Mobile/PDA About Us Advertise here


		User name	Password

		Not registered yet? Register here. Lost your password? Click here.

Browse by topic

News

Flash based iPlayer alternative now available

15 December 2007 18:48 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 1 comment

After taking a great deal of heat from Mac and Linux users over the Windows-only iPlayer, the BBC has introduced a Flash based player. Unlike the iPlayer software, this new client is intended to stream video for playback rather than download it to the viewer's hard drive.

When the public iPlayer beta was opened earlier this year there was an outcry from a relatively small but vocal group of dissatisfied BBC viewers who complained about the Windows-centric approach the entire program appeared to be taking, while being funded partly by their license fees. After BBC management appeared to confirm their fears in October with a statement that support for other platforms would be contingent on the cost, but were quickly overruled by the BBC Trust, who said they approved the entire program with the understanding that all platforms would be supported.

The new Streaming player isn't restricted to non-Windows PCs either. If media reports of dissatisfaction with the iPlayer are accurate there will likely be many people already using it who are tempted to try this new alternative.

However, there's a downside to streaming vs. downloading. While an iPlayer user should have no quality issues if their Bandwidth is Limited, streaming has minimum requirements to allow realtime transfer of video and audio. The BBC's program is the first to be deployed on such a large scale and the effects on the existing residential internet infrastructure have yet to be truly measured.

Source: The Register

Permalink to this article

iTunes in UK adds BBC programming (19 February 2008)

BBC adds Firefox support to the iPlayer (2 February 2008)

MySpace video to feature BBC video clips (24 January 2008)

MP accuses BBC head of illegally favoring Microsoft (14 January 2008)

U.S. viewers continue to embrace online and mobile video (28 December 2007)

BBC iPlayer officially launches (25 December 2007)

Swarmcast leverages enhances Flash streaming with P2P (18 December 2007)

Flash based iPlayer alternative now available (15 December 2007)

NBC will offer downloadable TV shows (20 September 2007)

BBC's iPlayer fuels criticism from open source advocates (16 September 2007)

IPTV is the hot topic at IBC 2007 (11 September 2007)

UK Government responds to BBC iPlayer petition (9 September 2007)

ISPs complain about video bandwidth (13 August 2007)

BBC viewers unhappy about limited access to iPlayer (31 July 2007)

BBC launches video download service (27 July 2007)

« Previous news article
DOJ not happy about proposed IP law

Next news article »
ITRI creates flexible 10.4-inch display

Post your comment

Discuss this article!
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 24 December 2007 7:58
I see this as a great step forward when i see that new features go across the board and become fully compatible with all Operating Systems. Well done. [ + quote]