available to download via the BBC website and will also be pre-loaded on some handsets…

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Simon Ainslie, managing director at Nokia UK, said: “The Nokia N96 is going to provide a gateway to quality viewing on the move.

“The enormous success of iPlayer has demonstrated the desire audiences have for accessing programmes at a time and a place that suits them,” he added.

A BBC spokeswoman said the iPlayer is already available on the iPhone and iTouch, but only for streaming programmes. The Nokia N96 will be the first phone that enables users to download programmes as well, she said.

This is quite a coup for Nokia in more ways than one.

First up, as the above quote highlights, the version of iPlayer for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch offers streaming only, and requires the persistent use of WiFi for access. In contrast, the upcoming version for Nokia’s N96 can be streamed over 3G and WiFi (though the former could incur the user with hefty data charges depending on their mobile phone tariff), or downloaded and stored on the handset itself for off-line playback. The latter presents a much better option for many users, since content can be downloaded over WiFi when available, to be watched at a later date outside of a WiFi hotspot and avoiding 3G data charges altogether. It’s also not clear if carriers will prohibit access to iPlayer over 3G or offer it for an additional fee.

Secondly, by announcing the partnership with Nokia today, the BBC is inadvertently promoting a handset that isn’t yet widely available. The N96 is due to go on general release in the UK on the 1st of October, the same day that a compatible version of iPlayer will be offered. This leaves the BBC open to criticism that it’s favoring one commercial player over others, and begs the question as to why it hasn’t chosen to support equivalent handsets that viewers already own rather than one that is yet to hit the market.

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BBC iPlayer lands on Wii – who said Nintendo doesn’t do media center?

Steve O'Hear — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:45:16 +0000

Later today, a version of the BBC’s iPlayer will be made available on Nintendo’s Wii games console, announced the UK public broadcaster’s Future Media and Technology chief Erik Huggers during a keynote speech at the MipTV-Milia conference in Cannes.

Alongside download (Windows-only) and streaming versions (Windows/Mac) accessible via a computer, the BBC has already built a version of its UK-only TV catch-up service for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch devices. Today, however, marks the first time the iPlayer will be available on a games console, and perhaps surprisingly, not one designed specifically to be a media center. So much for the ‘trojan horse into the living room’ strategies of Sony’s PS3 and Microsoft’s XBox 360.

The ability to port the streaming version of iPlayer to the Wii was made possible because of Nintendo’s original decision to offer a Web browser for the console, and one that supports Flash Video (see last100’s ‘Five resources to create a Wii media center‘). The PS3 also features a full Web browser with the Flash plug-in, so perhaps we can expect that to be next on the list.

Initially, iPlayer on Wii will be accessible via the game console’s Internet channel, just like any other Website. However, signaling that this is an official partnership between the BBC and Nintendo, the latter will send out a message to all UK Wii owners whose consoles are connected to the Internet, alerting them to the iPlayer’s availability. The BBC and Nintendo intend to refine the Wii version of iPlayer throughout the rest of 2008, eventually offering the catch-up service through its own dedicated Wii channel.

On the same day as the Wii version was announced, the BBC released the latest iPlayer viewing figures, which, inevitably, was preempted by the latest ISP backlash against the service due to its high bandwidth consumption.

In March 2008, more than 17.2 million requests to download or stream BBC programmes were made via the iPlayer. This is up 25% on the previous month and means more than 42 million programmes have been accessed via the iPlayer since its Christmas 2007 launch. (BBC News)

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