back to article BBC iPlayer added to Xbox

Microsoft has added BBC iPlayer to the Xbox. Various sites last week expressed their surprise about the upcoming the release, but it's one Microsoft and the Corporation signalled back in October 2011, as Reg Hardware reported at the time. BBC iPlayer Other IPTV services promised back then include Channel 4's 4OD and Channel …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I thought the xbox was for gaming and not for using your brain?

    1. sabroni Silver badge
      Facepalm

      of course, watching telly takes much more brain power than gaming....

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        You obviously only watch soaps!

  2. Fuzz

    great, can we have one for media centre now please?

    Tunerfree MCE is pretty good but it's a bit buggy, especially with the flash streams for HD. Also the way it caches the info from the net was probably necessary when it was first written but now I'm sure there are better ways to get live data rather than finding the program you want to watch is never there.

    Of course technically Microsoft could just use the same interface as you get on Freeview HD.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No HD

    So pretty rubbish compared to the PS3 one..

    Buy hey you can wave your hands at it and jump up and down like an idiot to control it...

    Really Microsoft, is this your vision for the future? Pathetic... (Although not as pathetic as the people that bought into it).

    1. sabroni Silver badge

      Re: No HD

      the ps3 one? The one that throws up a network error message if you pause it for a minute?

      The wii one doesn't do that, guess it must be better than ps3 and xbox....

    2. Shaun 1

      Re: No HD

      It does do HD

    3. Alistair MacRae

      Re: No HD

      Is the iPlayer on the PS3 supposed to be HD for me its res drops horribly and it goes onto screensaver after a while.

      I hate the iPlayer on the PS3, and the fact that anytime i want to use it it needs ANOTHER update.

      Here's hoping the XBOX version is more polished

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: No HD

        Clearly you have a shit connection and havn't used it for ages.

        It USED to be browser based (about 2 years ago) and it dimmed the screen, but it's beena proper app for a long time now.

        More than likely you don't even own a PS3 based on your comments.

        1. Alistair MacRae

          Re: No HD

          I'm not going in via browser, I go left a few times in the XMB thing where theres an Icon called BBC iPlayer also got Lovefilm which also has poor res.

          I do have a pretty unstable connection it goes through a 3G modem but if i press the PS button the text comes up saying do you want to close the app and the text is all fuzzy. Which I don't think is down to my connection, maybe there's a setting wrong.

          I think the last thing i watched successfully through it was the doctor who episode "the girl who waited" which took me the weekend just to get up to date again. Then tried to watch something else, probably top gear and it said it needed to update which is when I gave up.

          I promise I have a PS3 I bought it when the GT5 prolog thing came out :P, and it has been used as a blu-ray player ever since.

          I also have a xbox 360 which for balance refuses to stream media from my PC properly, but otherwise I get on better with as typically it never says i need to update software to play something :P.

          I'll probably be playing Journey next on the PS3 if the 3G behaves

  4. Pypes

    Paywalled

    I thought the rub originally was that M$ wanted to pay-wall iplayer by making it a gold account only service, which the BBC took issue with due to that whole "technically they've already paid for it" issue.

    So the question remains, is it pay-walled or not?

    1. Shaun 1

      Re: Paywalled

      No, you don't need XBL Gold for iPlayer

  5. This post has been deleted by its author

  6. clotheyes

    @AC1

    BBC iPlayer will get more xboxs into the lounge increasing the WAF. So this is good.

    @AC2

    Hmm I just said "HD on" to my xbox and lo the stream was in HD. "HD off" also works for the bandwidthly-challenged.

    1. Richard Ball

      So for anyone who's watching Iplayer, i.e. in the UK, that's probably gonna be "HD off" then.

  7. mrk

    Xbox Live Gold Required

    When attempting to use 4OD through the Xbox recently I was informed that I needed an Xbox Live Gold account. Does iPlayer have the same restriction?

    If so, is it right for Microsoft to be profiting from a license payer trying to access FTA programming on the Xbox they paid for, using the bandwidth they also pay for? Maybe Microsoft do some value add to provide the service to justify making it Gold only.

    1. Shaun 1

      Re: Xbox Live Gold Required

      Gold not required, this is available to all.

      As a point of note, this is reported in every article I've read about it apart from el Reg. Same goes for the fact that it will stream in HD as well

      1. mrk

        Re: Xbox Live Gold Required

        Thanks for the info.

  8. Nextweek

    Statistics

    The whole camera watching you watch television is just hilarious really.

    Television and advertising bosses can now watch in real time what people think of their shows and adverts, all it would take is an extra clause added to the terms and conditions that nobody ever reads.

    Personally the 4oD service on Xbox has got to win stupid of the month award, each time you start a show it tells you "You are watching 4oD on Xbox" Really!!! I never would have known.

    1. Rob K
      Big Brother

      Re: Statistics

      Foil hats all round!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        FAIL

        Re: Statistics

        Really?

        http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/kinects-camera-could-record-data-for-advertisers/

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Statistics

      Remember that this is punted at gaming people though.

      "You are sitting down"

      and:

      "You are breathing in and out"

      might be appropriate next.

  9. Tegne
    Facepalm

    Even more bandwidth is going to be sucked up by iPlayer now.

    Those ISP's better be ready.

  10. The BigYin

    XBMC?

    Why is this even news? I've been watching iPlayer on my xBox (not a 360) for years. A simple soft-mod and XBMC install does the trick. Not need for an MS Live account or any other crap.

    Just one more example of how far behind the curve MS is and why hardware platforms should be opened up - the tinkerers will get the functionality that you want out well before the corporates.

    1. Ben Holmes
      Stop

      Re: XBMC?

      Well, good for you, Captain Smugballs. Have a freakin' biscuit.

      For other 99% of XBox users, who have neither the inclination nor the knowledge to softmod their xboxes, then this is a perfect way for them to watch iPlayer content using their console.

      And that's why it's news.

  11. Shaun 1

    Why so long?

    "Other IPTV services promised back then include Channel 4's 4OD and Channel 5's Demand Five. They made it in plenty of time - neither Microsoft nor the BBC said why it had taken so long to port iPlayer over."

    4OD and Demand 5 are both identical to the Lovefilm app, they even say that when you load them up. iPlayer seems to be a completely different app, rather than just a reskin of an existing one

  12. schotness

    Very good & about time too ?

    Now what about the ITV player ?

    1. Shaun 1

      Re: Very good & about time too ?

      Why?

    2. chriswakey

      Re: Very good & about time too ?

      People watch ITV?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Very good & about time too ?

        Nobody you'd really want to know though.

      2. schotness

        Re: Very good & about time too ?

        Well I wanna watch Scott & Bailey, its the only decent thing ITV have had on for years

  13. Rich 30

    The article shoul dhave been called...

    "BBC iPlayer added to Xbox, FINALLY"

    Glad its on there though, the xbox is getting really moving into media streaming hub teritory well.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I do own a PS3...

    and I have had no trouble with the iPlayer, works brilliantly. Not sure what this losing connection issue is when pausing...

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like